Imminent new signing Mario Balotelli is sure to be a polarising figure at Anfield, and given his colourful history, he'll need to work hard to convince sceptical fans that he's worthy of wearing the Red shirt. In my view, Balotelli - if used correctly by Brendan Rodgers (i.e. not a a lone striker) is capable of being a great signing for Liverpool, but amongst ex-LFC players, he's something of a hate-figure.
No less than SEVEN ex-Liverpool stars have slated Balotelli over the last couple of years, and the vitriol hurled his way is truly something to behold:
* Graeme Souness: "My view of him [Balotelli] is that he is a liability. He is the type of player who would get himself sent off after five minutes of a cup final, leaving his team-mates to battle on a man short for the remaining 85 minutes. Yes, he is a young man with a fair amount of talent but can you rely on him? Again, the answer is: no"
* Alan Hansen: "He [is] a damaging distraction, and Roberto Mancini must shoulder the blame for allowing the situation to develop to the point where the player is beginning to affect the unity of the dressing room. When you are going for a title, Balotelli and everything that he brings with him goes against everything that you want down the final straight"
* Dietmar Hamann: "He's a distraction. The only reason he got away with his behaviour for so long was because he scored some important goals. I can't really see the lad making any progress. If I was a manager or a player, I wouldn't want him in my team".
* Tommy Smith: "Mario Balotelli is a nutcase who would not have lasted five minutes in any dressing room I’ve been in. I shudder to think what Shanks or Bob Paisley would have made of him"
Jamie Redknapp: "Balotelli is like a volcano waiting to erupt, a bubbling cauldron of trouble with a giant risk of letting you down".
* Kenny Dalglish: "I think Balotelli got himself sent off. Sometimes if you look in the mirror, you get the answer. Sometimes he doesn't help himself. Sometimes he doesn't get the leeway. But if you help yourself you don't get that".
Final word to Lawro, who gave a measured, comparatively tame assessment of Balotelli:
* Mark Lawrenson: "[He's] an absolute disgrace. [He] thinks the whole world revolves around him. That's the problem. I cannot think of a single more destructive influence in the Premier League. Balotelli is not worth the aggravation. He is not worth the time they spend on him, and he certainly doesn't do anything for dressing room harmony"
Wowsers. Balotelli is clearly the devil-incarnate, and after reading these insights, I feel compelled to change my view. Initially, I was happy with the deal, but after absorbing these opinions, I now feel...
Excited :-)
Bring it on!
Author: Jaimie K
No less than SEVEN ex-Liverpool stars have slated Balotelli over the last couple of years, and the vitriol hurled his way is truly something to behold:
* Graeme Souness: "My view of him [Balotelli] is that he is a liability. He is the type of player who would get himself sent off after five minutes of a cup final, leaving his team-mates to battle on a man short for the remaining 85 minutes. Yes, he is a young man with a fair amount of talent but can you rely on him? Again, the answer is: no"
* Alan Hansen: "He [is] a damaging distraction, and Roberto Mancini must shoulder the blame for allowing the situation to develop to the point where the player is beginning to affect the unity of the dressing room. When you are going for a title, Balotelli and everything that he brings with him goes against everything that you want down the final straight"
* Dietmar Hamann: "He's a distraction. The only reason he got away with his behaviour for so long was because he scored some important goals. I can't really see the lad making any progress. If I was a manager or a player, I wouldn't want him in my team".
* Tommy Smith: "Mario Balotelli is a nutcase who would not have lasted five minutes in any dressing room I’ve been in. I shudder to think what Shanks or Bob Paisley would have made of him"
Jamie Redknapp: "Balotelli is like a volcano waiting to erupt, a bubbling cauldron of trouble with a giant risk of letting you down".
* Kenny Dalglish: "I think Balotelli got himself sent off. Sometimes if you look in the mirror, you get the answer. Sometimes he doesn't help himself. Sometimes he doesn't get the leeway. But if you help yourself you don't get that".
Final word to Lawro, who gave a measured, comparatively tame assessment of Balotelli:
* Mark Lawrenson: "[He's] an absolute disgrace. [He] thinks the whole world revolves around him. That's the problem. I cannot think of a single more destructive influence in the Premier League. Balotelli is not worth the aggravation. He is not worth the time they spend on him, and he certainly doesn't do anything for dressing room harmony"
Wowsers. Balotelli is clearly the devil-incarnate, and after reading these insights, I feel compelled to change my view. Initially, I was happy with the deal, but after absorbing these opinions, I now feel...
Excited :-)
Bring it on!
Author: Jaimie K
Ha ha those comments make me want him here even more. It's brilliant to have a bit of personality and fire in the squad.
ReplyDeleteMaybe when he plays they will be so disgusted they'll give up their free seat and let someone else watch him : )
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Jaime. You watch at least 50% of the opinions listed above will have changed once he is scoring big goals in Red! YNWA!
