Mario Balotelli

[Bjornebye]

Suarez was definitely a gamble when we signed him, as was Torres. What's telling in their cases though was they were highly regarded by supporters of their respective former clubs. I had a delivery guy clock my Liverpool shirt and tell me that Suarez had been great for Ajax, had left with everyone's best wishes and that he would deliver for Liverpool (pun unintended). It's clear we can't say the same for Balo...telli.

 

[Tony Moanero]

No-one's getting touchy, Fanchester, you're just making yourself sound like a bit of a quim.

[Section_31]

Suarez was definitely a gamble when we signed him, as was Torres. What's telling in their cases though was they were highly regarded by supporters of their respective former clubs. I had a delivery guy clock my Liverpool shirt and tell me that Suarez had been great for Ajax, had left with everyone's best wishes and that he would deliver for Liverpool (pun unintended). It's clear we can't say the same for Balo...telli.

Suarez and Torres gambles? Say what now?

[polymerpunkah]

 

Sums him up, for me. Not just that he couldn't get the thing on, but that he got pissed off and gave up after 5 seconds trying.

 

 

[FanchesterCity]

Suarez and Torres were decent prospects. I wouldn't say a gamble.

They both came good, arguably better than anybody really expected, but I don't think anybody say them as a gamble (risk).

 

Depends what you call a gamble. Every signing in a gamble in some respects, but there's a difference between gambling with a player who's yet to prove himself at the highest level and one that's a known loaded gun with a hair trigger.

 

I don't know for sure, but I'd imagine these sort of players cause a lot of disquiet behind the scenes, and they are pandered to and given 'special' treatment. It's hard to quantify that, but having just offloaded a flawed genius, it might not be the best time to buying a far lesser genius with more flaws.

 

El Shaarawy or Higuain would be safer options I'd think, accepting Shaarawy's still very young.

[deiseach]

 

I was thinking of Noel as I wrote that. Good egg, is Noel. 

 

[Section_31]

Torres a 'decent prospect'? He was one of the best strikers in the world when we got him. Suarez was virtually nailed on to be the same and was regarded as one of the rising stars of the game. Either way, their careers were on the up, Balotelli's is on the way down.

[deiseach]

Suarez and Torres gambles? Say what now?

 

It was hard to remember at the time when Spanish fans were wearing Liverpool shirts post-Euro 2008 that Torres had a pretty modest goalscoring record at Atletico, and Suarez's record with Ajax was comparable to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar before him. Perhaps 'gamble' is a bit strong, but it certainly wasn't obvious that they'd be banging them in for fun.

[Major Tom]

deiseach is right; Torres was a gamble. He was a bit of a fun figure for some in Spain because of his misses. Kind of like he is now but on a lesser scale.

[Josef Svejk]

If Torres and Suarez weren't gambles, they wouldn't have joined us...

[Major Tom]

Or we couldn't have afforded them.

[deiseach]

Torres a 'decent prospect'? He was one of the best strikers in the world when we got him. Suarez was virtually nailed on to be the same and was regarded as one of the rising stars of the game. Either way, their careers were on the up, Balotelli's is on the way down.

 

Sid Lowe had a good take (as usual) on the attitudes towards Torres in Spain when he joined Liverpool: 

 

There was little doubting Torres's talent, but for some he had also become something of a comedy figure, maligned for some incredible misses and, above all, for Atlético's failures - especially against Real Madrid. In ten games against their local rivals Torres had scored just once and his team had never won; before the 2006 world cup 80% of fans polled by the newspaper Marca, most of them doubtlessly Madrid fans, said that he should not be in the side. Madrid fans used to laugh at him and the media followed suit. They would look forward to Atlético's capitulation against their city rivals, scoffing loudly at the foolishness of those rivals who dared to believe, at those who told them: "this time, Torres will score, you'll see."  

 

As for Suarez, the Dutch league is not highly regarded. As I said elsewhere today, one of the reasons the notion of Van Gaal's brilliance gained such traction during the World Cup was the assumption that a squad stuffed with Eredivisie players must be crap. I take your point about the respective career trajectories of the three players though.

[Josef Svejk]

Or we couldn't have afforded them.

 

Indeed.

[Major Tom]

Indeed.

 

Which was probably your original point, of course.

[Jonny83]

I'm sure I heard the words "Afonso" and "Alves" come up more than once (not necessarily on here like) when Suarez's 30+ goal season in Holland was mentioned. As utterly ridiculous as that sounds now.

[FanchesterCity]

Liverpool paid fairly handsomely for both though. In that regard, I'd argue Liverpool didn't see them as a major gamble (ignoring that logic being applied to Andy Carroll).

 

I suppose the term 'decent prospect' is as loose as 'a gamble'. But I don't mean to say decent prospect as some young 18 year old who's looking like he might become good, I'm using in the sense that they looked very good at their current level... and decent prospects to be able to do the same at a higher level (which they both went on to do). Neither of them had played at a top level club or proven themselves in the PL.

 

They weren't (say) a Robin Van Persie (to United) or Alan Shearer (to Newcastle) they were more like Van Nistelrooy (to United). i.e. not considered the finished article.

 

Nobody thought Suarez to Liverpool was buying a top 3 striker in the world, and nobody thought that of Torres either. Both left Liverpool with an improved value and reputation, footballing wise (accepting some doubt about Torres's recovery from injury existed).

[xerxes]

The rumours about Super Mario persist. It would be fun.

[LFC 6 Times]

Suarez was in no way a "gamble" he had won a European Golden boat in 2010 with 49 goals and had a wonderful world cup. It was absolute shock to me he wasn't snapped up after the WC in South Africa, the controversy surrounding him the handball against Ghana and his first bite, probably were a huge helping hand in us getting him. Suarez is just one of those players that was dominant on a pitch, the ball just gravitates towards him, when we signed him I knew he'd be in the top 5 players in the world within a few years.

[sh#t waffle]

I really hope we don't sign him, primarily because I don't think he's that good at football.

[TheHowieLama]

[Dr Nowt]

Sid Lowe had a good take (as usual) on the attitudes towards Torres in Spain when he joined Liverpool: 

 

That will explain the relish with which he tore into Madrid and gloated over their supporters after scoring, when we twatmangled them 4-0.

 

Great days.

[Grinch]

I'd take him. Mainly down to having one forward good enough who's injury prone and has his fair share of off days.

 

Even if we can't get him to settle the head and play consistently well, his value will still be high enough and their will be takers. If we spent that money on Bony we're stuck with the useless cunt.

[El Dangerous]

anybody who gets touchy with a 'balo' is a balloon

Or a ballo as they say in Fanchester.

 

Suarez and Balo are complete opposite ends of the (special needs) spectrum. Suarez acts out of desperation to win, unhealthily trying too hard. Balotelli is just apathetic and can't be arsed and then is a complete loon off the pitch whilst Suarez is a model citizen off the field. I'd still take him in a heartbeat if it meant going without till January.

[an tha]

Luis Suarez is probably the most consistent player I've seen in years. Save for a handful of moments of madness he was pretty much a family man who just wanted to play and win, you always knew what you'd get with him.

 

Balotelli could score an overhead kick one game then do fuck all the next, later to be spotted driving around Norris Green handing out mini-milk lolly ices to complete strangers.

Giving a slap to the 'Noggsy dogs'

and the 'croccy crew' as well.

 

I'm all for him.

[FanchesterCity]