FSG’s appointment of Benfica’s technical director, Pedro Marques, as their director of soccer improvement is one other signal of how the homeowners need Liverpool and their potential different golf equipment to be run.
Together with Michael Edwards turning into CEO of soccer for FSG, the homeowners have now appointed ex-Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward as their technical director and Marques as director of soccer improvement.
At 41, Marques will depart Benfica after serving efficiently as their technical director for six years.
Whereas with the Portuguese giants, he has gained a repute for serving to to develop a conveyor belt of sensible younger footballers.
He has completed that by making a construction wherein the gamers can thrive at a wonderful academy complicated with clear ideas and philosophy.
Imposing a tradition
Talking on the Coaching Floor Guru podcast in 2023, Marques defined the significance of getting a transparent fashion of play all through the membership.
He mentioned: “If you happen to look to our groups, we prefer to suppose that even for those who play with no shirt you’d recognise the best way we play. That’s with reference of methods of play, even when we now have a base that evolves from five-a-side to 11-a-side.
“In 11-a-side we play largely from a 4-3-3 base, though within the first staff now we’re enjoying extra with a 4-4-2.
“It isn’t a lot concerning the system because the ideas and concepts and what we need to present on the pitch when it comes to the identification and reference to the followers.
“That fashion of play is a base for every part we do. It’s about depth, having initiative on the sport, to play with the ball, press excessive, regain shortly, to attain plenty of targets, to create plenty of probabilities.”
It’s these final two traces that can most attraction to Liverpool’s homeowners, as they attempt to preserve an analogous philosophy at Liverpool and switch it to new golf equipment they could buy.
To start out with, he’ll spend time on Merseyside and his job would require him to work with Liverpool’s new sporting director, Richard Hughes, and academy director Alex Inglethorpe.
How he acquired right here
Twenty years in the past, Marques turned an academy coach at Sporting and shortly rose to change into their head of efficiency, evaluation and scouting.
This led to him getting a job at Man Metropolis as an analyst below Roberto Mancini.
He did this for 4 years earlier than being promoted to the worldwide lead of soccer efficiency for the Metropolis Soccer Group.
In 2018, he returned residence to Portugal to change into Benfica’s technical director, a task wherein he excelled and helped preserve Benfica’s spectacular file of manufacturing proficient children – current examples embody Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Fabio Silva.
Six years later he’s again in England, working formally for FSG, although his early work must be based totally across the Reds.
A gathering with Liverpool
Again in 2019, you might bear in mind Liverpool performed a behind-closed-doors pleasant match in opposition to Benfica B earlier than the Champions League closing.
The Athletic report that it was Ward who contacted Marques from Liverpool’s finish, whereas he was working below Edwards.
This is because of Ward and Marques realizing one another from their time at Man Metropolis.
Earlier than that, Ward additionally frolicked as Portugal’s head of study and technical scouting, so can have had his future colleague very a lot on the radar.
His new position
Marques will take up his new position as FSG’s director of soccer improvement on June 1.
It’s a job that’s anticipated to ivolve sustaining a method and tradition of learn how to play soccer all through Liverpool, earlier than he strikes on to work with different golf equipment.
Described by The Athletic as “erudite, multilingual and affable,” the Portuguese may very well be the proper man to assist create a dynasty after Jurgen Klopp‘s departure.
