Mario Balotelli

[Gym Beglin]

There you go, Berahino. But the problem with 'replacing' Suarez with Berahino in the Summer was that millions of dickhead fans would have complained he wasn't a 'big name signing', because in their heads you can't be good unless we pay £40m for someone. So I can see why the club felt pressured into buying balotelli.

[Tyler Durden]

It's funny really with the exception of Sturridge our 3 other strikers all had their records padded out by being the penalty takers at there respective clubs

[Gym Beglin]

The same dickheads who threw strops when we were linked with Ashley Williams, Wilfried Bony, James Milner and others.

 

I'm really disappointed in the club and with Rodgers. The blueprint for success was laid down last season so why fuck that up by suddenly placing a lazy prick at the heart of the team? We couldn't sabotage this team with a worse signing if we tried, we have just sewn kryptonite into supermans costume, we'd honestly play better with 10 men.

[ratcatcher]

There you go, Berahino. But the problem with 'replacing' Suarez with Berahino in the Summer was that millions of dickhead fans would have complained he wasn't a 'big name signing', because in their heads you can't be good unless we pay £40m for someone. So I can see why the club felt pressured into buying balotelli.

 

There's some truth in this.

[KopOut]

Borini is crap, if he wasn't our player nobody would have paid a blind bit of notice of what he did for Sunderland last year. He did ok, nothing more.

He did more for Sunderland than Balotelli has done for us this year. He couldn't possibly do any worse. He should be starting.

[Markmywords]

I'd put balotelli out wide like he used to play for Inter. There he has to run and produce things. Frees up space in the middle for someone who will, you know, move about a bit. Like Sterling.

[Rico1304]

It's probably been mentioned on here earlier, apologies if I'm repeating it but to me he always tries to fucking blast the ball. Every shot he takes is a 'blammer' as we used to say as kids. In the time it takes him to wind up and let fly any decent defender has time to get a good block in.

[diamondjoe]

What about that Jerome Sinclair or Jordan Ibe? Any chance they could step up?

[Spy Bee]

What about that Jerome Sinclair or Jordan Ibe? Any chance they could step up?

On loan

[alles ist gut]

As Adam S said, Ibe is at Derby; Sinclair has played about a game and a half at reserve level and simply isn't ready.

[TheHowieLama]

Remy get this straight - no one fancies Balotelli?

[diamondjoe]

Remy get this straight - no one fancies Balotelli?

 

well for me, in the style of big Jim Beglin " I don't fancy this lad"

[Russ Atmosphere]

Lambert, Balotelli and Borini were all better at their last club than here. I wish they'd all remained there.

[DanDanShaw]

What's worse is the fact he's being shite and hasn't even blown anything up off the field. 

[diamondjoe]

How much are we paying him to mope about stinking the fucking place up?

[Section_31]

Lambert, Balotelli and Borini were all better at their last club than here. I wish they'd all remained there.

 

You could say that about virtually all of our players really, which is a worry.

[Russ Atmosphere]

You could say that about virtually all of our players really, which is a worry.

 

Pretty much currently, although last year that was the best thing for me about Rodgers, getting the best out of nearly all the players regardless of starting ability.

[stringvest]

Mario Balotelli must toughen up before Liverpool team spirit is damaged

Italian’s struggle to find form following his £16m move to Anfield is in danger of affecting Brendan Rodgers’ blueprint for success
 

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• • Louise Taylor
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  • The Guardian,  Monday 20 October 2014 20.38 BST

Liverpool’s manager Brendan Rodgers, right, issues instructions to Mario Balotelli in the 3-2 win at Queens Park Rangers. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Hacking other people’s phones is clearly not the done thing but even so it would be rather fascinating to tap into the occasional conversation between Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon.

The Liverpool forward and the Newcastle United full-back are old friends who went to the same school in northern Italy before playing alongside each other at Internazionale.

They speak flawless English – perhaps it has something to do with the pair being taught Latin in the same classroom? – and while Balotelli has doubtless been sympathising as Santon recovers from yet another complicated operation on his right knee, the Newcastle defender is quite possibly listening to his old pal pour his heart out.

