Liverpool spent a combined £64million on Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam. But the lesson of the last two games is that none of the three should be in Kenny Dalglish's first team to face Wolves at the weekend.
For one thing, The Man is back - and he must start.
As Kenny Dalglish is well aware, he could have spent £200m in the last transfer window and all those players combined would not have been as important to Liverpool as Steven Gerrard is.
But the depressing and disorganised defeat at Tottenham, followed by a tense, but thrilling win at Brighton in the Carling Cup, will have taught him far more than the obvious.
After his sub-par effort at White Hart Lane and the way Craig Bellamy linked up with Luis Suarez at the AmEx, £35million man Carroll faces a real battle to get back into the team.
On Sunday, Carroll and Suarez did not hit it off, looking isolated, lethargic and frustrated.
By Wednesday night, Bellamy and Suarez had an instant rapport. The movement and pace that were so criminally absent at Spurs were back.
And perhaps Dalglish saw that Liverpool could be a fast-attacking side this season, not one built to play to Carroll's undoubted strengths.
At the start of the season, everyone was describing Bellamy as an impact player, someone who could come off the bench and worry teams with speed in the last 20 minutes.
Now I think the opposite is true.
It's Bellamy who must wear teams down and Carroll, off the bench, who must finish them off.
Let's get one thing straight. I rate Carroll. I rate Adam too. And while I can't quite see what all the fuss is about with Henderson, he's a decent player.
But for me, Liverpool's best midfield doesn't include them.
Gerrard would be wasted out wide and Dirk Kuyt's work ethic and intelligence against Brighton, playing little passes around the corner, means he should be in too.
Add the vastly-improved Lucas to hold while Gerrard bombs forward and Stewart Downing to run and cross and you have a fearsome unit - especially with the drive of Bellamy and Suarez ahead of it.
There should be bit-parts for Adam and Henderson, but also for Maxi, who is improving and shows hints that Liverpool could play the Barca way, with quck, short, mobile players drifting in between the lines.
Leaving Carroll, Henderson and Adam on the bench doesn't mean their Liverpool careers are over. It doesn't mean Dalglish has wasted his money. I'd take at least one to come good.
But it does mean that, for the first time in a long time, Liverpool have proper options.
And that can only be a good thing as they start the long road back to the top.
Losing 4-0 to Sunderland, followed by a gruelling penalties win in the Carling Cup against Spurs, isn't the ideal way for Stoke to prepare for Manchester United in our ESPN game this Saturday.
But I feel they have a chance if they stick to the formula that has brought Tony Pulis such success and not try to outplay United or trade with them.
Phil Jones has been outstanding this season - a future England captain in my view - and Chris Smalling has been very good too. Yet still there are signs that, with the pace of Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant, they might be able to unsettle a young United defence.
And crucially, via long throws and free-kicks, Stoke must try to unsettle the shaky David De Gea, who has made some stunning saves but still looks vulnerable to long shots and crosses.
Sticking Kenwyne Jones or Cameron Jerome on him at set-pieces with ratchet up the uncertainty, and I even wonder whether Sir Alex will chose Anders Lindegaard for this game instead.
I take Stoke to score at some point but, after seeing United against Chelsea - where they were outplayed for sections of the match but easily could have scored seven - it has to be another three points for the champions and another step towards an unbeaten season.
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