Why Tottenham and Liverpool are in the same boat

15 August 2015 - Barclays Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Stoke City - Dejected Tottenham players after letting a 2 goal lead slip with the match ending in a 2-2 draw - Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

So the powers that be at Liverpool bit the bullet and decided to part ways with manager Brendan Rodgers. I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the Northern Irishman as his situation mirrors that of Andre Villas-Boas two seasons ago at Spurs. And here’s why.

Unfortunately, for us and Liverpool, chasing dreams of finishing in the elusive top four, in today’s economic climate, it is unrealistic to expect to hold onto our top players. The fact of the matter is, regardless of reputation, the four clubs that hold those positions on the most part can offer much higher wages than the chasing pack. This makes holding onto our stars, and attracting top quality talent very hard to achieve.

As a result, the transfer policy of both clubs is to buy young, and hope that these players turn into stars. Sometimes, these young players that have turned into stars have to be sold at a profit (Bale, Sterling, Modric etc). It has to be this way unfortunately, it’s the only way we can compete with the clubs above us, financially. Who can say, when the next transfer window comes along, if we’ll be able to hold onto Christian Eriksen, or them to Coutinho?

Both clubs have a transfer committee making decisions on which players to sign, it is not solely up to the manager, so I don’t think Brendan Rodgers should be to blame for those signings not working out. The ‘Suarez money’ was spent in almost identical fashion to the ‘Bale money’.

While some of the signings have worked out for both teams, the majority have so far been failures. Rodgers himself said “if you spend £100million you should be challenging for the title” so in that respect, he dug his own grave, but I can’t help but feel that he, like AVB, could’ve been afforded more time.

Erik Lamela is now in his third season with the club, and is only in the last couple of games starting to show his worth. Similarly, a lot of the Liverpool players brought in could still turn out to be great players, but as we all know, these things take time. And time is not something that is afforded to managers in this day and age.

We’re both in the same boat. Both chasing top four ambitions, both with a great history, and both, unfortunately, have been overtaken in recent years by clubs with more money. It’s a simple fact, and one that us as fans need to get used to.

How fitting then, that up next on the fixture list, Liverpool travel to White Hart Lane, presumably with their new manager, whoever he may be, in place. It is going to be a massive game, but I just feel, for them, it’ll be too soon for the new man. In my opinion, we’re a couple of years ahead of them in terms of development and building for the future, as all clubs in our position have to do.

With the form of Dele Alli, Eriksen and Lamela, I think that we’ll have too much for them on the day. Unfortunately Eric Dier will be suspended, and that is a real shame because he has been a revelation this season. But I think we’ll cope and I fully expect us to win the game.

COYS

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