After Gareth Bale's sensational £85.3m move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, there was, despite losing one of the best attacking players in world Football, a sense of optimism around White Heart Lane. Tottenham had a genuine chance to become challengers for the Premier League title and the chance to become a force in European football. What followed was a 6th place finish in the Premier League and the realisation that Spurs had quite possibly wasted the Bale money. Who was calling the shots at Tottenham? It certainly wasn't Tim Sherwood. Franco Baldini and Chaiman Daniel Levy were held responsible for signing the likes of: Vlad Chriches, Roberto Saldado, Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli; all players with good potential and proven (Saldado) but not good enough.
For the sale of Bale Spurs fans expected top class players in return to build a team with strength that could challenge the likes of City and Chelsea. A mistake that should not be made again.
Luis Suarez almost fired Steven Gerrard and Liverpool to their first Premier League title last season. As we know a painful end to a positive campaign left Liverpool in second place and without Luis Suarez after he got his favoured move to join Messi and co at Barcelona. Nevertheless, a positive atmosphere remained at Anfield like it did at White Heart Lane after the sale of their star man. The possibility of spending the Suarez money on players capable of challenging again for title and strengthening for the Champions League excited Liverpool fans.
We are 11 games into the new season and the excitement around Anfield has faded. Brendan Rodgers' men are 11th in the table and already 15 points behind the unstoppable Chelsea. Last season certainly looks a distant memory. Tottenham spent £105m after the sale of Bale while Liverpool have spent £116.8m; one big difference from the two is that Brendan Rodgers brought these players while Tim Sherwood certainly didn't at Tottenham.
Rodgers took a huge gamble spending £16m on Mario Balotelli to become Suarez's replacement. A gamble which isn't paying off as the Italian has failed to find the net in the league this season. Alberto Moreno looks a decent signing but Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana's price tags are starting to look a bit excessive. Dejan Lovren cost the club £20m from Southampton but Liverpool are still conceding goals; with 11 games played last season they conceded 10 goals, at the same stage this season they have conceded 15 goals already,the price tag on Liverpool's new centre back Lovren is now seaming extremely excessive especially when they sold the ever reliable Daniel Agger for just £2m.
Lazar Markovic and Emre Can didn't come cheap but look like one's for the future, although like Spurs, the Liverpool fans would have liked to see the money be spent on players that can make an impact on the big stages now rather than future prospects.
Rodgers and the new recruits still have time to prove me wrong but with the performances so far this season its hard to believe they will. Rodgers' tactical naivety against Chelsea last season cost them when it really mattered and you do start to wonder that maybe Luis Suarez was painting over the cracks of a manager who was sacked by Reading. He didn't have an alternative to playing 'attractive football' when he came up against Mourinho's stubborn side last season and with the signings made this campaign Liverpool certainly have not improved since the sale of Suarez; the phrase 'doing a spurs' seems to be sticking to Liverpool or more accurately Brendan Rodgers.
Its too early to say they've blown the money like Spurs did but its heading in that direction. Lessons should be learnt from Spurs that selling a Lamborghini and replacing it with ten Mazda sports is not quite the same.
