Liverpool journalist reveals ‘shocking front-runner’ for Liverpool sporting director post

Liverpool are said to be close to appointing their next sporting director, with former Wolfsburg sporting director Jorg Schmadtke a “shocking favourite”.

The search for a new boss on the transfer front began in November with the resignation of Julian Ward and has seen Liverpool linked with a myriad of names.

Former Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen Tim Steidten was recently said to be in talks about a move to Merseyside, though the claims were quickly dismissed.

It appears Liverpool have eyed the Bundesliga for their next fixture, but the Telegraph reports talks with Schmadtke.

Matt Law and Sam Wallace break the news of talks between Liverpool and the 59-year-old, who is currently unemployed after his spell at Wolfsburg ended in January.

Talks with Schmadtke have “accelerated” in recent days, to the point that the club “seems ready to appoint him” as new sporting director. Liverpool are hoping to secure their next appointment as soon as possible, with plans already underway for the summer transfer window.

Ward is currently still involved in negotiations and the search for his successor, but the current incumbent is expected to leave at the end of the season.

Schmadtke is known for “recruitment that maintains the value of the budgets allocated to him”, but also for a history of friction between him and the managers he has worked with.

However, he is described as an ‘ally of Klopp’, suggesting he could work closely with the Liverpool manager.

Before joining the back office, Schmadtke was a goalkeeper and spent most of his career at Fortuna Düsseldorf and SC Freiburg in his native Germany. He held similar sporting director positions at Alemannia Aachen, Hannover 96 and 1. FC Köln and worked at Wolfsburg for four and a half years.

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‘Good signs for the future’ – 5 key takeaways from Klopp’s post-Brentford press conference

After Liverpool beat Brentford 1-0, Jurgen Klopp called Mo Salah “a great player of all time” and said there were “lots of good signs” for the future.

Here are five key takeaways from the manager’s post-match press conference…

Salah is “an all time greatness”

After Salah scored his 100th goal at Anfield, making it his ninth in a row, Klopp praised his striker.

The manager said: “After his career he will be considered as great as we all know.

“Now that he’s in his career, some people might not like him, but we do!

“Right now he deserves all the credit and he will get even more after his career.”

He is revered by the Reds, that’s for sure.

Klopp was asked about the national anthem boos

It’s not the first time he has had to speak on this subject and after the game Klopp said: “We have freedom of speech, freedom of expression. “It was clear it was going to happen, it’s normal that it happened. People showed that they weren’t always happy, the people of Liverpool, the city or the club.”

Every word, Juergen.
The German added: “Today is above all a great day for England. I respect that a lot, everyone who wants to be happy, who wants to celebrate it.”

It was ‘the best standard defensive session’ Klopp had ever seen

Liverpool had to work hard for this game and unlike Tottenham, the Reds managed to hold on when Richarlison headed home from a late free-kick.

The Reds conceded a lot of free-kicks in dangerous areas against the Bees and had to give their best. Fortunately, it was “the best defensive set piece session I’ve ever seen,” said Klopp.
He added: “Brentford has a lot of qualities, but set pieces are super special. The attention and concentration we showed, against the best team I’ve ever seen set pieces.

“Everyone we had in the row of eight came forward and knew very well what was needed. It was great.”

The Reds now have to wait nine days for their next game

Klopp was thankful for the break, playing three straight midweeks.

“If we played again on Tuesday, we would be completely devastated. You could see a team [Brentford] had a whole week today” the coach noted.

Klopp is right. Some Liverpool players have started each of their last eight consecutive games and some have looked ‘long-legged’ as they chased the ball.
Fortunately, the Reds should be fresher for the trip to Leicester on Monday 15 May. 

Liverpool have shown “good signs” for next season

Since the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in early April, Liverpool are starting to grow in a changed system and things are looking better for next season.
While the win over Brentford wasn’t a classic, Klopp suggested there were positives

“Today it’s not going to be a game that people will tell their grandchildren about, but the fighting, focus and concentration were outstanding,” said the German.
He added that there were “a lot of good signs for what we might look like in the future.”

We take his form to the last three games of the season, Reds!