Behind the anarchic, sometimes downright-wild, exterior, Balotelli is quite shy. “Beneath the craziness he’s a quiet boy,” Santon has said. That view reflects the general consensus at his former Manchester City habitat. Allied to immaturity, perhaps stemming from his difficult early childhood and sudden gargantuan wealth, City’s staff felt the Italian’s pronounced lack of mental strength was the principal impediment to the realisation of an immense talent.

When things go against him Balotelli reverts to the small child who, by covering his eyes with his fingers, believes no one can see him. His poor performance for Liverpool in their 3-2 win against QPR at Loftus Road on Sunday was probably a case in point.

A technically accomplished individual who has scored 13 times in 33 appearances for Italy, Balotelli simply does not do boringly reliable. Consistent seven-out-of-10 performances are not for this footballer of extremes.

He’s frequently either very bad or very, very good and all Brendan Rodgers has to do – admittedly easier said than done – is find the right switch and flick it.

The danger is that a manager who has devoted much of his time at Liverpool to creating an impressive culture of collective responsibility will alienate Balotelli’s team-mates who, judging by some of their body language at Loftus Road, may not be over-enamoured with Luis Suárez’s replacement.

Suárez had his faults but he redefined the concept of star striker as team player. A spell playing in every position across the front three at Ajax ensured Barcelona’s latest luminary knew all about creating goals for others.

Unfortunately for a Liverpool side struggling without the injured Daniel Sturridge, assists rarely, very rarely, form part of Balotelli’s repertoire.

He has now gone five Premier League games without a goal following his £16m arrival from Milan and some Anfield regulars are wondering what the 24-year-old really does to justify Rodgers recruiting him ahead of, say, Wilfried Bony. After Bony’s tally of 16 Premier League goals in a slick-passing Swansea side last season, Liverpool’s failure to pursue the Ivorian centre-forward remains a mystery.

They did try to buy Loïc Rémy but, for whatever reason, dropped out at the medical stage, and the France forward ended up at Chelsea. On the evidence of a largely successful loan at Newcastle last season Rémy would have been much more mobile “between the lines” – a Suárez-lite forward Rodgers arguably needed.

Then there is Demba Ba, who swapped Stamford Bridge for Besiktas in July. Ba’s chronic knee condition requires careful management but a stint at Newcastle underlined he is a prolific finisher and skilled creator.

Rodgers has intimated, repeatedly, that Balotelli was his only real option. The problem is European football’s enfant terrible shares a common trait with Roy Keane. When Keane managed Sunderland he said: “History shows I’m not great with adversity.” Balotelli suffers from a similar syndrome.

Last week he was pictured sitting on the grass at Liverpool’s training ground, having seemingly fallen over. The same thing often happened at City where, as soon as Balotelli erred on the practice ground, he would tumble to earth, pretending to be hurt. It was his way of covering his eyes with his fingers.

Rodgers has a wonderful track record when it comes to improving players – just ask Jordan Henderson – but as a friend of José Mourinho’s he will remember that at Inter the Special One declared Mario “unmanageable”.

Roberto Mancini demurred yet his adoption of Balotelli as a “surrogate son” arguably helped cost him the City job. Six games in the next 18 days – Real Madrid over two legs in the Champions League, Hull at Anfield, Newcastle away and Chelsea at home in the Premier League, plus Swansea away in the Capital One Cup – promise to go a long way to defining the direction of Liverpool’s season.

And, quite possibly, the Anfield careers of not just Balotelli but his latest manager.

 

[ZonkoVille77]

Fuck off.

That is all.

[Trumo]

He really is a fucking idiot isn't he?

[Baltar]

Shocking how he keeps starting game after game. I would gladly take Lambert or Borini over this lazy, useless lump.

[The Golden Eel]

I'd honestly sell him in January and buy two strikers

[Jairzinho]

Straight swap for Kuyt in January.

[Dr Nowt]

I'd honestly sell him in January and buy two strikers

 

Mate, this is LFC we're talking about.  We won't be banking a fucking penny for him, least of all from Italian clubs.  Loans all the way.

 

As for getting rid and bringing in an actual top level striker, I agree we should be doing whatever it takes in the next window.  Bet we won't though. 

[Redder Lurtz]

Arsewipe of a player. Fuck off somewhere that isn't here.