Why Mario has to go - now (ESPN article)

[tlw content]

by Dave Usher for ESPN

 

If they haven't already, then Liverpool need to make some calls over the next few days to see if there are any takers out there for Mario Balotelli. It hasn't worked out for the Italian at Anfield (and it's clearly not going to) but as long as he's still a part of the squad, the temptation to select him on the basis that "this might be his day" will always be there. That temptation needs to be removed, even if the only solution is to send him on loan somewhere.

 

Brendan Rodgers clearly does not fancy Balotelli at all yet he's still put him on the field in numerous big games this season, presumably more in hope than expectation. Everyone has been waiting for "Super Mario" to suddenly explode into action and produce a moment of brilliance or a crucial, match winning goal and despite his obvious misgivings, even Rodgers is occasionally falling into that trap. At what point do you say enough is enough, and that there's not really anything "Super" about Mario at all?

 

So many things Rodgers said both before and after signing Balotelli point to the lack of faith he has in the striker and in recent weeks he's overlooked him on numerous occasions in favour of Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert, neither of whom are the answer, either. The problem with Balotelli is that unlike other players (Borini for example), he possesses enough raw talent to make it difficult for managers to completely give up on him regardless of how many poor performances he produces. Temptation certainly got the better of Rodgers on Tuesday night and the outcome was sadly predictable.

 

Balotelli isn't the reason Liverpool lost to Chelsea -- poor finishing over the two legs explains that one -- but his introduction didn't help in any way either. In fact his presence hindered Liverpool, as it has done all season. The team plays better without him. It's been there for all to see in recent weeks as in his absence the Reds have finally begun to resemble something similar to the side they were last season. He may be a talented player but he is not a Liverpool player.

 

Yet with the game on the line against Chelsea, Rodgers (perhaps against his better judgement) sent on Balotelli instead of the more deserving and in-form Adam Lallana. Rodgers fell into the "this could be Mario's day" trap again and as long as Balotelli remains at the club that trap is always going to be there.

 

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't Mario's day at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. It could have been of course; the headlines were just waiting to be written when Raheem Sterling cut the ball back to him in a central position 18 yards from goal but he blasted his shot high over the bar. That was his moment. He blew it.

 

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[Dr Nowt]

Haven't finished the first paragraph and I'm repping this already.

 

Well said Dave, was thinking similar myself as to just how many times can "It would be just like it if he bloody scored tonight, wouldn't it?" be the sole fig leaf of blind optimism, before we chalk this one up to madness and move on without looking back.

[Jairzinho]

Quite.

 

Although I disagree with this bit -

 

 

 

He can't be enjoying this; nothing has gone right for him since he joined the Reds and he must be getting sick of reading quotes from his manager in the press talking about how he was a "calculated gamble" and listing all the reasons why he isn't worth a place in the side.

 

He quite clearly doesn't give one single solitary fuck, and the idea of him reading anything is ludicrous. 

 

People may not rate Borini and Lambert, and I include myself in that, but you can see that it fucking kills them that they're not performing well enough for us. They're itching for a chance as well. 

 

Balotelli is a shit, selfish, thick, lazy, fucking cunt and I'd much rather the other two got a game ahead of him. They give a fuck at least.

[TheHowieLama]

 

 

He quite clearly doesn't give one single solitary fuck, 

 

In January 2013, Balotelli's net worth was estimated to be US$40 million,[187] up from US$25 million in January 2012.

[FanchesterCity]

It's spot on this article. He's a temptation for Rodgers (as he has been for all managers who had him) to come on an finally do something special.

 

Managers seem to be obliged to play him, in part to save their own face and justify their faith in him. How many other benchwarmers get the same number of opportunities? none.

 

He makes for great reading, not for great playing. Ultimately, that seals his fate.

 

He's a fish out of water in life. It's only to be expected that he's the same on a pitch.

[ratcatcher]

Yes, I agree. He needs to be moved on asap now. That attempted 'shot' from the bye line with others in the box was just a joke.

[ZonkoVille77]

He's fuckin shite

[Mark M]

Jairzinho nailed it for me it's the not giving a fuck and total lack of end product does it for me. The last player I can remember hating this much was downing.

