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

[alonso14]

Exactly, we shouldn't have.

Ok so why is that balotelli's fault. We signed him knowing all of his strengths and weaknesses but its not the players fault if a club sign him and then cant use him.

Its a bit early to be writing him off yet. Sturridge might really enjoy playing with balotelli as he will feed off him.

Balotelli isn't here to replace Luis Suarez. For me Luis Suarez natural replacement is Daniel sturridge. What we have done is gone out and replaced last seasons Daniel sturridge in Mario balotelli.

Its a tough one to explain because what I wrote doesn't make sense but we already had luis' replacement at the club, we just needed to add someone to help Daniel become our leader.

[Chris]

It doesn't matter whether it's the Est way or not, he has been dog **** since signing and you can't get away from that.

Well apart from the fact he hasn't been anyway. He's done ok but definitely needs to do more.

[RichC]

It doesn't matter whether it's the Est way or not, he has been dog **** since signing and you can't get away from that.

He hasn't, he's not been great but he's also playing in a side that essentially has been well below par creating little to no chances for him.

[red g]

He hasn't, he's not been great but he's also playing in a side that essentially has been well below par creating little to no chances for him.

Just will give him more chance to fall on his arse and complain

[ronanm]

No point in playing him up front on his own. Pair him with Borini. Didn't work against WHU but it's more likely to work than him being up there on his own.

[alonso14]

Anyone seen Chris bascombes new article. Brendan Rodgers admits that balotelli was signed at the end because we didn't get our first choice targets and we had nothing else on.

I don't see how that's going to help Mario settle in at all. There's no need for it whatsoever.

[Chazza]

We should tell our youth players to bang in it long and get everyone else on creatine.

[MrMichael]

That's not really a fair representation of the entirety of what he said. Balotelli is fully aware that he was a "calculated gamble" and not our first choice, his own agent even said as much and that this was his last chance at the top level. Rodgers repeatedly states that Balotelli has "quality" and is working hard to improve. I'd bloody well hope so too and don't see any problem with these statements at all myself.

Just going to post the quotes about Balotelli in case our friendly copyright troll is reading, fair use!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/11137275/Liverpools-Brendan-Rodgers-calls-for-Mario-Balotelli-to-improve-after-Champions-League-defeat-to-Basle.html

I think in terms of goals, he needs to improve. It is as simple as that,” said Rodgers. “Any striker, not just him, is judged on his goals and the number of assists you make. At this moment he has not hit the numbers he will have wanted.

“In terms of his behaviour since he came in the boy is consciously trying to work hard at the aspects of the game that we would demand here. In terms of the intensity and that work-rate.”

“When you look at the availability of other players during the summer it was something that was difficult for us. It’s no good now I know but we took a player in Divock Origi [from Lille] who we believe will be world-class and we’ll get him next summer... "

“I think there were very few who are top-class who were available and Mario Balotelli was a calculated gamble that we had to try and work with.”

"Obviously Fabio Borini looked like he was on his way out. We’d had attempts for other strikers that didn’t materialise for one reason or another so it left us right at the end of the window with a decision of whether just to go with what we had, which experience told us we were well too light, or to take a calculated risk on a player who has quality. Then it was could we get it out of him consistently?"

“I always said it was about availability and affordability of players. Mario was the one right at the very end who was available for that."

“I said when he came in that it was a calculated risk and it’s something I have to work on to try to make it work for the team.”

[marcus50bucks]

Not liking the way Rodgers has singled out Balotelli when there are others that haven't stepped up to the plate. I Rodgers is getting his excuses in early in case things don't work out. Not feeling that at all to be honest. The only thing I have questionned about Balotelli is his movement which he has to get better and will in time imo.

[marcus50bucks]

Liverpool FC boss Brendan Rodgers demands more from Mario Balotelli as £16m striker struggles to fit in

Reds boss defends club's transfer strategy after sale of Suarez

Oct 02, 2014 22:30 By James Pearce

For the 1,700-strong travelling Liverpool FC fans, the sight of Mario Balotelli disappearing down the tunnel at St Jakob-Park without clapping them was the least of their worries.

Of considerably greater concern than any perceived snub after the final whistle was the fact that once again the £16million striker had failed to deliver as Liverpool suffered another crushing setback.

The statistic that Balotelli didn’t once touch the ball inside the Basel penalty box was damning.

Yes, he wasn’t helped by such an insipid team display but fears are growing over the Italy international’s compatibility with life at Anfield.

It isn’t simply the paltry return of one goal in seven appearances which has set the alarm bells ringing.

Liverpool’s attacking threat under Brendan Rodgers has been based on electric pace and intelligent movement.

Yet in the absence of the injured Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez’s replacement has been unable to provide that focal point in the final third.

He doesn’t burst beyond the opposing backline or drag defenders into areas they don’t want to be. The mobility simply isn’t there.

Rodgers knew he was taking a gamble when he opted to sign the controversial 24-year-old from AC Milan in August.

