As Liverpool edge towards an improbable league title and Tottenham fade away, many have taken the opportunity to compare the differing fortunes of the two clubs. Both teams started the season having finished outside the top four and were looking to break through this season. Both (initially) had young managers with much to prove. Tottenham have slipped up, unable to take advantage of Manchester United’s slide, whilst Liverpool have soared up the table and are now serious contenders, if not favorites, for the title. The obvious question is what did Spurs do wrong and what did Liverpool do right?
Some cite the impact of Liverpool sticking by their manager Brendan Rodgers despite a poor season last year. Others would point to Liverpool’s British base of talent and the rejuvenation of Steven Gerrard as both player and leader. Liverpool’s lack of European football has also been suggested as a factor. All these points may have their merits. But there is one oft-repeated point that is irksome: the Suarez-Bale debate.
The argument goes that Tottenham’s big mistake was selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid while Liverpool stuck to their guns by refusing to sell Luis Suarez. Suarez has since become one of the world’s best footballers at Liverpool. Bale is still one of the world’s best but now plays for Real Madrid, not Tottenham. If only Spurs had held their nerve and not sold their talisman, they could be where Liverpool are now.
This view however, is seriously misguided.
This isn’t to say that Spurs are somehow a better team without Bale. They clearly aren’t this season. What is strange is this comparison between the two situations, as if both players and teams were in identical positions going into this season. There appears to have been a kind of collective amnesia amongst the media, pundits and the wider soccer-watching public. People seem to have forgotten about everything that happened with Suarez last season and the season before and they have also forgotten about Bale’s situation at Tottenham. So let’s call this article a mythbuster: Why the Suarez and Bale sagas shouldn’t be compared.
The Real Madrid Campaign
When most football fans think about Gareth Bale now, the main thing they remember is last season where Bale was scoring wonder goals every other day. After that, perhaps the month long transfer saga that was the prelude to Bale’s eventual move to Madrid. What seems to have been forgotten is that Real Madrid were strongly linked with Bale the season before. As it turned out, it was only Luka Modric who left that summer but the link was already made and Bale made no secret of his desire to play abroad. This was not, as it seems to have been remembered, a case of Real Madrid suddenly making a big play for Bale last summer. This was a move that was nurtured carefully, and consistently pushed along by the biggest club in the world. The culmination was last year’s saga, but this had been on the cards for much longer.
Also, Bale went overseas and ‘Pool didn’t want to sell to an EPL rival.
If the boot was on the other foot, Spurs would not have sold Bale to another EPL club, however, Liverpool might have sold Suarez if a realistic offer came from abroad.
I agree that people forget that Bale wanted to move the season before and apparently there was an understanding that if Spurs didn’t get into the Champions League then he would be allowed to leave. He was always going to leave once Real Madrid made it known that they were serious about his services and made known of about how much they were willing to pay. The so-called saga behind Bale’s leaving was not real as both sides knew what the outcome was going to be. Bale was never going to remain at Spurs.
Suarez did make it known, at the end of the summer, that he would not mind playing for a club in the Champions League and he mentioned Real Madrid. Liverpool did not receive any offers from any club abroad. Only Arsenal made an offer that was rejected. We will never know if Liverpool would have entertained the idea of letting Suarez go abroad had an offer been received. The only thing we know is that Liverpool were intent on not selling him to a rival EPL club.
There is one thing to consider. Liverpool couldn’t replace Suarez. They could sell him, but not replace him. Liverpool wouldn’t be anywhere near top four without Suarez.
Clubs don’t sell their best players unless they have time to replace them. So if Liverpool had sold Suarez early in the summer then they could have bought a replacement. Only Arsenal made a bid and Liverpool were never going to sell to them anyway. Whether Liverpool would still be in the top 4 without Suarez is a question that is difficult to answer as we have no idea who the replacement would have been. Liverpool did do quite well without him at the beginning of the season when he was serving his ban.
Spurs knew that Bale was leaving and a good idea of the price they were going to get which is why they spent the money before actually selling Bale.