Debate: Is Mario Balotelli too good to pass up on or should Liverpool steer well clear
IS Mario Balotelli worth the risk or will Brendan Rodgers come to regret his transfer window gamble? We examine boths sides of the ledger.
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THE Rumour Mill was right! For weeks it has churned out transfer talk fantasies about Liverpool going after one of the world’s mythical striker options: Falcao, Lavezzi, Cavani, Balotelli. And it looks like they’re about to take the plunge on the latter. Enjoy the ride, Liverpool fans.
To say Super Mario can be divisive is an understatement, and while some Reds fans are buzzing at his impending arrival, others have their reservations over a player who has been known to combust.
At the time of writing, 79 per cent of online voters believe Balotelli is worth the risk: Vote here to have your say.
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Is the Italian worth it? We look at both sides of ledger.
Five reasons Balotelli is a no-brainer for Liverpool, Huw Bonello argues
1. He’s reformed
Don’t take our word for it, this from Italy teammate, Andrea Pirlo: “Mario has matured since he has been back in Italy. He will be the first to admit when he was younger he made some mistakes - but he is not that player anymore,” he said. “Anybody who still talks about him in that way is living in the past.” Sure he’s hit the headlines on the odd occasion, but it’s mostly harmless. This from former mentor at Inter, Jose Mourinho: “I could write a book of 200 pages of my two years in Inter with Mario. But the book would be not a drama. The book would be a comedy.” Plus, if he does stuff up - the beahvioural clause in his contract will see him kicked out of the club faster than you can say ‘arrivederci’.
2. He’s world class
Put any sort of attitude issues to one side, the guy is a world class striker. He scored for Italy against England at the recent World Cup, and since moving to Milan in 2013, no player has found the back of the net more than his 26 in Serie A. He’s got lethal free kick taking ability, can conjure a moment of brilliance out of nothing and is ice cold from the penalty spot.
3. He’s dirt cheap
Milan has accepted a Reds bid of $28m, which, in modern football’s inflated market, is a pittance. Ross McCormack – who has no top-flight experience – cost Fulham $19m, Southampton paid Hull City $21m for Shane Long while current Reds striker Fabio Borini is apparently worth $25m to Sunderland. Super Mario has played in the biggest competitions, for club and country. Surely he’s worth the punt?
4. He’s a barrel of laughs
All too often – especially in the Barclays Premier League - we see modern footballers turn into robots, with clichéd answers in interviews, like “the boys dug deep”, and pearly white smiles for the sponsors. England lacks the Balotellis, Ibrahimovics, Pirlos, Suarezs and Tevezs of the world - players who aren’t afraid to say what they want, and do things their way, regardless of the consequences. It’s refreshing – albeit infuriating at times –and the game needs those kind of characters. After all, it’s the characters who will keep the fans coming back.
5. If anyone can tame Mario, it’s Rodgers
If there’s anyone to tame the wild beast that is Mario Balotelli, it’s Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. The Northern Irishman has had some volatile characters since arriving at Anfield, but has always managed to find just the right balance of ego stroking and discipline. He unleashed on Luis Suarez after he bit Branislav Ivanovic and demanded a transfer, he curbed Raheem Sterling’s wild ways and has got the best out of Daniel Sturridge, a player accused in the past of lacking focus and drive. Balotelli won’t be an easy proposition, but Rodgers has seen it all before.
Five reasons for Liverpool to be wary, argues David Weiner.
1. Where does he fit in?
Like Suarez, Balotelli is a divisive on-field talent, who gets away with his flaws because of his potential for brilliance. But while Suarez goes berserk with his competitive edge, Balotelli can go MIA. Liverpool are a team full of energy and team synergy. Will Rodgers seriously get the rewards - goals - without disastrous sub-plots, tabloid headlines and distractions to the dressing room and team cause? And is the trade-off worth it?
2. Will he stick around?
At 24, this will be the fifth club of his professional career. Milan was supposed to be his homecoming to the club he adored as a boy. Still, it didn’t work. “Balotelli presumably feeling disillusioned with Serie A once again, it was time for him to move to his fourth club in seven years. From Italy to England, then back to Italy and now back to England,” a club statement said today. So, a return back to a country Balotelli departed declaring his disdain for “the press first. The weather. The food. The way you drive.”
3. Rodgers will struggle to keep him on a leash
What a sensational test of Rodgers’s man management. Can he go where Cesarre Prandelli, Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini couldn’t? Mourinho described him as a comedy, demonstrated by this brilliant anecdote of a Champions League game against Rubin Kazan in 2009, when Balotellli was the only fit striker in his Inter Milan squad. “(At half-time) I said to him, ‘Mario, I cannot change you, I have no strikers on the bench, so don’t touch anybody and play only with the ball. If we lose the ball no reaction.
‘If someone provokes you, no reaction, if the referee makes a mistake, no reaction.’”
So what happened?
“The 46th minute, red card,” Mourinho rued.
Roberto Mancini described his relationship as father-son, yet as his time at Manchester City finished with a January 2013 escape to Serie A, he reflected: “I’ve finished my words for him. I’ve finished. I love him as a guy, as a player. I know him. He’s not a bad guy and [he] is a fantastic player. But, at this moment, I’m very sorry for him because he continues to lose his talent, his quality. I hope, for him, he can understand that he’s in a bad way for his future. And he can change his behaviour in the future. But I’m finished.”
4. Prodigious, but hardly consistent
Will Balotelli provide them with a CONSISTENT world class outlet, or a combustible distraction – making the gamble worth it? 21 yellow cards in a season and a half at AC Milan, and one red, against Napoli; at Manchester City, it was a return of 20 yellows, four reds in 79 matches.
5. Will he lose interest?
The change of scene will probably be good – but will the impact wane? He started brilliantly at AC Milan, also showing composure from the penalty spot as well, plundering into double figures on the goal charts. Although he scored 14 times in 30 games last term, his level of focus and commitment in a disastrous AC Milan season, 45 points off league leaders Juventus, was part of a temperamental output.
Originally published as Debate: Is Mario Balotelli too good to pass up on or should Liverpool steer well clear
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