[article]Former Liverpool striker Erik Meijer has revealed his impressions of the club's new sporting director.
The Reds have appointed Jorg Schmadtke in the role for the summer transfer window.
The former Wolfsburg man will be tasked with helping Jurgen Klopp revamp his first team squad.
“I think if you get a chance like this, a chance you didn't expect to get, then you have to take it," Meijer told the Liverpool Echo.
“Why not? I think everybody would do that. Working for a first-class club.
“I think when Jorg Schmadtke was honest to himself, he wasn't ready yet to retire. To sit down or to go to his house in Ibiza and do nothing.
“He is still a football man. I think he got a little bit restless, and then Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool came calling. And then he woke up. His eyes start shining again and he's up for the job.
“Yeah, it was a little bit of a surprise, I must be honest. Because he didn't work for the big clubs. That makes a difference. Now it's up to him to show everybody that he could do the same work on a higher level.
“He's a guy where what you see is what you get. He built up a good reputation in Germany. He's a guy that didn't make the biggest of transfers in Germany, but for the clubs that he worked for, he made something out of the money that they had.
“Liverpool can buy good players but if Man City or Manchester United comes around, sometimes it's difficult to compete with them with the amount of money that they have. Then you have to be smart, you have to be clever, and that's exactly the job that Jorg knows."[/article]