When Brendan Rodgers left Liverpool in 2015, the insinuation in certain quarters was that Michael Edwards, a man to whom supporters and media had very little hold on, had stitched him up. One opinion column infamously referred to him as a “laptop guru”.
The connotation was that data and statistics had won out over “proper” football; another part of the game had thus died. Six years on, and with Edwards’ departure as Liverpool’s sporting director confirmed, a very different inference: an integral part of modern Liverpool is leaving.
Given the obsession with transfer culture, it’s little surprise that Edwards’ success is viewed through that prism. He was crucial to Liverpool targeting Mohamed Salah – Edwards convincing Jurgen Klopp on that deal – Sadio Mane and Andrew Robertson. Edwards’ sales were even more impressive: Philippe Coutinho’s departure to Barcelona funded moves for Alisson and Virgil van Dijk while a raft of fringe first-teamers left for significant fees.
But Edwards’ responsibility went far beyond recruitment. He helped make decisions on new contracts, understood and cherished the demand for academy graduates and young players to be afforded opportunities and carried out extensive research ahead of Liverpool’s training ground expansion.
Edwards was appointed and promoted on the mandate of Liverpool’s need to work smarter than peers who had bigger budgets. “His input and collaboration has been just as important as anyone else’s in getting us into a position to compete for the game’s top titles,” said Klopp in December 2019.
Klopp and Edwards enjoy a close working relationship, in contrast to the frosty unease of the Rodgers tenure. Their offices are next door to each other, but more importantly, Klopp embraced the sporting director-head coach connection that replicated the model he was used to in Germany. When Edwards was promoted to sporting director in October 2016, a year after Klopp’s appointment, Liverpool’s manager was fully behind the move.
From Michael Edwards’ open letter to Liverpool fans
“Ten years, that’s a pretty long time in anyone’s working life. In football terms, it is an era in itself, particularly at a club like Liverpool where the expectations and standards are never anything other than as high as the supporters deserve. To be part of this club during this period has been a privilege due to the people I have been fortunate enough to work with and the success we have enjoyed.
“But all good things must come to an end and, in my case, I recently completed my final summer window as Liverpool sporting director. Even writing those words seems a bit surreal, but at the end of this season I will pack up my laptop and leave my office for the last time.
“One of the questions I always get asked is ‘Who was/is your favourite player?’ That’s a really difficult question to answer so I won’t even try. All I will say is my dog is called Bobby.”
Michael Edwards open letter in full
It helped Edwards that he had a clean slate. Liverpool needed to rebuild and their recent record gave Edwards the time and patience to implement it. He worked on the principle of buy clever, buy low and sell high. That creates a vague theory that the club has become too big for his expertise. They are now shopping in different markets and have different ambitions. Kylian Mbappe was for a long time touted as the next marquee target. You don’t need the data to understand that Mbappe is worth having.
But that is just a theory, because very few people can say with any certainty what Edwards is thinking. He has deliberately shunned the limelight and steered clear of media interviews and PR spin. Under Rodgers, that was interpreted as an unhelpful lack of communication. Under Klopp, it allowed Liverpool to quietly go about their business. Those who can, do; those who can’t talk about doing.
Edwards’ departure from Liverpool will leave a hole. It will provoke panic from those supporters who are predisposed towards it and already have misgivings about FSG’s willingness to invest heavily in the current squad. Klopp will have two years left on his contract next summer and may well choose to take a break at that point. Klopp’s relationship with Edwards’ replacement may define the last years of Klopp’s Liverpool and it will be hard to replicate the seamlessness of this relationship.
But Edwards also leaves a changed club, a Liverpool that finally proved itself capable of existing at peace with its grand history and the expectations that provoked and retook its perceived rightful place at the very top of English football’s elite. He will leave with fond wishes, a tidal wave of gratitude and allowing his successor to stand upon the broadest of shoulders.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3qthJny
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