“A genius” – What it’s like to work with “world class” Michael Edwards at Liverpool

With Michael Edwards returning to a position of influence at Liverpool, the Reds’ former CEO, Peter Moore, gave an insight into what he’s like to work with.

Bill Shankly once said: “At a Football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.”

Once upon a time this was true, and perhaps it still should be today.

However, such is the nature of modern football, supporters want to know everything about their club and what happens behind the scenes.

With Jurgen Klopp on his way out, owners Fenway Sports Group are seeking stability – and have recruited the Reds’ former sporting director, Edwards, as part of their expansion.

Taking up a role as FSG’s CEO of Football, Edwards will have a more overarching position this time around, including overseeing the purchase of another club.

His return to Liverpool has been welcomed by fans, one of whom is Peter Moore, who worked alongside Edwards in his role as chief executive from 2017 to 2020 and knows how much of an asset the “genius” can be.

Speaking to This Is Anfield, Moore said: “He is a deep analytical person. He kind of got going at Portsmouth with this idea of data.

“I grew up in Football playing in the ’70s; scouting was like grizzled old guys go to Stoke on a Tuesday night with a notepad and looking at a kid playing.

“It has evolved immensely, and a little bit of influence from America with Moneyball and what’s known as Sabermetrics, and American sports which are more akin to being analysed because there are more metrics, particularly in baseball.

“Michael will tell you that he is very focused on that, and I will always call him a genius.

“They’ve got these blinkers on of ‘this is what my job is and this is what I’m going to do and I’m going to do it in a world-class level and anything else is a distraction’.”

Since Edwards left Liverpool in 2022, there have been two sporting directors. Julian Ward took over initially but only stayed in the job until summer 2023, before Jorg Schmadtke’s short tenure.

Moore went on to say how he is “delighted” that Liverpool will have Edwards back in the fold.

He explained: “Particularly with Jurgen now leaving, I’m delighted that when you have such disruption, the more you can bring back the structure of how things were, the better off the club will be.”

With Edwards’ return confirmed, Liverpool have also appointed Richard Hughes as their new sporting director.

The 44-year-old Glaswegian will leave Bournemouth at the end of the season, and his appointment will then allow for Liverpool to properly put in place plans to hire a new manager.

It will be a summer of change at Liverpool, but they will be in good hands to make the transition a smooth one, on and off the pitch.