Sturridge cannot play second fiddle to Balotelli

It was one of the more memorable quotes from a former Norwegian international goalkeeper.

During a half-time on-pitch interview early last season, ex-Tottenham shot-stopper Erik Thorstvedt coined a phrase that would come back to haunt the club over subsequent months.

He was asked about the world record transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, and the seven replacements bought by head coach Andre Villas-Boas with the proceeds.

“We have sold Elvis and bought the Beatles!” said Thorstvedt.

When Villas-Boas lost his job a few months later after hardly any of his new signings had made an impact, critics said Spurs had sold Elvis and ended up with Showaddywaddy!

Liverpool, the home of the Fab Four, go to White Hart Lane this afternoon with similar analogies being made.

The club received £75m for Luis Suarez in the summer, and have spent all of that plus another £35m on eight new players.

It was necessary for Brendan Rodgers to boost the squad numerically to cope with Champions League football.

But there are those who wonder whether the eight can make the team better than the one Suarez did.

Rodgers insists the situation at Liverpool is different to that at White Hart Lane 12 months ago.

He says that not all his recruits were bought with the idea of them going straight into the team, and that bolstering the squad depth was the overriding priority.

But the start to the season has been tepid at best.

The verve and swagger of the last campaign has been missing in the opening two fixtures. New players are trying to settle in. Last season’s stars have yet to replicate form.

Back in December, Liverpool produced their best away performance in a season of high-level displays when they thrashed Tottenham 5-0.

That day the raft of Bale replacements on duty Nacer Chadli, Paulinho, Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela and Etienne Capoue couldn’t lay a glove on a Suarez-inspired Liverpool side.

The following morning, Villas-Boas was sacked.

Rodgers could lose by five this afternoon and still be a million miles from suffering a similar fate. But the mass integration of his own batch of newcomers is certain to test his abilities and maybe even his patience.

In addition, of course, a potential grenade has been tossed into the mix in the shape of the combustible Mario Balotelli.

Rodgers needs to find a way of playing him that utilises the Italian’s considerable assets while ensuring that Daniel Sturridge doesn’t feel downgraded.

The England internationalist would have expected to step up from the junior partner role he had when Suarez was around.

With a scoring record of 36 in his first 50 games for the club better than Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Kenny Dalglish or Suarez himself managed he certainly deserves not to play second fiddle to Mario.

The Liverpool boss has no intention of letting Balotelli disrupt the team ethic that he has built so carefully over the previous two seasons.

But with players like Ross McCormack and Shane Long moving for £11 and £12-million respectively, Rodgers is convinced that he has pulled off a coup in landing the maverick forward for just £16 million.

“In a purely football context, you look around and see Blackburn value Jordan Rhodes at £15 million who is a good goalscorer but Mario at £16 million is an absolute steal in terms of talent,” he says.

“There won’t be too many of his talent knocking about at that price.

“That’s why we have to work hard to maximise that talent.

“Mario has wonderful charisma on the field. He has beautiful feet, a lovely touch on the ball, pace, power, and a real aerial threat.

“Once he picks up the elements of the team and what is needed to be in the team, you have a genuine world-class talent.”

Over at Tottenham, there’s the distinct feeling that “The Beatles” might just be beginning to play a tune.

A year late, maybe, but perhaps that was the price that must be paid for bringing in so many new faces at the same time.

New manager Mauricio Pochettino has got his fellow Argentinian Erik Lamela looking like a £30m club record buy at last.

The others are contributing significantly to a start that has brought two wins out of two in the League without conceding a goal, plus two more victories in the Europa League.

Pochettino plays a distinctive, hard-pressing game and needs his players to buy into his philosophy unreservedly.

That’s what happened at Southampton and early indications are that Spurs players are doing the same.

It means Tottenham are looking to make the same step from outside to inside the top four that Liverpool made in some style last season.

Today will give us a good indication whether they are capable of doing it.