Mario Balotelli blamed Liverpool FC manager Brendan Rodgersa tactics as much as his own poor form for his failures at Liverpool FC. We think that the forward has a point and that he should have never been signed by the manager.
Liverpool FC finished the year 2013-14 second in the table, just a whisker away from the first league title in 24 years. However, the following summer saw the departure of the star of the team, Luis Suarez, who was the key in the cluba s march to the title. Following yet another controversial incident when the Uruguay international bit Italian defender Chiellini in the World Cup, Liverpool FC sold the forward to FC Barcelona for a mammoth 75m GBP fee.
The club then went on a hunt to replace the fiery Uruguayan who had been the star player in Liverpool FCa s fantastic team displays throughout 2013-14. The style of play that took the Reds so close to the title involved mesmerizing movement up front by Suarez and Sturridge with the two players along with attacking midfielders pressing in order to defend from the front.
Understandably, Liverpool FC were looking for a similar player to replace Suarez and asked FC Barcelona to include Alexis Sanchez in the deal. Sanchez refused to sign and the Reds then looked at Bony, whom the owners and transfer committee refused to sign owing to his wage demands.
As the deadline day approached, Rodgers was given an option to chose between Etoa o and Balotelli, with the manager opting for a a calculated gamblea to sign the latter, who had scored 30 plus goals for AC Milan in 2013-14 season.
The statistics seemed all fine but there was one problema Balotelli had never played in a manner that seemed to suggest that he would fit in with Liverpoola s style.
In what can be described as an incredibly shocking signing, Liverpool FC signed a player infamous for his lack of work rate, inability to be tactically adept and absence of the will to adapt. One look at his style of play and it is easy to see that Balotellia s game was anything but centered on movement, something Liverpool FC badly needed if they wanted to play a lone forward up front, which was the formation Brendan Rodgers had used for the most part during his time at Anfield.
Balotelli demanded the ball at his feet and hardly pressed at Milan. The San Siro side, shorn of stars, obliged and Balotelli was able to score a few.
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Liverpool FC on the other hand had, despite having had stars in their rank, played football that relied on team work and the movement of their forward players.
Balotelli was not only not suited to the style of play, but also Brendan Rodgersa belief that he will be able to initiate the player into his system ended up failing miserably.
The fact that the management offered Balotelli to Rodgers in the first place and that Rodgers misjudged, thinking that he would be able to get the best out of a player that Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini had previously failed with, indicates a failure at all levels, be it scouting, signing or man-management.
Rodgers tried to instil a style of play in a player who was not only completely unsuitable to the style that he wanted to implement but also had a history of being termed uncoachable.
Hence, Balotelli is not wrong when he says that Rodgers was as much to blame as his own poor form for his failure at Liverpool FC. Afterall, a manager lives and dies by the decisions he makes.
The decision to sign Mario Balotelli was a wrong one and Rodgers, as well as Liverpool FC transfer committee must accept the full blame for signing the maverick Italian.
