I don't even think that's a way of looking at it, we've done well, we've won and competed more than we should have, given the money spent and players sold.
That said, moneyball has a longevity that only works under sustainable conditions, our conditions just aren't sustainable and that's where everything usually, eventually comes crashing down. Especially in such a competitive league. City have been as successful by spending big. We've just been really fortunate to have had a manager who could defy the odds.
I think the whole moneyball thing was overegged from the get go due to Henry's connection with it and the fact that we seemed to modernize the setup of backroom staff (which more or less every club has done).
Anyways, yes, it's difficult to sustain that kind of model. You have to commit to the idea that you're going to work in cycles where you build up a team, hope for a bit of success and then tear it down and start again. You need owners that are committed and here for the long-term. You need to be buying and selling a lot.
I don't know what the fuck has been going on at Liverpool in recent years but as we've been saying across every thread, whatever the situation is behind the scenes right now, it doesn't seem to be up set up to support any kind of model. We've been left to rot.