Liverpool sporting director Joerg Schmadtke has revealed he will initially only hold the position for the duration of the summer transfer window, but could stay longer.

The Reds confirmed on Wednesday morning that Schmadtke will replace Julian Ward as sporting director at Anfield from the start of June – Ward himself had only been in the job for a year following an internal promotion to replace Michael Edwards last summer.

Schmadtke, once a Bundesliga goalkeeper during his own playing career, has more than 20 years’ experience as a sporting director in Germany and most recently served in that role at Wolfsburg until January 2023.

Liverpool is the 59-year-old’s first overseas job and will initially be temporary.
“Our cooperation is initially planned for three months,” Schmadtke told Sport1 in Germany. “I will start on June 1st. After three months we will evaluate the collaboration. If we like each other, we can work together even after the transfer period. Let’s see. Then we continue or not”.

Liverpool withdrew from the race to sign Jude Bellingham in April due to the prohibitive cost and Schmadtke joked that he hasn’t been budgeted yet for the summer. However, he also stressed that the focus will be on the small details, which often determine the success of a transfer.

“I don’t have a budget yet [laughs…” he said. “Seriously, transfers are always complicated. When a player goes from A to B, it’s usually small things that are hard to influence and have nothing to do with making money. For example, how the player fits into his family in the city, what place he should take in the team, how to show his best performance. You have to take this into account. The fees associated with these transfers are almost negligible.

Schmadtke will also have to adapt quickly to a new way of working, admitting that German football managers tend to have less ‘influence’ over transfer decisions than they do in England. In that regard, Jurgen Klopp, whose agent was the one who recommended Schmadtke to Liverpool, will continue to play an important role in choosing the players the club wants to sign.
“Jurgen Klopp sets priorities,” explains Schmadtke.

“We’ve paired him with a team of data analysts, scouts and so on, so he can pick from a list of players he wants to work with. Then I organize the transfers with the responsible departments of the club. And in the end the owners have to be satisfied with the investments».

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How Jurgen Klopp’s players rated this season using the numbers we gave them for each of Liverpool’s 52 games

However you choose to dress them, the truth is inevitable: Liverpool have had a very, very disappointing season.
Of course, there is the small consolation of fifth place and Europa League qualification that appeared after the Reds earlier this year.

But the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to finish in the top four for the first time in seven years, meekly giving up the FA Cup and League before embarrassingly slipping out of the Champions League in the round of 16, underscores just how much they have been a disappointing campaign. was
The reasons are well documented.

And the history of the term can be seen in the performances of the players, with ECHO rating Liverpool in their 52 games played in all competitions this season, placing them at 10 for every appearance they have played at least 15 minutes.

Here we then rate the campaign of each player who has made 20 appearances, using their average ratings as a guideline. They are not a particularly good read.

There is one player who shone quite a distance for Liverpool amidst all the darkness. Alisson Becker (6.91) was a consistent star throughout the season, only registering below six times during his 47 scoring appearances.

Mohamed Salah (6.82) is the only other Reds man to reach the goalkeeper from close range, reflecting a season in which, while not his best, he still scored 30 goals and contributed 16 assists, setting a large number of records of the club.

The best of the rest

Ibrahima Konate (6.58) and Virgil van Dijk (6.54) are firmly ensconced as first-choice centre-backs, with the former quite solid and the latter finding rich form in recent weeks.

Diogo Jota’s high placing (6.52) underscores what Liverpool have lacked in attack as the Portuguese was out twice through injury, while Andy Robertson (6.48) remained stable on the left side of defence.

Harvey Elliott (6.45) deserves credit for his consistent performance during darker days, and Cody Gakpo (6.44) overcame a slow start to his Anfield career to finish the season as the most likely to lead striker in the new season.

James Milner (6.42) may have been limited to couch cameo appearances since the new year, but he’s largely got the job done.

Below their best

Darwin Nunez (6.38), another big stalwart, made a decent contribution before Christmas but then recorded just one more cap than 7, scoring twice in a 7-0 win over Manchester United. Trent Alexander-Arnold (6.37) has had periods of real trouble but the switch to the reverse right-back role in recent months has improved his average rating considerably.

Roberto Firmino (6.35) and Thiago Alcantara (6.33) were in good form at times but were hampered by minor injuries.

Meanwhile, Fabinho (6.13) was on course for a particularly dismal season – his substitutes doing little to help – until an in-form rebound saw Liverpool end on a streak of 11 matches unbeaten.
Gotta do better

Joe Gomez (6.08) signed a new contract last summer and established himself as a regular before a surprise Champions League appearance at Napoli tarnished confidence. There was something of a revival in the new year, until another poor result was Wolves’ grueling defeat. Joel Matip (6.05) was another central defender who struggled that afternoon, with his post-Christmas form deeply disappointing.

Jordan Henderson (6.00) has rarely been 100% this season and apart from some notable performances hasn’t been able to influence games as much as he has in recent years, being passed in midfield

At the edges

There were a number of players who didn’t have enough to be included in the overall standings. Luis Diaz (6.84) narrowly missed the cut with 19 appearances and, like Jota, showed what Liverpool had been without for so long.

Teenage midfielder Stefan Bajcetic (6.77) was the breakout star before injury ended his season, while Curtis Jones (6.33) has been impressive in recent weeks after a frustrating campaign on the sidelines.

Fabio Carvalho (6.15) has barely caught a glimpse after Christmas, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (6.00) has had a brief burst of activity into the new year. However, Naby Keita’s performance (5.45) perhaps illustrates why he left the team after not playing since February.