Michael Edwards has a very good reputation at Liverpool, but you just feel it could completely turn on its head with this next managerial appointment.
Many were surprised to see him return to Anfield this season, but it was a welcome return given his great work in his first stint and how the next chapter of the club is now going to be written.
In the first chapter, he helped play a key role in Liverpool winning every trophy possible under Jurgen Klopp’s stewardship, including their first Premier League title in three decades.
But you just feel Michael Edwards’ upcoming call to appoint a new manager is going to either enhance his reputation even further or completely flatten everything that came before it.
That’s probably why Liverpool are going down the road of a ‘brave’ appointment, rather than a crowd favourite that would just fall flat on its face after a few months.
Gary Neville has watched Manchester United decline and decline post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
And there will be some Liverpool fans fearing that the same could happen to them given how important and integral a man like Klopp has been to them.
But with talk of Feyenoord coach Arne Slot being the man to come in, it has left some people by surprise because it isn’t the obvious call.
Neville is one of them and he thinks Edwards is getting his way in possibly bringing in a man like Slot and how the Englishman didn’t see eye-to-eye with Klopp when they previously worked together, as he told Sky Sports.
Nonetheless, amid these Slot rumours, the former Manchester United defender also feels the Dutchman wasn’t Liverpool’s first choice.
Arne Slot as Liverpool manager
“He’s a successful coach in Holland,” said Neville. “I love Dutch coaches. There’s a way of coaching that comes back through some of the great coaches of the game. Obviously, it’s a change going from the Dutch league to the English league. It’s a very different approach to Jurgen Klopp, but I don’t think they could ever really appoint a manager that’s got the personality, character and force of Klopp.
“It’s interesting. It’s obviously something that’s been driven by Michael Edwards, in terms of them wanting a different approach Maybe that’s why Edwards left Liverpool – because he clashed with Klopp. But now he’s got his own way and he’s bringing in someone he thinks is going to take Liverpool forward. We don’t know how that’s going to go. The reality of it is that we’ve seen the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal has been difficult. The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United has been difficult. Klopp is massive in Liverpool so they’ve got to try to get that right.
“We thought it was going to be Xabi Alonso originally and then Ruben Amorim. Now it’s Arne Slot. Maybe he wasn’t No 1 on the list, but the fact of the matter is that, if you can’t pin down who you want, you’ve got to move to the next one on the list. They’ll still have a good coach.”
Can Michael Edwards work his magic again?
Liverpool isn’t a club that splashes crazy money like their rivals, but they have still put money in their pockets and been shrewd in the transfer market.
From Andy Robertson to Virgil van Dijk. Many of them turned out to be absolute gems and they helped put the club back on the map.
But now Edwards has to go again and you feel this will be his most difficult task yet simply because there is a lot more expectation.
And if the fans can be taken on that journey again, then it’s worthwhile and one they would certainly pay for.