Liverpool sack club director

Liverpool have enjoyed a strong start to the new Premier League season. Liverpool have been given a boost after top European director Max Eberl was dismissed by RB Leipzig on Friday.

The 50-year-old, who has been linked with a move to Anfield, spent just under two years as sporting director at the Red Bull Arena but has been let go due to his “failure to commit to the club.”

Liverpool have enjoyed huge success since Jurgen Klopp took over as manager in 2015 and have won a whole host of trophies under the German, including the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Much of the Merseysiders’ success coincided with Michael Edwards’ time as the club’s sporting director, with the 44-year-old responsible for helping to secure the services of the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson.

Edwards departed Anfield in June 2022, with his prodigy Julian Ward subsequently stepping up from technical director to replace him. But Ward only lasted a year in the position before quitting the club. And in the summer he was replaced by Jorg Schmadtke, who had previously worked at Wolfsburg.

But Schmadtke is only contracted at Anfield until next summer, and there are already suggestions that he may not remain in the north west beyond his current deal. Liverpool could do with another Edwards in their backroom set-up to help them build a team that can compete on all fronts in the years to come. And Eberl could be the ideal candidate.

Eberl is highly regarded in Germany and has been lauded for his ability to get deals through. He has an outstanding knowledge of European football and is clearly someone who has the credentials to succeed in the Premier League.

And he is well-known to Liverpool chiefs, having worked with the Reds in the summer over the transfer of Dominik Szoboszlai to Anfield and the loan move of Fabio Carvalho in the other direction. So Liverpool may do all they can to try and lure the German to the north east.

“RB Leipzig have relieved Max Eberl of his duties with immediate effect,” wrote the German side in a statement of Friday afternoon. “His failure to commit to the club has led to us making this decision. It has nothing to do with the squad’s rebuild or results on the pitch. Sporting director Rouven Schroder will take over. We would like to thank Max for his work and wish him all the best for the future.”

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said his days as a Liverpool fan are long gone as he aims to end the Reds’ unbeaten start to the season on Saturday.

The Australian grew up supporting Liverpool during a glory era at Anfield in the 1970s.

“It was the 70s so you could have gone one or two ways as they only used to show Liverpool or Man Utd back then,” said Postecoglou at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“I had a couple of mates went the United way and I went with Liverpool to make it interesting.

“Look, I used to love (TV show) Happy Days back then but I don’t have posters of The Fonz on my wall now.”

If Postecoglou’s ardour for Liverpool has cooled, he is still a big fan of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and credited the German with being one of the few coaches to inspire change in the Premier League.

“Jurgen is an outstanding manager, he’s one of the managers I think it’s fair to say who has made an impact on the competition, not just his club,” added the former Celtic boss.

“Because when he came in, with the way Liverpool went about things, he challenged quite a few of the conventions about the Premier League and introduced a new style of play that others have followed.

“It’s a great test for where we are at the moment in terms of our development.”

MATCH DAY NEWS

Tottenham sit just two points behind Liverpool and four adrift of leaders Manchester City after an impressive unbeaten start to the Premier League in six games since Postecoglou took charge.

However, their chances of maintaining that run could rest heavily on the availability of captain Son Heung-min and James Maddison.

Son scored twice from Maddison assists in a 2-2 draw at Arsenal last weekend, but the pair were later forced off due to knocks.

Both trained on Friday, but Postecoglou admitted they remain a doubt.

“We’ll just have to see how they pull up as it’s fair to say they were a bit sore after last week and had a bit of an interrupted week training,” he said.