Mario Balotelli has had a rough start to his season with Liverpool to say the least.
Fans were eagerly anticipating Balotelli’s return to the Premier League, though the striker has only scored once in his nine appearances for the club following his £16 million move from AC Milan, with his failure to sink the ball in an open goal against QPR adding to his expanding list of disappointing performances. Now there are calls for manager Brendan Rodgers to drop him altogether from the club’s crucial match against Real Madrid in the Champions League, which is set to be their most difficult game of the year.
“[Balotelli’s poor run of form] is going on too long now and we can’t keep waiting.” – Jamie Carragher
After losing to Basel three weeks ago, Liverpool will want to secure an unlikely win against Real Madrid to increase their chances of making it to the final 16 of the tournament, with them currently sitting in third place in Group B. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has made his feelings on Balotelli clear, saying that Rodgers should exclude him from the match at Anfield as it’s too important to risk playing the out-of-form Italian.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher said: “He doesn’t run around enough. Against Real Madrid you’ve got to get that crowd going. You need to get back to Liverpool of last year and that pressing. There’s got to be an energy about Liverpool that we haven’t seen; we’ve seen it once this season at Spurs.
“It’s going on too long now and we can’t keep waiting. It’s a huge game and Liverpool have to get something from it.”
Carragher claimed that Raheem Sterling should act as Balotelli’s replacement as he is strong on the counter-attack, something which Liverpool may be reliant upon giving Madrid’s strong offense. While Gareth Bale is unlikely to lace up his boots for the game due to a hip injury sustained over the weekend, Ronaldo has scored 10 goals in four league games and remains as imposing as ever.
When a new signing fails to produce the results it’s always a difficult task for a manager to overlook their pride and place them on the bench. Given the fickle nature of football, if Balotelli were to start for Liverpool in the match and pulled off an impressive performance in such a crucial game, all would likely be forgiven. However, doing so would risk another disastrous display from the 24-year-old, at a time when Liverpool really can’t run the risk of that happening.
Rodgers should leave Balotelli on the bench for this one.
Photo: Getty Images
