This season makes all these decisions look better in hindsight; but as mentioned in the article it didn't work at first. Liverpool tried to Moneyball their way

This season makes all these decisions look better in hindsight; but as mentioned in the article it didn't work at first. Liverpool tried to Moneyball their way into Top 4 and failed often. Classic examples being when they needed strength in positions like DM, CB or FB. They ended up going for players which made sense stat/pound. It led to LFC signing up players like Sakho or Moreno who had good stats for their value at that time but never worked out. Like in case of Sakho, he doesn't have the presence and leadership needed in the back and LFC needed it badly at that time.