In an extract from the book How to Win the Premier League, Ian Graham reveals the process behind Liverpool’s capture of the Brazilian in 2015
In the weeks leading up to my first day as director of research at Liverpool [in 2012], I could barely sleep. It was the club I’d supported since I was a child. The new owners had proven in baseball they’d adopt a data-driven approach. I would be working with Eddy [Michael Edwards] again. The combination of his expert opinion on players, honed during his years as a video analyst, and my data analysis would make us unstoppable in the transfer market.
Eddy had also recruited Barry Hunter and Dave Fallows, who would soon arrive from Manchester City. They would overhaul Liverpool’s scouting department. But everything immediately went wrong. Before I, and the other new hires, started, Liverpool had to replace their manager, Kenny Dalglish. The choice was between Brendan Rodgers or Roberto Martínez. Brendan was the stronger candidate and was chosen. FSG were concurrently searching for a director of football to replace Damien [Comolli]. The search was unexpectedly cut short when Brendan used a media interview on his first day in the job to say: “I am better when I have control … I wouldn’t directly work with a director of football … If you want to have a sporting director, get him in and then you can pick your manager from there but if you do I won’t be the manager.”
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