by RETURN OF THE SON
Michael Edwards has been one of the key players in Liverpool’s return to relevance for the past decade, but he could probably stroll past Anfield on a matchday without being noticed. An obscure but influential figure in his previous stint at the club, Edwards is very much the silent tech boffin you find in every heist movie; a man of few words who can remove the doors of a casino vault in 60 seconds. He left the club in 2022 but is now back for one last job. With Fenway Sports Group desperate to inject some positivity into the post-Jürgen Klopp void ahead, they have brought back the former Liverpool sporting director to take on a wider and more senior role this summer; someone familiar to usher in a strange new era on Merseyside.
The 44-year-old, who made a name for himself under Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth and Tottenham before spending 10 years at Liverpool, is “one of the greatest executive talents in world football”. Not our words, but those of FSG president Mike Gordon who will happily deposit the contents of his inbox on Edwards’ desk in May. At the top of the pile is a Post-It labeled XABI ALONSO, but there are plenty more for the returning boardroom wizard to get stuck into. He is expected to bring in a new sporting director in Richard Hughes, who played under Redknapp at Pompey before becoming a small-time technical director at Bournemouth. Edwards also intends to tackle the multi-club market. “One of the biggest factors in my decision was the commitment to acquire and oversee an additional club, adding to this area of their organization,” he said after confirming his return.
During his previous ten years at Anfield, Edwards chose Klopp for the manager’s job and helped assemble the players who gave almost every shiny pot available. Edwards arrived in a season in which Liverpool finished eighth, four points behind Everton. Although he helped the club leave 2012 firmly in the past, Manchester United are currently trying to turn back the clock 12 years to the halcyon days of Team Sky, the London Olympics and competing for titles . Since becoming a minority shareholder at United, Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe has led an influx into the boardroom and succeeded Dave Brailsford and Seb Coe, as he embarks on a rebuilding job at Old Trafford that looks like restructuring Liverpool summer like a thousand red paint. Although Liverpool fans fear relegation like the post-Ferguson b@nter years, their “less resources” approach could be a better option than Ratcliffe’s ambitious plans, which leave questions unanswered. Who’s getting the big corner office? And what exactly do they do under the manager?
That could become clearer after Sunday’s huge FA Cup quarter-final, where Klopp will be looking to end Erik ten Hag’s only hope of a trophy this season. While that particular battle will be decided on the pitch, can the same be said of Liverpool and United’s rivalry going forward? In a year when money worries have stalled the transfer market and more top-flight clubs are standing by their managers, the boardroom feels like the new center of innovation. Why spend millions on players when you can find a block to rebuild your club with a few spreadsheets? Why sack the manager, when you can recruit a slick executive team to support/undermine him as you see fit? For club owners, the possibilities are endless.
LIVE ON A BIG WEBSITE
Join Neil McVeigh from 8pm GMT for minute-by-minute coverage of Arsenal 2-1 Porto (agg: 3-3 aet, 4-5 on penalties), with Will Unwin on deck for Barcelona 2-1 Napoli (agg: 3-2).
STATEMENT OF THE DAY
“It gives us an opportunity to look closely at Craig because he has three competitive games and, without disrespecting the opposition Hearts played in the cup, games where Craig was probably not overworked. So it will be nice to see Craig training with the other backs. Three of those will go to the Euros and one will miss out. That’s the case” – Scotland boss Steve Clarke explains why he called up 79-year-old Craig Gordon for the upcoming friends of Holland and Northern Ireland.
DAILY FOOTBALL LETTERS
Hearts may have beaten Morton in the Scottish Cup on Monday night, but Morton can be proud of their performance – and their opening line which includes the evocative sequence ‘French Blues Power’” – Peter Ó.
In your diatribe against Tin Pot (Yesterday’s Football), I noticed you didn’t use any cute, condescending nicknames for him. I’ll admit that I had a hard time figuring out whether this competition was the Big Cup, the Big Vase or some other reference to the Fairs. We cannot reconcile this by collectively referring to all UEFA money spinners as rookies [Snip – Football Daily Ed]?” – Mike Wilner.
Re: The Fiver Football Daily being funny in 2010 (yesterday’s Football letters)? I seem to remember the odd nasal e-breather over the years but I wouldn’t stand up in a court of law and really accuse the hastily compiled, tin-inspired scribblings on a timely tea email of being funny” – Che Matthews (and others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of our unique letter today is … Piedar Ó (again).
DEFECT RECOMMENDATION
It’s your boy David Squires with his latest cartoon: an imagined future clash between Old Man Pep Guardiola and Old Man Jürgen Klopp.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
The latest Women’s Football Weekly podcast is out of the editing room.
MOVE THE TARGET POSITIONS
In the latest edition of our sister email: Mercury/13, the women’s football consortium, wants to spend £85.5m on a stable of global clubs. They were contacted by Sophie Downey.
‘ONLY 17 YEARS OLD, DO YOU KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN?’
All is not well in Cameroon, where the administrative department of the football confederation (Fecafoot) has gone into overdrive, handing out suspensions left, right and center to 62 players, most of whom are accused of alleged identity and age cheating. Among them is Wilfried Nathan Douala, registered as a 17-year-old, who is an unheralded player from the second division club Victoria United with no previous international experience and surprisingly named by Rigobert Song in the Cameroon squad for the recent Africa Cup of Nations. . This could be bad news for the nations who hope for Afcon in the future. Competition regulations state that if fraud or forgery is committed, the national association concerned will be suspended from the following two editions of the Nations Cup.
NEWS, YEAST AND BOBS
Premier League clubs have managed to secure more money for the EFL, risking a row with the government and potentially pushing chief Richard Masters towards a gold-encrusted door marked Make One.
The FA will ask the amateur club to remove the Palestinian corner flags which caused their under-eights game to be abandoned on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta dropped one of his famous calls ahead of Arsenal’s second leg of the Champions League clash with Porto. “Do it,” he said Sunday morning.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has taken the lead in his side’s 3-2 win over Chelsea. “I don’t think there was anything wrong with our method,” he sniffed. “The FA Cup is our priority now.”
Manuel Akanji has responded to Trent Alexander-Arnold after the Liverpool right-back claimed the Reds’ trophies “would mean more to us and our fans because of the financial situation of both clubs”. Sigh. “If you win three titles in one year, or five like we did last year, it can speak again,” said the Manchester City defender after their 1-1 draw at Anfield. “I do not think so [his words] impressed us.”
Ederson, meanwhile, has the upper hand at City and is likely to miss their crucial meeting with leaders Arsenal on March 31.
Manchester United’s Mason Mount is back, back, back in training after four months on the sidelines.
And the curse of the Big Web interview has struck again: Celta Vigo have skipped Rafa Benítez down Rua Martín Echegaray with the club 17th in La Liga.
STILL ABOUT MORE?
The Belgrade game between Red Star and Partizan is a nice, quiet affair. You know: ultras, the underworld and political dissent. Nick Ames went to Serbia and wrote this.
David Hytner previews Arsenal v Porto as he looks at the struggling Portuguese club and why this could be Sérgio Conceição’s last stand.
And Joseph D’Hippolito explains that women’s football in Latin America is becoming more sophisticated with players competing in the United States of America and more in Europe.
MEMORY LANE
It’s time for the Cheltenham Festival – follow the first day here – so here’s a trip back to March 2006 with Chelsea duo Eidur Gudjohnsen and Frank Lampard in action. Here’s hoping they weren’t on Kauto Star that day.
LOOK AT THAT HERB