ReplyDeleteNo brainer, goal scorer, great touch, confident, has an edge, cl experience, fans will love him as he will them, and at 16m its a barrrrrrrrrrrrgain! Sturridge is the better player but he will undoubtedly get injured and Lambert is no Balotelli!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jaimie K. He has the potential to be trouble but the reality is that in the past he has not been working under managers with good man management skills: Mancini and Mourinho are both catastrophes in that respect. With Rodgers man-management is his great strength. It's a risk but if he can get him pulling in the right direction he could be a bargain purchase.
ReplyDeleteLets not forget the utter hypocrisy around Suarez eh! Kenny, althugh I love him, said something about the club sticking by Suarez again post the WC, I mean come on!! Has Balotelli ever done anything as bad as LS??
ReplyDeleteJaimie, you indicated above that Balotelli is a controversial figure but the irony is that every post so far has been unanimously positive about him!
ReplyDeletePost links to these comments please.. I find it hard believe Dalglish or Souness would make such comments about a potential LFC player..
ReplyDeleteAnd this is part of your "critical realism about LFC" policy of yours? I'm sure you'd find a way to degrade winning no. 19. Wrong, it's my conviction you would.
ReplyDeleteThe links are already in the article, and are obvious to anyone who hasn't been living in a cave during the internet era.
ReplyDeleteRodgers has taken sturridge, sterling and Suarez on to new levels so hopefully he can wrestle Balotelli into submission. Remember we have one of the worlds top sport psychologists at the club, so that will be a big help.
ReplyDeleteGiven the choice of Balotelli and Eto Id take BAlotelli any day. As long as the crazy F*cka doesnt get sent off or start sparking players in training I am 100% behind him.
Hopefully he proves them wrong ,excited but a little worried that if he doesn't put in a shift he'll get benched and kick off abit
ReplyDeleteOld comments, If you read them properly its pretty clear.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost certain these comments are made out of hand years ago.. I doubt very much they are the same views they would present today knowing he may be a Liverpool player tomorrow... I'm saddened to think that you have gone out of your way to find such comments..
ReplyDeleteI agree, made years ago..sad stuff that they are dragged out again when he may be on the verge of signing for our great club.. However flawed Balotelli may be, he deserves the benefit of the doubt and our full support.. who knows what the futire brings.. He may well be a club legend passing judgement from an arm chair..
ReplyDeleteIt is clearly stated in the article that these comments are from 'the last couple of years'.
ReplyDeleteWith war, genocide, poverty, and hunger ravaging the planet, this is what saddens you?
I remain excited as well. Balotelli has all the qualities to be a football legend. His behavior can be questionable but I think its a very popular opinion to despise the young man. Hopefully Rodgers can get him focused and develop him into a world class players that shows his skills on a consistent basis. Either way I will support Balotelli through thick and thin.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the reservations I imagine many of us will harbour, it looks like it's happening (barring a disaster of Remy proportions). Personally I'm all for it. Whoever can get Mario to focus his energy correctly will have one hell of a player on their books. Here's hoping it's us.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the not insulting people on this site... You offend me....Bravo, you are a hypocrite and a drag on our spirits..
ReplyDeleteYou sadden me with you obvious hatred of all LFC.. Same shit Different day
ReplyDeleteLatest reports are suggesting that aw well as Balotelli we're also bringing in Eto'o. If that's true, and supposing it doesn't mean Sturridge is off to Spain, it should mean that we will play 2 up top- otherwise I can't see how we'll keep 4 strikers happy.
ReplyDeleteYou do realise kenny said it a long time ago
ReplyDeleteI don't think Kenny's was too bad there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what is getting said by them. He is potentially a lot of trouble. Lets hope npot folks as he has the ability to be as good as Ibrahimovic.
Jan Molby: Mario Balotelli is a gamble worth taking for Liverpool FC..
ReplyDeleteHere's a comment from an ex player relevent to today.. you must have missed it..
Block me, I don't agree with you.. go on tosser block me for the umteenth time.. I'm like a bad rash,, I'm going to iritate you forever..
ReplyDeleteLiverpool: Sturridge, Balotelli, Lambert and Borini or Eto'o (according to strong rumours)
ReplyDeleteCity: Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic, Negredo.
Everton: Lukaku, Traore
Chelsea: Costa, Drogba.
Spurs: Adebayor, Soldado
Arsenal: Giroud, Sanogo.
ManU: RVP, Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez.
Our strike-force seems to be pretty decent.
Did my comment get deleted? Saw it was being monitored but there was nothing controversial in it was there?
ReplyDeleteGoal scorer? 20 goals in 54 games compared to 31 in 32 or Sturridge's record. He could maybe score more goals of he could stop being a dumb tosh for two minutes. I fully agree with the players above. He's the worst possible thing that could have happened to us. He's a nobody who believes he is somebody. I think Rodgers had challenged himself to find the one transfer worse than Sakho and by God he's managed to do so.
ReplyDeleteJaimie could you please just clear up for me why my posts are being deleted cos I'm honestly in the dark as to what rule I've obviously breached and it's very frustrating having your posts deleted for what would seem to be no reason...
ReplyDeleteTo be fair Suarez only scored 15 in his first two seasons for us.
