15 Apr 2015

Boss insists: 'Maverick' €20m Liverpool star has failed at Anfield because he's 'earning too much'

Earlier this week, Sampdoria Chief Massimo Ferrero confirmed that he's interesting in signing 'maverick' Liverpool Mario Balotelli, who has struggled all season to make a consistent impact at Anfield. Various theories have been advanced to explain Balotelli's perennial under-performance, and Ferrero believes he has the key to unlocking the Italian's desire and motivation to succeed.

When asked about signing Balotelli, Ferrero admitted he'd 'take him' in the summer, and offered the following reason for the striker's failure to hit the heights at Liverpool:

"He [Balotelli] has lost his hunger. He’s earning too much. If he was only on bread and water, he’d be a champion again.”

Well, all I can say is...Good luck with that!

I sincerely doubt that Balotelli will take a significant pay cut to leave Liverpool, especially when he's reportedly on £95k a week. He'd probably choose to rot away on the bench at Anfield than take a lower salary.

After all, he's a football player, which means that - like so many others - he's an mercenary by default. An 'obligate-mercenary' if you will.

There is some merit to Ferrero's contention, though. I've made the same point countless times in relation to young players: massive salaries and constant gross overpraise = dulled competitive edge, and a loss of hunger/desire.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has made the same point in the past, too. In August, he argued that paying young players huge salaries causes a 'massive problem', and noted:

"It [big salaries] are a big problem because the reward is no longer there. They [footballers] lose their hunger. we have to be careful because when you reward young players too quickly, that will be their downfall."

Of course, the irony of this view is completely lost on Rodgers, who is responsible for deifying Raheem Sterling to the extent that the youngster is allegedly demanding a salary in excess of £150k-a-week.

As for Balotelli - why would he work himself to the bone when he knows he'll bank £95k at the end of the week irrespective of performance, effort, or achievement?

Still, fingers crossed that Sampdoria can somehow convince Balotelli to sign...

Author:


55 comments:

  1. Guardiola won't break his contract - he has 1 year left.

    And Ancelotti wont be moved on in the summer.

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  2. ...and it all comes back to Sterling ;-)

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  3. Klopp will be a perfect fit. Took a team that had many unknown players and won the Bundesliga.


    Give Klopp the money Rodgers has spent since arriving at Anfield and watch him win the EPL.

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  4. For no other reason that Real can't hope to win everything every year... Hence getting rid of Ancelotti makes no sense on any level,

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  5. For you maybe but not so sure about with the owners !

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  6. City will never go for BR. They are looking to win the CL.. hence need a manager with proven European credentials.. ie Rafa..

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  7. Why would the owners not be interested in Klopp?

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  8. Rodgers = no chance of becoming City's manager.

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  9. I agree, FSG surely must be on the look out (if nothing else its sound business planning to have a Plan ).

    And Klopp would fit ..

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  10. No square pegs round holes.

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  11. Probably because he is more of his own man and would not toe the party line . He is emotional and I would suggest not go along with FSG's policy of investing in younger players with potential ....

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  12. Investing in younger players. Blah blah blah.


    Since Rodgers arrived he has signed


    Toure, Mignolet, Lovren, Lallana, Lambert, Aspas who were all in their mid 20's and up.


    Pluss we approached the likes of Willian, Mkhitaryan, Costa, Sanchez, Bertrand, Remy and who knows who else who were also in their mid 20's and up at the time.


    Like I said, give Klopp over £200m and see him pull the strings.

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  13. My only caution would be:

    1. Give the new guy (in this case Klopp) time
    2. The money should be spent wisely over a number of years (ie not £200m in one year!!)
    3. Set CL qualification first target

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  14. Klopp did massively well in Europe with Dortmund. Look how utterly shite we were this season.


    Klopp has made himself the most wanted manager in world football now and it will be extremely difficult for us to make him agree to sign on the dotted line but FSG would be utter i d i o t s if they did not at least try to get Klopp.

