GM football fans. Route One here, the football newsletter that’ll love you even when you forget to buy us a card. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Today’s briefing is a ~4 min read:

1. Brazil: the next Premier League 🇧🇷

2. Is Alonso the perfect fit for Liverpool? 🤔

3. Extra time: Thierry talks Arsenal 💡

BRAZIL: THE NEXT PREMIER LEAGUE? 🇧🇷

Next time you see your mate, ask them why they fell in love with football…

• Ronaldinho?

• Zico?

• R9?

• Garrincha?

• Romario?

• Pele?

The point is: while the English invented the game, the Brazilians made it beautiful.

Yet, the Brazilian domestic league isn’t known overseas… but the Financial Times thinks this will change.

Why? Because the investment potential in Brazil is big and there’s “huge interest” from international investors.

But it won’t happen overnight…

Club revenue in Brazil remains low. And we mean low…

Long story short: the lack of professional management has meant that many clubs have failed to realise the sports commercial potential.

Unpaid bills and wages are common, and there have been cases of corruption, embezzlement and match-fixing.

Hmmm. That’s no quick fix if you’re asking me.

So will cause this change…?

… money of course.

But, more specifically, an environment that attracts outside investment:

• A 2021 law now encourages clubs across the Brazilian leagues to operate as businesses… not traditional non-profit associations.

• The new company template will help to prevent overspending and poor management.

• Favourable tax rates are set to open the door to investors.

The biggest change? Well, taking a leaf from the Premier League, the ultimate goal is to sell TV and other media rights collectively.

Traditionally, Brazilian sides have signed their contracts on an individual basis.

Crazy…

IS XABI ALONSO A PERFECT FIT FOR LIVERPOOL? 🤔

Jamie Carragher is convinced Xabi Alonso will be Liverpool’s next manager, so what can we expect from Klopp’s heir?

Good things apparently… his Bayer Leverkusen team ranks highly amongst Europe’s elite this season:

• First for passes per game.

• First for short passes per game.

• Third for 10+ pass sequences.

• Third for expected goals per game.

• Fourth best for goals conceded per game.

The stats speak for themselves, they’re super impressive.

But Carragher sees one issue… Liverpool’s current style of play differs greatly from Bayer Leverkusen’s as shown by the graph below:

Leverkusen is similar to Manchester City’s (long periods of possession with lots of short passes)… which is very different from Liverpool’s mixed approach (a combination of short and long passes).

So the question is: will Liverpool adapt to Alonso or will Alonso adapt to Liverpool?

Carragher predicts Alonso will merge the two styles and become “more like Bayern Munich”.

Why?

Carragher believes Alonso will avoid becoming a purely short-pass possession-based team because Alonso knows “Anfeld, the crowd, the energy” and will want his team to be as exciting to watch as Klopp’s.

Sign us up for a team that’s as good on the ball as Manchester City and as exciting to watch as Liverpool under Klopp…

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

The best goal you’ll see all week. Jaden Philogene-Bidace must’ve just won the Puskas Award, right?

The Australian league possess a lot of quality… and If they keep pulling off trivelas like this, we might need to launch R1 Down Under.

Thierry Henry breaks down Arsenal’s chances in the UCL. We think he nails it.

The January transfer window saw 5,073 international transfers completed across men’s and women’s football. The latter saw the record spending in a January transfer window at $2.1 million.

AFTV toured Ghana and the results were interesting… one fan was disappointed with Arteta after their latest 6-0 win.

MEME 😆

R1 REFERRAL