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

[Kenneth]

Zzzz

[RichC]

I was about to post the same in the Markovic thread, tedious doesn't cover it with you

[Tatterdemalion]

Replacing one of the worlds best strikers with a 'good young, but rather raw talent' was a bit of a daft move really, want it?

I wouldn't choose it myself but:
1) I think Suarez' impact on us was slightly (and I do mean slightly) over rated. We played well enough without him - I think our biggest problem this season is a lack of intensity (of which he was a part) and lots of new players
2) what choice did we have? If you believe the rumours we tried all sorts; Balo was very much a last option - in fact you can pretty much see that given BR was against the idea after we played AC in that friendly.
3) all I'm saying is that it needn't be a disaster - I don't think you can replace Suarez (assuming he's not banned).

[Gibbo]

It's a sort of fair point though Kenneth, who else was there? Mario has a decent goalscoring record, experience in this league and definitely has all the attributes.

It was a gamble from the start but I really don't think it was really a daft move.

[Kenneth]

I was about to post the same in the Markovic thread, tedious doesn't cover it with you

"Should have got Messi or Ronaldo in", it's juvinile stuff mate.

[Red_Polo]

Replacing one of the worlds best strikers with a 'good young, but rather raw talent' was a bit of a daft move really, want it?

I think it's well documented we haven't sought to replace Suarez with any individual.

Looking at the players we did bring in, I'm not really convinced we went into the season intending to play two strikers with any regularity. If the intention was indeed to usually play one striker, then the idea of Suarez being replaced by Balotelli makes less sense still.

[Kenneth]

It's a sort of fair point though Kenneth, who else was there? Mario has a decent goalscoring record, experience in this league and definitely has all the attributes.

It was a gamble from the start but I really don't think it was really a daft move.

It sort of is a fair point, yes. We failed to find a striker we wanted and panicked ourselves into buying Balotelli. Looking ahead to January and you'd have to say a striker is still a priority, unless Mario turns into a player that he's never been.

[Buzzo]

In my Honest opinion,i don't think Balotelli will find success at Anfield

Based on what? Tarot cards? Tea leaves? Your waters?

5 weeks he's been with us FFS. 5 weeks.

[captainfog]

At the time I thought he was a panic buy and I still do. Panic buys rarely work out. Hopefully Balo will he different.

I don't care if he sulks, mooches around the pitch, sets off fireworks, whatever. All I care about is him scoring goals.

[RichC]

"Should have got Messi or Ronaldo in", it's juvinile stuff mate.

You go on about bringing in someone better who's had no pre-season and been with us a little over a month in a side that's not firing on all cylinders.

Written off as not good enough already is ridiculous hence my comment, replacing Suarez would have taken getting one of those two in to guarantee immediate success.

How about giving players time to prove themselves rather than decide after 4 league games for us

[RichC]

Based on what? Tarot cards? Tea leaves? Your waters?

5 weeks he's been with us FFS. 5 weeks.

Crazy the lack of time players are given these days.

[captainfog]

Based on what? Tarot cards? Tea leaves? Your waters?

5 weeks he's been with us FFS. 5 weeks.

Based on seeing him play for years prior to joining us?

All this flannel about not being able to have an opinion 5 games into a season is nonsense. People have been watching theses players for longer than 5 games. I knew downing was **** before we aigned him, when we signed him, 5 games into the season, 5 months into the season, and when we sold him. In fact, I still think he's ****.

I've never really rated Balo and he's playing exactly how I thought he would.

[Bender]

Based on what? Tarot cards? Tea leaves? Your waters?

5 weeks he's been with us FFS. 5 weeks.

calm down why you moaning like a woman.....of course he's been in sparkling form for us.. he'll be a rip roaring success,hope next time he gets a couple of tap in's he scores them

[Vermilion]

It sort of is a fair point, yes. We failed to find a striker we wanted and panicked ourselves into buying Balotelli. Looking ahead to January and you'd have to say a striker is still a priority, unless Mario turns into a player that he's never been.

Which is what, a player that's scored 26 goals in 43 Milan league games, and 20 in 54 Premier League games for Manchester City before that ?

[Kenneth]

You go on about bringing in someone better who's had no pre-season and been with us a little over a month in a side that's not firing on all cylinders.

Written off as not good enough already is ridiculous hence my comment, replacing Suarez would have taken getting one of those two in to guarantee immediate success.

How about giving players time to prove themselves rather than decide after 4 league games for us

As someone who wasn't convinced before we bought him, have you seen anything to change that view since we bought him? We couldn't find another suarez, but we could have bought someone who fits our system, someone with good movement who doesn't necessitate us flinging in crosses galore.