The boss feels over-spending is unnecessary in football, insisting his more personal man-management style is just as effective as spending millions in the transfer market

Brendan Rodgers has taunted Liverpool’s big-spending title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City, insisting the qualities his squad possess cannot be bought.

A 3-0 win at Old Trafford over Manchester United saw the Reds’ hopes of winning a first ever Premier League title increase on Saturday as the season’s surprise packages continue to impress.

Both Chelsea and Manchester City have spent upwards of £100 million over the course of the past two transfer windows, but Rodgers feels his more personal man-management style is proving money is not everything in the modern game.

“Clubs spend a billion quid and it does not guarantee anything. We will be in the market for good and top players, but there is more to it than that,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

“Once you put your ideas in place and once the players start to crack it, then we will have success. Money can’t buy that.

“It is about coaching and man-management and dealing with people. Having a great staff. Finding a cause for the players to fight for. All of that comes into it and that is something we have done in the period I have been here.”

Traditionally there is a direct correlation between success and a large wage bill, but with Liverpool boasting just the sixth-highest Rodgers feels over-spending is unnecessary – but insists his club are competitive in the transfer market.

“The players believe in it and the work has got them the rewards. You know when you’re employed by Liverpool it is not to sit in seventh,” he continued.

“You have to be up there and try to be the best. I’m not surprised by it. It’s a bit earlier than what I thought, maybe a year earlier, but I am not surprised.

“The money is great and we will be in the market to compete, but what is important is still having a vision of how you want the club to progress.”