FSG have appointed Benfica technical director Pedro Marques as director of football development, another sign of how the owners want Liverpool and their potential other clubs to be run.
Along with Michael Edwards becoming executive director of football for FSG, the owners have now appointed former Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward as technical director and Marques as director of football development.
At 41, Marques will leave Benfica after six successful years as their technical director.
During his time at the Portuguese giants, he developed a reputation for helping to develop a conveyor belt of brilliant young footballers.
He has done this by creating a structure where players can thrive in an excellent academy complex with clear principles and philosophy.
The imposition of culture
Speaking on the Training Ground Guru 2023 podcast, Marques explained the importance of a clear style of play across the club.
He said: “If you look at our teams, we like to think that even if you play without a shirt you will recognize the way we play. This applies to game systems, even if we have a base that evolves from five-a-side to 11-a-side.
“In the 11-a-side we play mostly with a 4-3-3 base, although in the first team we now play more with a 4-4-2.
“It’s not so much about the system as it is about principles and ideas and what we want to show on the pitch in terms of identity and connection with the fans.
“That style of play is the basis for everything we do. It’s about intensity, having the initiative in the game, playing with the ball, pressing high, recovering quickly, scoring a lot of goals, creating a lot of chances.”
It is those two back lines that will appeal the most to Liverpool’s owners, as they try to maintain a similar philosophy at Liverpool and transfer it to new clubs they might buy.
To begin with, he will spend time on Merseyside and his job will require him to work with Liverpool’s new sporting director, Richard Hughes, and academy director Alex Inglethorpe.
How did he get here?
Twenty years ago, Marques became an academy coach at Sporting and quickly became their head of performance, analysis and scouting.
This led to him getting a job at Man City as an analyst under Roberto Mancini.
He did this for four years before being promoted to global head of football performance for City Football Group.
In 2018, he returned home to Portugal to become Benfica’s technical director, a role in which he has excelled and helped maintain Benfica’s impressive record of producing talented youngsters – recent examples include Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Fabio Silva.
Six years later he returned to England, officially working for FSG, although his early work should be primarily based on the Reds.
A meeting with Liverpool
Back in 2019, you may remember that Liverpool played a behind-closed-doors friendly against Benfica B before the Champions League final.
The Athletic report that it was Ward who contacted Marques from Liverpool while working under Edwards.
This is because Ward and Marques know each other from their time at Man City.
Prior to that, Ward also spent time as Portugal’s head of analysis and technical scouting, so he will have his future colleague on his radar very often.
His new role
Marques will take up his new role as FSG’s Director of Football Development on 1 June.
It’s a job that is expected to involve maintaining the style and culture of football throughout Liverpool, before moving on to work with other clubs.
Described by Athletic as “erudite, multilingual and affable”, the Portuguese could be the perfect man to help build a dynasty after Jurgen Klopp’s departure.
