Liverpool have finally been crowned Premier League champions!
Jurgen Klopp predicted in his very first press conference that he would do it in 4 years and by the skin of his big shiny white teeth he did it …and in some style.
This success we are now witnessing was somewhat simply built on an incredibly smart and brave recruitment strategy set in motion many years ago.
Klopp and the team take all the plaudits, but one of the main men behind the scenes is Michael Edwards, Liverpool's sporting director, who plays a huge part in recruitment strategy working closely with Jurgen Klopp and the scouting team.
Several years ago Liverpool set out to build a flawless team buying up players like Mane, Salah and Firmino all for c£40m. These players were all in their early to mid-20s and all had potential but were not yet world beaters. The real genius in this strategy was to create a whole team that would all peak together.
As an example Mohammed Salah wasn't great in his first UK stint with Chelsea at the tender age of 22. He was younger and less experienced then but now at 28 he is considered one of the world's best players and has the trophies to match. And whilst there is a lot more that goes into it, age is a key factor. It's easy to look at players like Wayne Rooney or Leo Messi who were dominating the game form their teenage years but these are the elite, the unusually gifted… the freaks even, who buck the trend. The vast majority of football players and indeed any professional person, takes time to evolve via a culmination of coaching, experience and development.
Liverpool by design now have the highest percentage [by a significant margin] of players in their prime footballing age (26-29) in the whole Premier League. They recover quickly, rarely get injured, they all have astute tactical awareness and high game IQ. All these factors generally come together at this stage in a player's career where they start to deliver their full potential. And it is happening in abundance at Liverpool right now and the results are staggering.
There is a huge amount of analysis behind Liverpool's signings and the timing of their signings to ensure that this vision was realised. And we as businesses can learn a lot from this to achieve our own goals.
The key thing is to set out a target and a vision and the steps to achieve it and then stick to it. People make things happen and building a correct recruitment strategy today for what you want to achieve going forward is absolutely essential. Look for the potential in people and the synergy between different people to ultimately create your best team of people.
Here at KennedyPearce we work on a consultative basis with all our clients, constantly learning lessons from all walks of business and life, including the less obvious places like sport, to try to give us that edge to help our clients grow and succeed.
If you have any recruitment requirements, want to discuss the market or a general recruitment strategy please get in touch with one of our specialist consultants…and don't worry we don't all support Liverpool!