[JermainePennant]

Balotelli played his first 2-3 months here in a team that was struggling with not one player performing, he was playing a role he never has before consistently and was not getting much support from attacking players by them making runs ahead when he was dropping deep etc.

 

He has been injured about the last two months and made two sub appearances so Im guessing overall that he has started about 10-12 games at most for us, I dont think thats a fair chance for someone to show their ability especially playing in a new role.

 

Im not having Balotelli caused our performance to drop, our players looked fucked from about seventy minutes after most of the key ones like coutinho and sterling had played on saturday.This may also have played a part in Rodgers decision to go with mario over lallana, Mario could hold the ball and run at players like he did while Lallana relies mainly on linking up with players when we are on the ball.

 

So Mario didnt win the game for us on his own and wasted a shot like basically every one of our attackers and midfielders did, he done some good things and the performance was not as terrible as made out and as we know that was his first appearance in about 2-3 months apart from a half against the mancs coming on to a fast paced semi final.

 

My guess to what would have changed Rodgers mind about putting him in the squad is he must have had a talk where Mario agreed to improve his pressing, we saw signs of this when he came on and his agent was speaking after Rodgers comments saying he wants to stay and fight and if the manager says he has to jump he has to jump.

[Dr Nowt]

Balotelli played his first 2-3 months here in a team that was struggling with not one player performing, he was playing a role he never has before consistently and was not getting much support from attacking players by them making runs ahead when he was dropping deep etc.

 

He has been injured about the last two months and made two sub appearances so Im guessing overall that he has started about 10-12 games at most for us, I dont think thats a fair chance for someone to show their ability especially playing in a new role.

 

Im not having Balotelli caused our performance to drop, our players looked fucked from about seventy minutes after most of the key ones like coutinho and sterling had played on saturday.This may also have played a part in Rodgers decision to go with mario over lallana, Mario could hold the ball and run at players like he did while Lallana relies mainly on linking up with players when we are on the ball.

 

So Mario didnt win the game for us on his own and wasted a shot like basically every one of our attackers and midfielders did, he done some good things and the performance was not as terrible as made out and as we know that was his first appearance in about 2-3 months apart from a half against the mancs coming on to a fast paced semi final.

 

My guess to what would have changed Rodgers mind about putting him in the squad is he must have had a talk where Mario agreed to improve his pressing, we saw signs of this when he came on and his agent was speaking after Rodgers comments saying he wants to stay and fight and if the manager says he has to jump he has to jump.

 

Are you in fact Mario Balotelli?

 

I don't mean in the usual "Alright Mario", you must be him to be defending him like this way.

 

I mean in the you must otherwise be the only person on Planet Earth who's as dim as he is way.

[JermainePennant]

Are you in fact Mario Balotelli?

 

I don't mean in the usual "Alright Mario", you must be him to be defending him like this way.

 

I mean in the you must otherwise be the only person on Planet Earth who's as dim as he is way.

 

Has he been given a fair chance in your opinion and long enough?

 

Was the early season poor form down to him and where the other players performing?

 

Is it possible for a player to take time to adapt and come back after suffering confidence issues?

 

Ive seen shitter players here get longer then him and not be judged as quick, in fact i saw a carbon copy shitter version here when we had babel who got 2-3 years.

[Red Banjo]

Babel contributed the odd goal at least.

 

10 in fact in his first season. Probably a fair reason why he was given a chance.

 

And he was 20 years old.

 

Mario is 24 and shit.

[Phoenix]

Has he been given a fair chance in your opinion and long enough?

 

Was the early season poor form down to him and where the other players performing?

 

Is it possible for a player to take time to adapt and come back after suffering confidence issues?

 

Ive seen shitter players here get longer then him and not be judged as quick, in fact i saw a carbon copy shitter version here when we had babel who got 2-3 years.

More than enough.  He was brought in a first team player and he is nowhere near that level.

 

Babel brought in as youngster as a 20 year old who didnt fulfil his potential.

[andyj]

well he is here till the end of the season atleast  so all we can do is hope  he changes  if not  bye bye mario in the summer 

 

what gets me is why cant rodgers just hold his hands up and say i fucked up on that signing ? 

