Brendan Rodgers has said that summer signing Mario Balotelli will get a chance to prove himself at Liverpool.
The Reds bought the player from AC Milan in the summer and the Italian has found it tough at the Merseyside club so far. He has only netted twice for the Reds, and none of the goals have come in the Premier League. However, he has hardly featured over the last couple of months due to both recurring injuries and illnesses and Liverpool using a new formation, 3-4-2-1, with Raheem Sterling as their false nine. Rodgers wanted to play the way his side did last season and in the absence of Daniel Sturridge, the Northern Irishman decided to use Sterling as the front-man as he realized that none of his available strikers could do the job for the Reds.
The system has worked for Liverpool as they find themselves hugely improved in the last one month. However, Balotelli remains largely marginalized and the former City player didn’t even make the bench for Saturdaya s 0-0 draw with Bolton in the FA Cup at Anfield, despite being fit to be selected.
Questions were naturally raised about the striker’s future with the Merseyside club and many have since thought that the Italian will be done away with in this window,
But Brendan Rodgers has dismissed these suggestions – that hea s looking to off-load the A?16m frontman before transfer deadline day.
a We will give Mario every chance,a Rodgers said.
a We brought him in here for this season to give him every chance to show consistently that he can play for a team at the top of this level.
a Ita s been a difficult period for him but hea s a good boy. He wants to fight for his chance here.
a Ia ve seen some bits this morning suggesting thata s him done here. Thata s not the case at all. Ia ve shown in my time here that if players who have been out the fold for various reasons work hard every day in training and show intensity and focus then they have every chance of getting back in the side and staying there.a