ReplyDeleteNone of your posts have been deleted. One (which is now live) just got held up by the word filter. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteAh cool no probs, thanks for clearing that up
ReplyDeleteI've only seen that on one website and it was of the dubious variety. There's a few reporting that we're still going for Falcao too. All nonsense. We'll hopefully add a decent back up keeper and that'll be the job done I would say. After that we'll be trimming the squads fringe players. Or at least trying to...
ReplyDeleteIn his BBC predictions this week Lawrenson is speaking very favourably of this transfer.
ReplyDeleteOh, how the worm turns
ReplyDeleteBring it on" BALOTELLI" Brendan likes a challenge and boy i think he`s got one, but i also think that he will prove his worth, Mario will be the most talked about player in the prem, but this time it will all be about his football and not his behaviour off the pitch i think he will light Anfield up with his fantastic football and his determination to prove all his critics wrong. Here`s one fan who welcomes him to our Liverpool family.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with anything those guys said...except maybe Lawro went a bit overboard...but it is irrelevant now. He's wearing the shirt, he gets the support. Nobody on this thread was more against this signing than me.If I can get behind him, then certainly all youse guys can too.
ReplyDeleteSomething about this deal I just like, dunno why. Never particularly liked Balotelli when he was at City. Was unsurprised to see him in decline at Milan. On one hand, this really is a bit like signing Niklas Bendtner. But something about it, I don't know what exactly, it just feels right. I hope Mario feels the same way.
ReplyDeleteBallotelli is a game changer, just ask the Germans :)
ReplyDeleteThe old boys will soon change their tune, but like most I've not been this excited in a longtime! YNWA
You need to remember that at City he didn't play 90 minutes in most of those matches. Only 33 were starts and in some of those he would have been substituted (City's strength in depth gave them this luxury). He actually has a goals per minute ratio similar to Suarez's. Also one should remember that when he was at Manchester City he was in his early 20s. 20 goals in 54 appearances for someone that age is very rare. He scored 26 goals in 45 appearances for Milan which is great in a league where goals are hard to come by and where that Milan team was seriously malfunctioning. The only negative on his stats is the number of assists- just 1 at Manchester City. But I understand he may have contributed 6 assists last year at Milan. Signing Balotelli for 16 million is great business.
ReplyDeleteI would say the only outstanding issues that need to be sorted out are his work-rate off the ball and his yellow and red card offences. He certainly does have a history of making idiotic challenges and that needs to stop. We get on Lucas's case for giving away needless free kicks, Balotelli needs to be held to the same standard.
ReplyDeleteHis recent season in Italy seems to have been much improved, although there is still a red card on his record. Really, there is no excuse ever for a striker to be getting a red card. Maybe some extraordinary circumstances, but even then it would be debatable. Rodgers will ask him to press and work hard off the ball, that's all, so he just needs to stay on his feet and keep his frustrations to himself. No wild elbows, retaliations against opposition players or provocative on-field antics. A bit of passion is great and he needs the freedom to show his personality, but he also needs to show respect for his club, fans and everyone else on the pitch. He needs to respect the game itself, the rules of the game and the spirit in which Liverpool play it.
What those pundits have complained about is the effect Balotelli can have on a team. Giving away fouls, reacting to opposition players, not working for the team and lunging for stupid tackles is not what any team needs and if he does those things unapologetically and for essentially selfish reasons then I agree, that's not good for the team.
I would argue that in our system of play, there is every excuse for our strikers to be getting carded. We play a high tempo, high pressing game that thrives because our forwards and mids put massive amounts of pressure on the opposition defense when they gain possession. Studge, Razi and Tino are told to bolt at the defenders and put them under pressure to make a mistake and give away an advanced throw in, corner or possession altogether, and quite often, because it is striker tackling defender, cards will come out. Someone with Mario's physique will always be penalised more in these instances aswell, just like Carroll, Crouch, Kenwyne, these big players. And he wont be held to the same standard as Lucas, because unlike Lucas, Mario can contribute something to the team, and I can honestly say that Lucas no longer does that.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I didn't really consider it that way. I was more thinking of him no longer needing to go two footed studs up on a defender. I'll happily accept him getting a few cards if his enthusiasm to press hard gets the better of him every now and then. However if he just goes in late or swipes at the trailing legs of the defenders who have breezed by him then there is no room for that. It will be a fine line.
ReplyDeleteJamie... you killed it with the closing statement..... at least we get to be more popular :D
ReplyDeleteWasn't Souness a bit of a nut case in his time? Pot calling the kettle.....
ReplyDeleteThey're entitled to their opinions certainly, but if he signs, which seems likely, one would hope that they would be able to support Mario, along with the fans, purely because, nutter that he might be, he's a Liverpool player, and that means we support our own. Hopefully Mario, like Sturridge before him will come good, as he is certainly a talent any self-respecting club would love to have i he irons out his erratic behaviour.
ReplyDeleteAnd why was it always him that got substituted? Not because he was having such a bang up game and Mancini just wanted to be nice to the other strikers. It's because he picked up a silly yellow card or was being lazy, not tracking back etc. You saw him at the world cup. He plays like an 8 year old.
ReplyDeleteHis first season was only half a season because he came to us in January. Actually not even half a season because he didn't play until February.
ReplyDelete