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Liverpool: Balotelli's A P***-Taking Maverick & I Love Him

by Owen Blackhurst
23 August 2014 6 Comments

Not a player who will bend a game to his iron will, but a maverick who will take the absolute p*** out of someone and score a blinder.

Liverpool: Balotelli’s A P***-Taking Maverick & I Love Him

Mario Balotelli is mental. He sets of fireworks in his house, pops out for a pint of milk and returns with a circus. He goes through models, porn stars and wannabes with a wanton abandon that would make Caligula blush. He’s also very, very good at football.

When it was clear that Suarez was off, I reckoned that we’d go for a 23-24 year old striker with bags of potential. We did it with Torres and then Suarez, and despite being linked with Falcao and Cavani I can’t see a move of that magnitude happening until we prove ourselves as a consistent Champions League club.

I never, for a moment though, thought that player would be Balotelli but I’m glad that it might be. When he left England after one wrestling match too far with the preening Roberto Mancini I missed him straight away. And not just for the antics; the handing out money to homeless, the winding Rio Ferdinand up, but for what he could do on a pitch and the manner in which he went about it.

Stoichkov, Maradona, Fowler, Romario: I just can’t help love a flawed footballer who makes the game look easy. Not a player who will bend a game to his iron will, but a maverick who will take the absolute p*** out of someone and score a blinder. We all complain about a lack of characters in the game, of identikit players rolled out of academies in test tubes. We certainly know that isn’t the case with Balo.

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Despite it being the first game of the season, there was a slight air of predictability about our attacking play against Southampton. Of course, we haven’t seen Lazar and Lallana yet, but the two pronged trident of Sterling and Sturridge suffered without the third marauding wheel of Suarez.

And that’s why I’d love Balotelli. He’s plainly not Suarez, but if Rodgers can use his increasingly impressive man management skills to get somewhere approaching the best out of Balotelli it will be a masterstroke. He’s 24, with 88 goals in 220 odd club matches and 13 in 33 for Italy, stats which compare favourably with Sturridge.

He’s always been loved by teammates – Andrea Pirlo loves him, for Christ’s sake – he’s played in title winning teams, he thinks Mourinho is a berk and, let’s not forget, he once bought a trampoline on a routine trip to the corner shop.

On a serious note, he’s often spoke about how his adoption as a youngster has affected him, and it’s clear he just needs to be loved.

Not indulged and bullied, not racially abused in his home country - just loved. Considering the waifs and strays we’ve had over the years, allied to Rodgers’ kinship with young footballers, we could have a perfect storm.

It could also quite easily be an earth-scorching hurricane. But it will be fun while it lasts.

Follow Owen on Twitter, @owenblackhurst

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image descriptionCOMMENTS

TG 12:13 pm, 20-Aug-2014

Spot on!!!

pete turley 12:19 pm, 20-Aug-2014

please get him brendan. absolutely brilliant.

Graham 1:16 pm, 20-Aug-2014

the way liverpool fans back their players more than most, i could see balotelli really flourishing there and finding his "home". from crouch's long run without goals, carrol's weird run at the club, torres became world class with their fans goin nuts for him(he wouldnt have sold for £50 mill or scored half as many without the liverpool fans telling him he was immense), and the perhaps the over the top defence of suarez. The fans their will back most players to the hilt no matter what rival fans throw at them. Theyd have reason to defend him, cos mario will do more stupid stuff, but the crowd going insane for him, booming out whatever his chant would be. To be honest i'd be more scared of liverpool with balotelli than with most strikers. I'd like to see him back in the premier league. I think he'd do better at liverpool than at most other clubs who may bid for him, its just whether hed see them as his best alternative. I had a vague memory of some quotes about balotelli and lfc, turns out fabio borini said this after his move to liverpool: "When I was with Italy at Euro 2012, I was talking to Balotelli about England, and he told me that Liverpool had the most exciting fans to play in front of. "He described it as a beautiful experience."

Fran 1:23 pm, 20-Aug-2014

Would be a fabulous addition and would really bolster top-4 and CL ambitions. Something will happen to make this a non-runner though!

nia 11:03 am, 21-Aug-2014

again we becoming a bad boys club.. love it

Simon 11:30 am, 21-Aug-2014

There's no doubting that Balotelli has a troubled past. But the worst of his misdemeanours were conducted when he had managers with few man-management skills: Mourinho and Mancini. With Rodgers man-management is his greatest strength. Also, if you look at Balotelli's stats they get better and better. As he reaches his mid-20s I wouldn't expect his behaviour to suddenly become irreproachable but who knows maybe he will start to mature a little. I think with the right coaching and support he could flourish into a great player and in the modern game £16 million for a striker of his potential is a good deal.

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