Mario Balotelli must toughen up before Liverpool team spirit is damaged

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/20/mario-balotelli-liverpool-brendan-rodgers

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Hacking other people’s phones is clearly not the done thing but even so it would be rather fascinating to tap into the occasional conversation between Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon.

The Liverpool forward and the Newcastle United full-back are old friends who went to the same school in northern Italy before playing alongside each other at Internazionale.

They speak flawless English – perhaps it has something to do with the pair being taught Latin in the same classroom? – and while Balotelli has doubtless been sympathising as Santon recovers from yet another complicated operation on his right knee, the Newcastle defender is quite possibly listening to his old pal pour his heart out.

Behind the anarchic, sometimes downright-wild, exterior, Balotelli is quite shy. “Beneath the craziness he’s a quiet boy,” Santon has said. That view reflects the general consensus at his former Manchester City habitat. Allied to immaturity, perhaps stemming from his difficult early childhood and sudden gargantuan wealth, City’s staff felt the Italian’s pronounced lack of mental strength was the principal impediment to the realisation of an immense talent.

When things go against him Balotelli reverts to the small child who, by covering his eyes with his fingers, believes no one can see him. His poor performance for Liverpool in their 3-2 win against QPR at Loftus Road on Sunday was probably a case in point.

A technically accomplished individual who has scored 13 times in 33 appearances for Italy, Balotelli simply does not do boringly reliable. Consistent seven-out-of-10 performances are not for this footballer of extremes.

He’s frequently either very bad or very, very good and all Brendan Rodgers has to do – admittedly easier said than done – is find the right switch and flick it.

The danger is that a manager who has devoted much of his time at Liverpool to creating an impressive culture of collective responsibility will alienate Balotelli’s team-mates who, judging by some of their body language at Loftus Road, may not be over-enamoured with Luis Suárez’s replacement.

Suárez had his faults but he redefined the concept of star striker as team player. A spell playing in every position across the front three at Ajax ensured Barcelona’s latest luminary knew all about creating goals for others.

Unfortunately for a Liverpool side struggling without the injured Daniel Sturridge, assists rarely, very rarely, form part of Balotelli’s repertoire.

He has now gone five Premier League games without a goal following his £16m arrival from Milan and some Anfield regulars are wondering what the 24-year-old really does to justify Rodgers recruiting him ahead of, say, Wilfried Bony. After Bony’s tally of 16 Premier League goals in a slick-passing Swansea side last season, Liverpool’s failure to pursue the Ivorian centre-forward remains a mystery.

They did try to buy Loïc Rémy but, for whatever reason, dropped out at the medical stage, and the France forward ended up at Chelsea. On the evidence of a largely successful loan at Newcastle last season Rémy would have been much more mobile “between the lines” – a Suárez-lite forward Rodgers arguably needed.

Then there is Demba Ba, who swapped Stamford Bridge for Besiktas in July. Ba’s chronic knee condition requires careful management but a stint at Newcastle underlined he is a prolific finisher and skilled creator.

Rodgers has intimated, repeatedly, that Balotelli was his only real option. The problem is European football’s enfant terrible shares a common trait with Roy Keane. When Keane managed Sunderland he said: “History shows I’m not great with adversity.” Balotelli suffers from a similar syndrome.

Last week he was pictured sitting on the grass at Liverpool’s training ground, having seemingly fallen over. The same thing often happened at City where, as soon as Balotelli erred on the practice ground, he would tumble to earth, pretending to be hurt. It was his way of covering his eyes with his fingers.

Rodgers has a wonderful track record when it comes to improving players – just ask Jordan Henderson – but as a friend of José Mourinho’s he will remember that at Inter the Special One declared Mario “unmanageable”.

Roberto Mancini demurred yet his adoption of Balotelli as a “surrogate son” arguably helped cost him the City job. Six games in the next 18 days – Real Madrid over two legs in the Champions League, Hull at Anfield, Newcastle away and Chelsea at home in the Premier League, plus Swansea away in the Capital One Cup – promise to go a long way to defining the direction of Liverpool’s season.

And, quite possibly, the Anfield careers of not just Balotelli but his latest manager.