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  15. Other fans may not necessary agree with your summary of the season we've head - especially those who got lost in the not losing streak ;-)

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  16. And we still have not managed once this season to break into the top 4 even after being one of the best form teams second half of the season.


    Happy days ahead.

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  17. Think your stretching a point to blame Rodgers for Sterling's wage demands, as his manager, he is perfectly in his right to pay homage to performing players, in fact it's his job! Although I do agree he has a tendency to gush.

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  18. That's the reality that many fans seems to miss when singing the virtues of BR.

    BR in each of his 3 season got off to a relatively poor start and then went on a good run in the 2nd half of the season.

    Except this year, the first half was sooooo bad..

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  19. It was even worse than his first season ;-)

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  20. Yep the start this season was comparable to Hodgson - and we know he did not last..

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  21. Not me you've got to convince mate ! If I was a betting man I'd put money on BR still being our manager next season ....... even if we don't win the FA Cup and qualify for CL or Europa which , by the way , is still a strong possibility .

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  22. Why would any top footballer bust a gut for any team? They all earn obscene amounts of money. Maybe you need to be playing for a team and a manager that believes it will compete and possibly win some of the big competitions. After all if the money no longer motivates you then it has to be the trophies and your ego. The likes of Balotelli, Sterling and others want the bragging rights to go with the Bentleys, as it stands Liverpool will probably finish 5th and get to the FA cup final. The mentality from Rogers and the club has to change back to the we can win every competition and nobody is better than Liverpool FC. This may persuade the more talented and subsequently egotistical players that Liverpool is a club worth busting a gut for. This season it seemed the mantra was forget the CL, try to finish top four and have a decent cup run. Mourinho would never settle for that at Chelsea but it seems Rogers and the club are happy to peddle such defeatism.

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  23. If BR is still in charge next season then nothing is going to change.


    The competition ahead of us will just get stronger and we will still have a manager who does not even have a settled style of football and will keep on chopping and changing like he has for three seasons.


    So what is going to change for LFC next season under Rodgers?

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  24. We had our worst start to a season under Rodgers this time round in something like half a century?


    Not even Hodgson could beat that mate.

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  25. I'm beyond the point of caring about either of them now. Balotelli is a farce and I'd be happy with 40m+ for Sterling as long as he isn't sold to an EPL team.
    Equally I'[d be happy to see LFC take a real stand against Sterling by refusing to sell him, only playing him as a bit part player (why should a player not wanting to be at LFC get 90 minutes every week) and leaving him to either run down his contract for 2 years, risking obscurity, or let him buy out the last year of his contract after a year on the bench, after all he did say it wasn't about the money right?

    Of course, if Sterling does sign a new contract in the summer, I will be denying writing any of this post ;-)

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  26. £50m for Sterling who's contract ends in 2017? I just cannot see it.


    Who will that £50m be wasted on under Rodgers when looking at the last summer window?

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  27. Not sure what to do with Sterling..

    He's defo a talent.. but missing the killer instinct in front of goal to make him a great. He needs some one to take him to once side and show him how to be a clinical finisher.

    I know most people say he's young and will improve over time. Yes - but he needs to be shown the ropes.

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  28. It's good to hear another manager saying it, but if his interest is as big as he is making out then I bet they would still pay that or only marginally less when it came to it. I think the difference with Sampdoria would be he would be the main man, the big dog. That would probably suit Balotelli, he can take the pressures of it all but I think he would be a better performer knowing he was THE MAN. whether we could have given him that here remains unanswered. But I think stroking his ego is better man-management than denting it. (For Balotelli, not everyone). He wouldn't take much if any cut. No one in any profession could take a huge pay cut and call it a good thing. I've moved for money before. But I think if they said look we can offer 85 not 95, but your our man we would back you to the hilt. That might tempt him.

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  29. I don't know about replacing quality with quality, Immobile and Ramos for Lewandowski is somewhat questionable....But. much like Suarez, it is always going to be difficult to replace someone of hia calibre...

