• Premier League

Balotelli not the cause of Liverpool's problems

Forty-two days. That's all it has taken. No more than seven games.

To be honest, that must be some sort of record. Yes, Mario Balotelli has played seven times for Liverpool. He has been on Merseyside for 42 days. He has already earned himself the epithet - from at least one newspaper - of "£16 million flop", which has already prompted publicity-seeking bookmakers to slash the odds on him leaving Anfield in January, or next summer. That, whichever way you look at it, is pretty good going.

Mario Balotelli put in a subdued performance against Basel © Getty Images

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This is not just about the speed with which the media turns, though. It is not some sort of anti-Liverpool or anti-Balotelli conspiracy among journalists. Graeme Souness called the Italian's performance against Basel in the Champions League "miserable".

Even Brendan Rodgers, the sort of manager who usually attempts to cocoon his players, did not exactly help. He described signing Balotelli as a "calculated risk," admitting that he had considered plenty of other options but that the 24-year-old was the only one who was available, in the price range and of the requisite quality. He insisted Balotelli needs to score more goals.

It is at this juncture that journalistic convention demands a shoe-horned mention of the "Why Always Me?" T-shirt he produced after scoring in the Manchester derby three years ago. To do so would be terribly hackneyed, of course, but in this case, it's justified: Balotelli could be forgiven for asking whether another striker, attempting to settle into a new home, would be subject to the same sort of stinging criticism as has been fired in his direction.

It would also be fair for him to wonder whether perhaps his fame, his reputation and his position as one of football's great enigmas has made him an easy lightning rod, distracting from the shortcomings and the crossed wires that are affecting Liverpool's play.

Balotelli might point out that Philippe Coutinho looks jaded and Raheem Sterling tired; that Lazar Markovic looks the player Chelsea refused for £12m, not the one Liverpool bought for £20m; that no matter how many free kicks Steven Gerrard scores and incorrectly interprets as a riposte to his critics, the club captain is still too easily pressed out of possession; that Adam Lallana has only shown (admittedly because of injury) in flashes the form he displayed last season; that Rodgers' side simply cannot defend corners or free kicks. He might even point out that none of these things are, strictly speaking, his fault.

He most certainly would not claim that Rodgers has happily latched on to the "Balotelli as problem" narrative because it diverts attention away from structural issues that are his responsibility as manager; doing so would be deeply unprofessional even though such an argument might hold some water. Balotelli might happily assert, though, that laying all of Liverpool's troubles at his door is not only unfair; it is not particularly accurate or helpful, either.

Mario Balotelli's only Liverpool goal so far has come against Ludogorets Razgrad © Getty Images

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I have never quite "got" Balotelli. Not at Internazionale, not at Manchester City, not at AC Milan, not with Italy. That is not to say that he is not talented - of course he is, enormously so. He certainly has all the physical attributes needed to become one of the world's best, as well as that crucial flash of brilliance, the ability to do the unexpected, too. Most importantly, he can occasionally summon an extraordinary calmness - as his penalty record shows - that has been the hallmark of so many of the very best forwards.

What I cannot quite see is the school of thought that led Roberto Mancini, for so long his greatest champion, to claim that he could one day be the equal of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. I have always had a lingering doubt that Balotelli's unconventional personality has lent him a little more attention than his performances warrant. In that respect, the best player to group him with would be David Beckham: a fine player, but one whose on-pitch prowess was artificially boosted by his off-pitch celebrity.

It is a delicate subject, but I wonder, too, whether the hugely significant social role Balotelli, as a black Italian, has played throughout his career has played a part. Balotelli is as much an emblem of Italy's problems, and the work it has to do in combating racism, as he is a footballer. That has attracted attention, and support - and rightly so - but perhaps at some point how important he is has been conflated with how good he is. At some point the player has to be separated from the symbol.

This is not, then, an outright defence of Balotelli. It is not seeped in partisanship from one of his ardent devotees. But even as someone who does not believe him to be worth the hubbub he has always attracted, the speed with which he has been written off - and the circumstances in which that has happened - has been absurd.

Labelling Balotelli a flop is to suggest that he has played badly in his seven - seven! - games at Liverpool. He has not. He has played moderately well, given the player he is. He is Mario Balotelli, and he has played like Mario Balotelli in a sort of "seven out of 10" way. He is not the best Mario Balotelli you have ever seen, but he has been a passable Mario Balotelli.

The problem is not that Balotelli is a bad player. The problem is not even that he is playing badly. The problem is that he is the wrong player, and that he is being judged by the wrong standards.

Mario Balotelli has always been an enigmatic player © Getty Images

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The most common complaint about Balotelli's performances this season has been that he is too static, that he does not make the runs Liverpool's players need him to make, that he does not do the things Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge do and did.

Of course he doesn't. He is a completely different sort of forward, probably best described as a deep-lying target man or, possibly, a line-leading playmaker. He is not going to dart off the shoulder like Sturridge. He is not going to buzz around in the channels like Suarez. He is an edge-of-the-box player, capable of brilliance when in the mood and when in a constructive environment. Criticising him because he does not do what he never does is not far off having a pop at John Terry for not getting enough crosses in.

Balotelli did not have a touch in the box against Basel. Does that mean he played badly? Or does that mean that his team-mates did not provide him with the ball in areas that he wants, or with the type of pass he wants? Rodgers' assertion that Balotelli "needs to score more goals" is completely vapid. He will score more goals - how many he will score depends on how good you think he is - if he is furnished with chances to do so.

Balotelli looks like a passenger for Liverpool at the moment because he is a passenger. He is playing in a side that wants him to do something he does not do and with players that do not know what he wants them to do. He is playing the trombone in a rock band.

The man who is charged with solving that problem is not Balotelli; it is Rodgers. He bought him, presumably fully equipped with the knowledge of what sort of player Balotelli is, what is required to get the best from him. It is his job, as manager, to finesse a striker who wants to play one sort of style into a team that wants to play another.

Balotelli must change a little, of course, but so must the team. If Rodgers wanted a different striker to Balotelli, if he did not appreciate what he provides, if he wants him to become something else, something entirely different, then he bought the wrong player. The fault for that, 42 days in, does not lie with Balotelli, no matter how much we always want it to be him.

This article originally appeared on ESPN FC

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