Mario Balotelli [On the Road to Ballon d'or)

[G]

Most people (MrM excepted) thought Mario was worth a punt when he signed. Cheap and low risk. If it didn't work out, no biggie.

It's not working, and now it's a biggie.

What changed?

You can add me to the list of those vehemently opposed when the deal was mooted.

[Vermilion]

Exactly what I find myself thinking every time I come into this thread.

Everyone knew there was a fair chance of him not working out. The biggest issues for me are that we shouldn't have been backed into a position in the window to have to consider taking that risk on, and more importantly to me the fact that our approach feels disjointed as far as I can see. We seem to have signed a few players without much sense as to whether their qualities will suit the system, and the system suit their qualities.

More broadly speaking as to what's changed, I suspect you can add in loss of perspective and the fact we're not coasting into a top 4 spot.

Spot on, Mario is pretty much the escaped goat for our own ineptitude when buying strikers to replace the Suarez goals, something we had a heads up about for a long time before the time came to act.

[vlahka]

You can add me to the list of those vehemently opposed when the deal was mooted.

And mine. I think its the only time I outright raged on here about a player coming to us

[Leyton388]

The lazy waste of space should just be binned off. Complete poison in the squad.

[marcus50bucks]

This was posted on another forum

I understand the reasons he's not being picked in the team - at the moment, especially when Sturridge comes back, and considering the current system, I agree that he probably shouldn't be in the first choice team either (yet).

Balotelli is someone who if you use him correctly can add multiple dimensions to your attack. If he's able to drop off into that space just in front of the back line, not as a number ten per se but someone who can link up between the lines, enhance the control of the midfield, create chances, hold off defenders, use his touch and strength, shoot from range, create space for others, he can be a very, very good player. What Rodgers did was play him exactly how he shouldn't be played - leave him isolated of support, having to run channels etc. It would have been better even if he'd have shoved him out on the left - at least he'd have had some freedom to move inside into his favoured areas with a forward ahead of him.

I didn't really want to say much but it actually pissed me off at the time. He was taking all the blame when he was actually working fairly hard and had been left on his own in a team that wasn't doing anything well, including pressing and the latter was not down to him being supposedly poor at it.

If he's not working in training then okay. But he still offers far, far more than Borini and Lambert do as long as you don't make things difficult for him, as is what was pretty much happening earlier in the season. Can he play in a free-flowing team? Definitely as far as I'm concerned. In fact in a way his performances, and the rest of the attacking players' performances, would be enhanced by that, I think. Having him almost like a reference point just off the front would give others plenty of space and he'd be allowed to play his natural game with physically and positionally mobile players around him. Can he press? Well he's not a Luis Suarez but he's not lazy either. He just has particular way of going about it. He'll close down quite often, he'll track back if need be. He's not always on the move defensively and I think that's probably what Rodgers is asking for. He tends to do it more as an impulse when he's around the ball. But I think we could work around that in all honesty. We don't really press that aggressively anyway. We do in patches under certain triggers but we're hardly like Bayern Munich who are constantly pressing when they lose possession.

Obviously we don't know how he's working in training so I'll trust Rodgers on that but I really hope he gets more chances. I was really excited when he came in and I actually still am. His performances for Italy have often been very good, at times bordering on world class. For a while he was their key player, the player who they utterly relied on and he was absolutely superb across multiple areas in attack. His goalscoring record is actually pretty good considering he often has been used as a sub or out wide - he got 18 in 34 starts for Milan last season, 15 goals in 21 starts for Milan and City the season before and 18 in 22 starts for City the season before that. I don't see it happening right now but he deserves more chances in the future.

[ronanm]

Most people (MrM excepted) thought Mario was worth a punt when he signed. Cheap and low risk. If it didn't work out, no biggie.

It's not working, and now it's a biggie.

What changed?

The "biggie" is he's part of plan A. The cheap and low risk part.

[Roboklopp]

Just clicked the link ....nothing there about a "glowing tribute"

I've been done FFS.

Ha. Loving the poetic justice of this.

Most people (MrM excepted) thought Mario was worth a punt when he signed. Cheap and low risk. If it didn't work out, no biggie.

It's not working, and now it's a biggie.

What changed?

We didn't- of I defo didn't. As soon as I discovered we were defo signing him, I tried to be positive. Mr M simply never tried that- and I don't blame him.

[captainfog]

He's ****ing ****, but it shouldn't be a surprise because he's always ****. If anything he's run around a bit more than I expected, but I did think he might score at least one league goal.

Rodgers knew what he was like so stop slagging him off at every opportunity. Its also not Balo's fault the team has been crap, that's Rodgers fault for signing **** players and not knowing how to set up a defence.

Balo is Rodgers scapegoat. Rodgers is a prick.

[calvoboy]

Rodgers is a ****house

Rodgers is a prick.

pathetic

[captainfog]

I don't like him. *shruggs shoulders*

[McDermotX]

He's ****ing ****, but it shouldn't be a surprise because he's always ****. If anything he's run around a bit more than I expected, but I did think he might score at least one league goal.

Rodgers knew what he was like so stop slagging him off at every opportunity. Its also not Balo's fault the team has been crap, that's Rodgers fault for signing **** players and not knowing how to set up a defence.

Balo is Rodgers scapegoat. Rodgers is a prick.

I do think it's a bit odd that Mario is consistently being talked about by Rodgers surrounding games that he's not involved in etc etc

But I'm gonna give Brendan the benefit of the doubt, and suggest a lot of his comments are a direct result of repeated questions from the media briefs directly around Balotelli.

It's obvious he doesn't rate him, so it can seem as though there is a targeted attempt to put focus on the player's shortcomings etc, but I suspect it's not as deliberate as it appears. Should probably use a bit more tact though.

[Mark79]

Not sure what Rodgers is supposed to have done wrong here.

He's not slagging Balo off, he's just answered a question about why he's not in the team.
If there's a message in there about him needing to fall in with the team ethic, then that's fine. That's not throwing him under a bus, at all.

Balo's come under fire from every manager he's worked under. So who would that suggest is the real '****house' here?

[dom9]

I do think it's a bit odd that Mario is consistently being talked about by Rodgers surrounding games that he's not involved in etc etc.

Because he keeps being asked why he's not playing him?

[Mark79]

Because he keeps being asked why he's not playing him?

Exactly. Some people seem to think Rodgers is calling press conferences especially to run down Mario Balotelli.

[Red_Polo]

I think the truth lies somewhere between the two things. Rodgers has on occasions singled him out for criticism in a way no questions have demanded of him. Nobody can rightly expect him to pretend there aren't reasons Balotelli is in the team, but he could talk of him in terms of being one of a number of people on the fringes rather than singling him out. It's not a tactic I can see motivating the player, if indeed that is the intention at all.