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  30. Too defeatist for my liking.... We are only a couple of really good players away from being able to put up a serious challenge....Think about it, The team we had last year, Suarez apart, nearly won the title, and you can't suggest that was a better team/squad, because it simply wasn't......
    I sincerely believe, with the right signings, LFC can definately mount a challenge... Whether they will win it, who knows, no one can know what will happen next season, but I will say, no one would have given Liverpool a chance of even making the top 4 last season....

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  31. Love fest commence.

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  32. Make your mind up either all or most footballers a mercenaries can't be both ;-)

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  33. I know and have you noticed too that Messi and Ronaldo have been rubbish since they started getting paid.

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  34. How is it better to pay the Mercenary footballer a signing on fee rather than his club a transfer fee. It might be cheaper but isn't it encouraging players to be mercenary and rewarding them when they are?

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  35. Balotelli accepted a pay-cut to come to liverpool, so wouldn't be so unbelievable if he really wanted to leave

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  36. Dare I say Johnson is his role model?

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  37. Sorry, tell me again how are we going to find £200M ?


    I've checked back of the sofa and come up with 38p and half a dog biscuit which still tasted OK

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  38. I admire your loyalty.

    But what good was loyalty to the captain of the Titanic when the ship hit the ice-berg on his watch?

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  39. your points are silly how about supporting the club starting with our manager your not neutral i guess you remove this comment as well

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  40. Great idea it's absolutely criminal he's never been part of any of the coaching teams at bare minimum.

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  41. Wow Porto 2 up v Bayern

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  42. Really sad to hear about Teixeira injury - hope hes back by start of season..

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  43. Players should be happy just to have the opportunity to play!

    Players should pay the fans to watch them play!

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  44. Maybe, but Rodgers did want to buy Costa, William, Mykhitarn (or whatever), at city he could just throw money at them, if he got his number one targets (of resent) I think we'd be after a much better season, they say city want a young team that play attacking football, he fits the bill.

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  45. A bit like how West Ham never utilised Bobby Moore.

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  46. Peace to the families of the 96. Never forgotten!

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  47. ?????? I'm Stan he's Neutral, but nevermind.

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  48. Sounds awfully familiar doesn't it! Except the Reus's and Gundogan's

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  49. His problem was a lack of life boats..... but ok.

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  50. What was he doing with a ship and an iceberg on his watch?

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  51. You are free to negotiate with us now and take him back to Italy

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  52. It's unfair to label all footballers as mercenaries the way you have.


    Damiano Tommasi, Fernando Redondo and Joseba Etxeberria have shown that they are players who will knock back money for a concept of 'fair and equitable' or simply 'give back' in their way.

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  53. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva9:51 am, April 16, 2015

    I would like to see Liverpool sell Balo, Borini, Aspas, Allen, Lucas and Sterling if he keeps up his tactics, then use the money to bring in Illermandi (DM 18mill) Vietto (striker/winger 12mill) Ayew (striker free) or Lacazette (30mill) Patricio Rui (keeper 11mill) and bring back Tiago (defender), worst case scenario 70 mill, we sell Sterling cause we still have Ibe and the rest of the sales will fund the rest of the players, sorry for any spelling errors. Just an idea.

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  54. God how many times.... BR sits on a transfer COMMITTEE!!! He's never been handed £100 million and told to go and fill his boots!
    If we sack Rodgers, someone else will take his role on the transfer committee, the club policy won't change so we'll still be targeting the same types of players, the wage structure won't change, so the new manager will face the same problems as Rodgers when it comes to attracting the world's best players.
    Everyone speaks about the so called transfer flops but let's think of the ones that got away... Costa, Mkhitaryan, Willian, Salah, Shaquiri (twice), Konoplyanka, Remy, Sanchez and there are a fair few more. Any one of them would make our squad better. It's not Rodgers fault the club can't close a deal - the Salah fiasco being particularly ridiculous.
    Rodgers proved last season that with the right players available he was capable of mounting a title challenge, while playing breathtaking football.
    As Stan has alluded to, we have a decent squad now, we just need to add a little extra quality to become the finished article. Sacking the manager and starting again would be madness and just leads to eternal transition

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