Liverpool may be a manager’s club but there’s no question that the brilliance of the data department and sporting director has enhanced their recent success on the pitch.
Michael Edwards was most certainly the pinnacle, utilising a data-heavy approach that has yielded some significant signings over the years – including Mo Salah, formerly of Roma.
However, the dawn of AI and the increasing integration into scouting may mean that reduce the power of the average sporting director, it has been suggested.
“A lot of the advances in artificial intelligence will reduce the power of the sporting director and change the way scouting is done, I believe,” ex-Everton CEO Keith Wyness spoke on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast.
“The likes of Dan Ashworth evolved in an era where data wasn’t quite as important as it is now. Data came to the fore with Michael Edwards and the guys at Liverpool, really, probably in the last five to six years.
“It’s being refined to an extent where the smaller clubs can get access to the same level of information now. I think that may reduce the importance of a sporting director, to a degree.
“It’s going to be easier for other, smaller clubs to combat them.
“One of the great skills of a sporting director is assembling a huge database and network – and that is being made easier with AI. That’s where I think the change will come.”
The Reds are understood to be prioritising a search for a new sporting director before landing a Jurgen Klopp successor.
READ MORE: Forget Salah: £140k-p/w Liverpool teammate will be key to unlocking Chelsea
READ MORE: Surprise managerial candidate ranked superior to Alonso & De Zerbi as Klopp successor
Data: Football’s great equaliser?
With money often enforcing typical roles in the English top-flight and beyond, the idea of data and AI levelling the playing field for big and small clubs alike is something that genuinely appeals.
Brighton and Hove Albion have demonstrated for several years now how to maintain success on the pitch by identifying talent well before their competitors.
Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo are the two most recent prominent examples, with both having since signed for Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.
A Liverpool sporting director is still integral
Whilst data and AI will undoubtedly help take at least some of the mental load away from sporting directors, the role will undoubtedly remain integral to the future success of the club.
It can come down to something as simple as an individual’s ability to challenge the manager, as Michael Edwards did when preaching the value of Salah as a signing over Jurgen Klopp’s favoured option of Julian Brandt.
Likewise, interpersonal skills when it comes to arranging contracts and spearheading innovation across the data department will all remain invaluable abilities.
Don’t underestimate how important the role will remain.