• Premier League

Balotelli is the most infuriating player in world football

Miguel Delaney | ESPNFC
October 20, 2014
What is wrong with Mario Balotelli?

As Leroy Fer somehow hit the crossbar from Bobby Zamora's delivery and almost all of Loftus Road looked on while trying to work out how exactly the midfielder had missed, there was one man looking elsewhere.

Mario Balotelli had his eyes on the ground, as he nursed a blow to his head.

The pain came from an off-the-ball incident with QPR's Richard Dunne just moments before but Brendan Rodgers evidently felt that the Italian should have got over it by then. He absolutely berated Balotelli from the bench, demanding he get up.

If this is Balotelli's best, you'd really have to wonder about his worst. If this is work rate, what's he like when he's slacking?

Afterwards, it was put to Rodgers that he seemed frustrated with the 24-year-old. "I was frustrated probably the whole game," the Liverpool manager responded.

It was a quip that fairly reflected the chaos of his side's ludicrous 3-2 win against QPR but also evaded the question. If it was that kind of day for Rodgers, it was also that kind of performance from Balotelli. He was appalling. The reality is that it wasn't the first occasion on the day that someone from the Liverpool set-up ordered the forward to get up and get on with it. It also wasn't the first time someone had been so obviously frustrated with him.

Right now, he's the most infuriating player in world football. It really is difficult to think of someone else with such a huge gap between their obviously brilliant ability and their questionable application.

This is not just about the open goal he missed in this match or a miserable return of just one goal and zero assists from nine matches. As Rodgers fairly said afterwards, that is the type of thing that will come, that can happen to anyone. The real issue here is that Balotelli often doesn't seem to be doing anything else.

His level of apparent disinterest is so conspicuous and so confounding. In what was a confusing post-game news conference, Rodgers was asked whether Balotelli would have missed the easy chance to win the game, had Steven Caulker not put Raheem Sterling's ball into his own net to make it 3-2.

"That is very unfair," the Liverpool manager said. "An open goal, from six yards?"

It was pointed out that, just after half-time, Balotteli had missed one from eight yards. Rodgers's response featured another comment that stood out.

Liverpool are missing the injured Daniel Sturridge © Getty Images
Enlarge

"Yeah, OK, it will drop for the boy," the manager said. "The most important thing for me is his work rate. The guy is doing his best and working really hard and it is not dropping for him. I would say he would have finished that if Steven Caulker had not put it in."

The last part of that isn't really in question, but Rodgers's other statements are. If this is Balotelli's best, you'd really have to wonder about his worst. If this is work rate, what's he like when he's slacking?

Take some of the most basic examples of the day. For the Richard Dunne own goal that initially put Liverpool 1-0 ahead, Balotelli was actually turning away. He wasn't alert to play or ready to pounce had the ball come to him. On another occasion when a Raheem Sterling ball went a little astray, Balotelli showed no willingness to chase it. When Caulker easily took the ball off him near the QPR goal in the first half, the forward didn't bother to battle back. He just stopped playing.

It goes on. It also goes beyond a lack of basic effort.

It seems to be about something else. Sometimes, there is a really odd physical meekness to Balotelli, which is all the more surprising because there have been so many occasions when we have seen him display awesome power. Compare that apparent fragility at Loftus Road with the devastating drive against Germany that sent Italy into the final of Euro 2012. One removed all doubt, the other provoked so many questions.

The amount of time he took to nurse the little clip he received from Dunne was a case in point. It just seemed such a surrender, even if a minor one.

This is also not some appeal to an old-fashioned macho approach, or a false idea of masculinity. It is about something much more real and relevant: basic professionalism.

Over the past few weeks, Jose Mourinho has received a lot of attention for his words about Eden Hazard, how he expects the Chelsea attacker to transform from a dazzling player into one that is truly dominant and decisive; to fulfil his talent. It says more than anything that, even though Balotelli is a year older than Hazard, we're a long way off that kind of talk.

Take Rodgers's comments on the Italian's own current responsibilities: "He is really focusing on making sure that he is concentrating and preparing right."

He is seen as the direct replacement for Luis. Luis is irreplaceable. A real world-class talent
Brendan Rodgers

Preparing right? At a club aiming to maintain their place in the Champions League that should be a given, not something to strive for.

It shows just how much needs to be done with him. It is also reflected in how much Liverpool's play has dropped off. This is the real issue with that Balotelli work rate, too. If he was actually running and offering some mobility then it wouldn't matter so much because it would at least feed into the fluency of Liverpool's play.

Instead, the static nature of play is having a disproportionate effect on his side's game. They look so drab. They have gone from a whirlwind to a light breeze, but one that might still knock Balotelli over. Once the ball gets forward, only Raheem Sterling is offering anything like the kind of rampaging running we saw last season. They badly need Daniel Sturridge back, but also badly need Balotelli to just make some runs; to make some effort. Right now, he is offering absolutely nothing other than the odd tee-up touch or a wild shot.

That was emphasised in every one of Rodgers's comments.

"We have not really hit the heights for most of the season," Rodgers said. "It is not rocket science. We scored a hundred and odd goals last year and the dynamic of the team has changed. We have lost 75% of that. That just takes time.

"Unfortunately there is no magic wand to make it work instantly - just a lot of games with less coaching time and a lot of new players.

"The dynamics of the team, penetration at speed. With Sturridge and Raheem we have that ability to stretch defences ... but then it has changed because we don't have that so much and we have just Raheem to run in behind."

Rodgers obviously didn't directly reference Balotelli here, but there was some real faint praise when he did name him.

"He is seen as the direct replacement for Luis. And as I said before, Luis is irreplaceable. A real world-class talent and that is not what is being asked of Mario. Mario has come here and everyone has seen him over his career ... He is not going to be what Suarez was, he is a totally different type of player. Luis played on the shoulder and we set up the team to exploit his qualities. Now we have to have a different dynamic and a different type of game."

They also have a different type of character. Whereas Suarez would keep torridly persevering regardless of what was happening in the game to him, Balotelli just seems to give up too easily. None of this means Liverpool or Rodgers should give up on the youngster, of course. The whole logic of "Moneyball," Brian Clough-style signings is to take time to properly reinvigorate troubled players who aren't maximising their brilliant talent. That's the trick: the patience and the particular psychology to it.

Rodgers himself emphasised "it won't happen overnight." It's just going to take a fair few sleepless nights.

Brendan Rodgers admitted he was frustrated by the performance against QPR © Getty Images
Enlarge

This article originally appeared on ESPNFC.com

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
ESPN staff Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices