It is seven years since Brendan Rodgers was sacked by Liverpool and a prominent newspaper columnist pointed the finger squarely at Michael Edwards, their technical director at the time.
Edwards was described as having a “cosy relationship” with Liverpool’s Fenway Sports Group owners, “tapping away” at his laptop in an “air-conditioned office” at the club’s Melwood training ground as he spearheaded a data-driven approach to recruitment which had caused a rupture with the departing manager.
Edwards offered no public reply at the time, instead continuing his work in private, but there was a light-hearted nod to that now-infamous criticism when he announced he would be leaving his role at the end of the campaign back in November.
“Even writing those words seems a bit surreal,” Edwards said in a statement, “but at the end of this season I will pack up my laptop and leave my office at the AXA Training Centre for the last time.”
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It is of course Jurgen Klopp, appointed four days after Rodgers’ sacking in 2015, who has overseen Liverpool’s transformation in the intervening years. But the influence of Edwards, promoted to sporting director in 2016, has been no less significant.
“His contribution to our success is clear for everyone to see,” Klopp said of the man responsible for the signings of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker and many others.
In fact, with the exception of academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold, Edwards played a key role in identifying and recruiting all of the players who started Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City, shaping a side – and indeed squad – now pursuing an historic quadruple under Klopp.
His impending departure will be a significant loss to Liverpool, who plan to replace him with his assistant, Julian Ward, at the end of the season. His immense contribution to the club’s recent success also provides food for thought for their opponents on Tuesday.
Manchester United head to Anfield languishing 19 points behind their old rivals, and the gap has only grown wider since Ralf Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on an interim basis in November.
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Rangnick represents United’s fifth managerial appointment since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. Come the end of the season, four of them – starting with Louis van Gaal – will have been and gone in the time since Klopp’s arrival at Anfield seven years ago.
The club now hope Ajax manager Erik ten Hag will bring an end to the instability and steer United back to their former heights. The Dutchman is said to have agreed a three-year deal to take over in the summer, with an option for a further year.
He faces a major challenge to change United’s fortunes but Liverpool’s rise under Klopp shows no manager can shoulder that responsibility alone. If Ten Hag is to bring success on the pitch, he will need his own Edwards-like figure in the background.
Ten Hag had that at Ajax, working closely with their now departed director of football affairs Marc Overmars for much of his tenure to build a side capable of dominating the Eredivisie and even reaching a Champions League semi-final.
But it is down to United to show they can provide the same kind of support.
They have at least belatedly modernised their structure behind the scenes, making John Murtough, previously head of football development, their first-ever football director while former midfielder Darren Fletcher has come in as technical director.
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Matt Judge, formerly Ed Woodward’s right-hand man, continues to work on transfers and contract negotiations while Richard Arnold has taken over from Woodward as chief executive officer.
The worry, though, is that all of those individuals have been involved, in at least some capacity, in the construction of the Manchester United squad as it is now – unbalanced, eye-wateringly expensive, and in urgent need of an overhaul.
So, while Klopp’s squad is fine-tuned to his needs, with every signing acquired to fit a specific footballing philosophy, Ten Hag will inherit a mish-mash of players who have been recruited under a string of different managers, all with their own ideas of how to play.
Most damning of all, though, is that despite finishing more than 30 points behind Liverpool in two of the last three Premier League seasons, Manchester United have spent significantly more on their current squad – £731m to Liverpool’s £612m.
The decision-making process will need to improve drastically when it comes to recruitment and patience will be required too.
Liverpool did not overhaul their squad in one window; they did it gradually. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah arrived a year apart. Alisson and Fabinho came a year after that.
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Manchester United supporters will feel they have already experienced their fair share of disappointment in recent years. They are desperate to see immediate improvement. But it is worth remembering Klopp won nothing in his first three seasons at Liverpool, not even finishing higher than fourth in the Premier League.
It was a long and bumpy road to where they are now and the same journey lies ahead for United under Ten Hag if they are to replicate their rivals’ resurgence.
Before it begins, Tuesday’s trip to Anfield, to face a side who put five goals past them in October, may serve as a reminder of the ground they have to make up.
Watch Liverpool vs Man Utd live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm on Tuesday; kick-off 8pm
Ten Hag can’t close Liverpool gap alone
Source: Healthy Lifestyle
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