And six weeks on it has yet to pay off with the manager still battling to get Balotelli to buy into what’s requires to flourish in the Reds’ system.

“I said when he came in that it was a calculated risk and it’s something I have to work on to try to make it work for the team,” Rodgers said.

“The boy is consciously trying to work hard at the aspects of the game which we demand here in terms of his intensity and work-rate.

“In terms of goals, he needs to improve, it’s as simple as that. Any striker is judged by goals and the number of assists he makes. At this moment he hasn’t had the numbers he would have wanted.

“You need to get yourself in the right areas. I always encourage strikers to get in front of the framework of the goal for when the ball comes in from wide areas. You want them to break the lines and get in there.

“Yes, it’s about the service and our quality in the final third wasn’t up to standard but you have to be able to create and score goals yourself. Obviously he didn’t do that.”

Balotelli’s struggles have brought into sharp focus Liverpool’s summer transfer strategy when it became clear that Suarez was bound for Barcelona.

The Reds’ swoop for the former Manchester City frontman – less than three weeks after Rodgers had emphatically ruled out any interest in signing him – spoke volumes about their increasingly desperate search for more firepower.

Liverpool missed out on Alexis Sanchez and then the £8.5million move for Loic Remy collapsed on medical grounds.

They were put off by the cost of a deal for Swansea City’s Wilfried Bony and enquiries for the likes of Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani and Karim Benzema came to nothing.

Liverpool signed Belgium striker Divock Origi but Lille would only agree to a £10million transfer on the basis he would remain in France on loan this season.

With deadline day looming and options thin on the ground, Rodgers was faced with a choice between free agent Samuel Eto’o and Balotelli.

He went for the latter after lengthy talks with Balotelli convinced him that the player would knuckle down and grasp the opportunity he was being given.

“I wouldn’t say the strategy was flawed,” Rodgers said. “There are very few players who can replace Suarez, actually there are no players who can replace Suarez.

“When you look at the availability of other players during the summer it was something that was difficult for us. It’s no good now I know but we took a player in Divock Origi who we believe will be world class and we’ll get him next summer.

“He is a top player. He has everything - the speed, the profile and he can play now but our deal was that we couldn’t bring him in now. That was unfortunate because he can run in behind, he can keep the ball, he can press and he can run.

“I think there were very few who are top class who were available and Mario Balotelli was a calculated gamble that we had to try and work with.

“It was about availability and affordability of players. Mario was the one right at the very end who was available for that.

“You analyse and assess what the group had. We brought Rickie Lambert in as someone who can play some games for us and come off the bench and be an impact player for us. Daniel Sturridge is a top Premier League player but he has shown during his time here that he does get injuries so we needed to prepare for that. Obviously Fabio Borini looked like he was on his way out.

“We had attempts for other strikers that didn’t materialise for one reason or another so it left us right at the end of the window with a decision of whether just to go with what we had, when experience told us we were well too light, or to take a calculated risk on a player who has quality and then could we get it out of him consistently?”

The answer to that question so far has been a resounding ‘no’ but Liverpool’s problems run deeper than Balotelli’s lack of contribution.

Rodgers had no issues with Steven Gerrard’s damning assessment of the Reds’ display in Switzerland, which the captain branded “too soft” in all departments and lacking in desire. The manager expects to see a collective response when they return to Premier League duty at home to West Brom on Saturday.

“Steven echoed in his interview what I said (in the dressing room) after the game,” Rodgers added.

“I never usually say too much after a game, if anything at all, because it’s normally a difficult moment for a player when they’ve lost. But it was soft. We weren’t aggressive enough as a team and conceded a very disappointing goal.

“We win and lose as a team and the team wasn’t good enough. We need to return to being a team and what has brought us success over the past 18 months or so.”

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/rodgers-demands-more-balotelli-16m-7874415

[dizzycat]

Balotelli is playing like Emile Heskey at the moment. Like others have said I'll not judge him until he's had a decent run with a partner. The last thing we need is another scapegoat.

[Boogs]

I can see the effort he's putting in and especially at the start of games. He tends to get frustrated when he closes down the defenders and then the keeper and turns around and our midfield are all stood still and not doing the same.
I don't like the manager calling out players as it's his job to play and find a shape that suits the players you have available.

[cream]

Maybe most would have preferred...

I would have.

[captainfog]

Not liking the way Rodgers has singled out Balotelli when there are others that haven't stepped up to the plate. I Rodgers is getting his excuses in early in case things don't work out. Not feeling that at all to be honest. The only thing I have questionned about Balotelli is his movement which he has to get better and will in time imo.

He didn't single him out.

[Pablo]

He didn't single him out.

He hasn't singled him out as such, it's just he's the one the interviewers always ask about.

That said Rodgers has clearly made a calculated decision to criticise him in public here. It's not something he normally does. He must feel this will have a positive affect on Mario. Rodgers man management is normally excellent, so we'll see if it works.