[Phoenix]

well he is here till the end of the season atleast  so all we can do is hope  he changes  if not  bye bye mario in the summer 

 

what gets me is why cant rodgers just hold his hands up and say i fucked up on that signing ? 

Because that would cost him his job there and then. The excuse of players settling in is still being used.

[Harry Squatter]

He's created a mystique all his career that he could be a world beater on his day if he'd ever get his head right but no manager has ever been able to make him perform consistently and hes never made any proper effort to do it himself. This is down the fact that he's actually quite shit and stupid, people are only now beginning to suss him out. Pity he's conned a fortune out of clubs in the past.

[andyj]

Because that would cost him his job there and then. The excuse of players settling in is still being used.

fair comment cant argue with that ....i hope he comes good  but since he has been at the club its by far the worst ive ever seen him play  he needs to get rid of that lazy attitude he has 

[longtimered]

He's a signing I never understood at the time and he's shown even less than I expected!

Apart from questionable ability and attitude why we never signed someone to fit our style of play beggars belief.   

[KMD7]

Very balanced and fair article Dave.  Definitely time to get rid.

[dave u]

Haven't finished the first paragraph and I'm repping this already.

 

Well said Dave, was thinking similar myself as to just how many times can "It would be just like it if he bloody scored tonight, wouldn't it?" be the sole fig leaf of blind optimism, before we chalk this one up to madness and move on without looking back.

 

 

That's exactly it and the thing is, I keep falling into the trap too. 

 

I said to my dad last night, "if he gets a chance I reckon he'll score here. He's due a change of luck". My dad looked at me like I was a moron. "If he gets a chance he'll put it miles over the bar" he said.

 

And then he did exactly that. 

[Tony Moanero]

He's gash.

 

Sell him.

 

For peanuts if necessary.

 

Just get rid.

[Dr Nowt]

That's exactly it and the thing is, I keep falling into the trap too. 

 

I said to my dad last night, "if he gets a chance I reckon he'll score here. He's due a change of luck". My dad looked at me like I was a moron. "If he gets a chance he'll put it miles over the bar" he said.

 

And then he did exactly that. 

 

Me too, said on the MF I thought he'd score. 

 

All there is isn't it, hoping the gods have a quirky sense of humour.

 

Got to stop.

[mike23]

I'm sure the club has been sounding out other teams to see if anyone is interested in him. His sudden bizarre reintroduction to the team for such a big game after not even being able to make the bench in the last few weeks suggests to me that there wasn't a great deal of interest out there and that it's been accepted by the club that we're stuck with him at least until the summer.

 

When we signed him a lot of people in the media suggested it was his last chance to do something at a big club and if that's the case then he is failing spectacularly and clearly doesn't seem to be too bothered about it. The problem for us could be finding a buyer even in the summer and I hope this doesn't turn into another situation like we've had with a number of other players in recent years where he just ends up being sent out on loan to clubs who won't even pay his wages in full.

[Mark M]

That's exactly it and the thing is, I keep falling into the trap too. 

 

I said to my dad last night, "if he gets a chance I reckon he'll score here. He's due a change of luck". My dad looked at me like I was a moron. "If he gets a chance he'll put it miles over the bar" he said.

 

And then he did exactly that.

 

"Dave's Dad" knows.

[littletedwest]

I'm sure the club has been sounding out other teams to see if anyone is interested in him. His sudden bizarre reintroduction to the team for such a big game after not even being able to make the bench in the last few weeks suggests to me that there wasn't a great deal of interest out there and that it's been accepted by the club that we're stuck with him at least until the summer.

 

When we signed him a lot of people in the media suggested it was his last chance to do something at a big club and if that's the case then he is failing spectacularly and clearly doesn't seem to be too bothered about it. The problem for us could be finding a buyer even in the summer and I hope this doesn't turn into another situation like we've had with a number of other players in recent years where he just ends up being sent out on loan to clubs who won't even pay his wages in full.

from the point of view of other clubs why would you not want us to pay some of his wages. He looks lazy, disinterested and most importantly shit. Even a really small club wouldn't want him, if they have any sense. Then again it's football so no doubt some club will want him despite him playing with the ability of a heavily sedated octogenarian.