Michael Edwards

What we've kind of brought ourselves away from.

But if you go back and look at the way the Klopp team was built by Michael Edwards and Ian Graham, and Klopp obviously as well, but like those two running the front office side, Tony Bloom took our model and just ramped it up.

Obviously the fee side, they spend less per player than we used to.

But this is the way.

Doesn't mean he will be, you know, at 26 games played.

But by January, you will have a good indication, won't you? It's going to be very hard for anyone to, turn it around or change it too much halfway through the season managers know who their best teams are they're managing their squads aren't they and you know how do we get through it so I think up until January there might still be time to change things but by January especially we're always told that Liverpool and Michael Edwards and everything at their peak thought windows ahead you need to be ready for that window.

You need to be planning already around here what you're going to do in the summer, who stays, who goes.

So these next 15 games are going to be crucial for us because we'll then be able to say, listen, this is 26 games.

in the piece, he's talking about instead of Liverpool buying another club, forming relationships with other teams, which is really interesting development, James.

Yeah, so it kind of goes back to, you know, when you think back to the kind of when Michael Edwards came back in, what, 2024 and then Julian Ward obviously followed him shortly after.

We know that the big thing for Edwards was FSG's commitment to buying a second club and the fact that they then didn't deliver on that promise was why essentially he walked away last summer.

So, you know, I think I've written about it a few times in terms of, you know, which clubs it was they had a good look at and why they didn't.

So makes perfect sense that Julian has decided that, that's what he wants to do, and that is a big change from, from the old setups.

Uh, obviously, that, that wasn't the case under the likes of, you know, of, of Michael Edwards in year, i-years gone by, or Richard Hughes, et cetera.

Um, that is one of the, the projects that Julian has really started and getting his teeth sunk, stuck into, alongside, of course, there's, there's issues around Liverpool squad.

I mentioned before Alex Scott and his transfers, maybe contracts, Alexis Macarthur, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, et cetera.

And like, that's rich coming from me, I guess, as a United fan.

But like, when you think of what Liverpool were under Klopp, with Michael Edwards at the, who was it after Edwards? Was it Richard Hughes? Richard Hughes.

I felt like there was a period where you were getting every signing spot on.

And it felt like it was just

That's not to say that Klopp didn't have a say, but it was very much driven by the data model.

And so between Graham's model and Michael Edwards' ability to read the data, he was the technical director, sporting director at the time.

He knew which players to target.

He could look at the data and then kind of overlay it with the database of players.

They were good players for Liverpool, particularly Luis Diaz.

But they weren't an upgrade on what Liverpool had previously had.

And this period coincided with people like Ian Graham and Michael Edwards leaving the club.

Edwards would subsequently return to the club, but there was this weird period of uncertainty in the front office for Liverpool.

Yeah, I, I mean, I, I, I think when...

I think when big clubs have been invested in or taken over in recent years, most of, most people who have bought into those clubs have looked at Liverpool, you know, particularly the kind of Michael Edwards round one era of Liverpool and the player trading model and, you know, the way that they took players, as Rob said, from Southampton and, and found good value.

I, I, I think for sure Andy Robertson, Mane, Wijnaldum, you know, Henderson, you can go on and on, Firmino, et cetera.

So I think there was a lot of admiration for Liverpool and there was also a lot of admiration for the ownership, particularly from US sports ex-executives who, like, looked at them and thought, "God, these guys make, are making money in a loss-making league." Right.

We've got one division two.

Michael, I know you've done a few videos on it.

What's your mind now? Because I don't know about you guys.

My mind changes every time there's new evidence or new wording or new substance to it.

I think, oh, okay.

Maybe.

Where are you at now, Michael?

Do you want a short answer? Because the boys have been quite short and sweet and I don't want to take too much time.