what I don't get is we went for costa when he had 21m buyout clause, no idea why, when we lost Suarez we didn't go back in for him at 32 million.
Come back after he's played a dozen games or more and then we could give you a reply that isn't just guesswork....
and in balotellis defence he hasn't been getting much service has he? we've been playing very poorly.
My thoughts are he's a very talented player who doesn't show his attributes often enough. He's also completely unsuitable if we are trying to play the way we did last season.
Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge were sensational last season and with two of those players last night we had no movement up front.
Ballotelli needs a player up front to do his donkey work and I'm surprised BR hasn't paired him up with Lambert from the start.
This isn't a wum i hope he does well, one things for sure he's a big game player always was for us so he'll be up for the Merseyside derby next week.
Lambert and Balotelli would be an ideal partnership when Sturridge is out. Lambert might be slow, but his quick football brain would be great for Balotelli.
Actually, I think that Balotelli will be better with Lambert than Sturridge, and the same with Sturridge and Lambert. I'm not saying that Sturridge and Balotelli can't play together, just that Lambert would be a better foil for each of them.
God knows why Borini started, he just isn't good enough!
We seem to have lost all ability to pass properly at the moment. That cannot be attributed to losing Suarez, its a team thing.
comment by harlequin (U16981)
posted 4 minutes ago
You bought a pup !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And you bought a coke head (according to rumours)
I had my doubts when we signed him.
As yet he has done nothing to dispel them, in fact he is confirming them. His lackadaisical effort is the polar opposite of what was required when we sold Suarez.
What made us such a dangerous team last season was was based on the players giving it their all, pressing opponents above all and excellent movement from Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling.
Balotelli's so far hasn't fitted into this mold and it shows.
I'm sure he will score some goals, but the problem I have is that his lethargy will effect our performance level and results will suffer accordingly.
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
posted 9 minutes ago
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
------
Who blamed Ballo for not being Suarez? If you want who I would blame it would be Brendan Rodgers assuming he makes all the decisions on who we sign which is debatable at best.
If we are signing players with a view to changing style fine, but I feel the Ballo singing was made by numbers. Don't forget a player far more suited to our style was passed up on a spurious reason when AC Mikan decided they wanted rid of a player who once professed his love for the club.
Do we not have an ex Man City scout as part of the recruitment team ?
Hmmmmmm!
I think we will see the best of him once we have the chance to play sterling and Sturridge up there with him. Doesn't seem cut out to be a lone striker. He tracks back more than I thought but he also needs to put 100% in for 90 mins
comment by Aggers Right Elbow (U3402)
posted 23 minutes ago
posted 9 minutes ago
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
------
Who blamed Ballo for not being Suarez? If you want who I would blame it would be Brendan Rodgers assuming he makes all the decisions on who we sign which is debatable at best.
If we are signing players with a view to changing style fine, but I feel the Ballo singing was made by numbers. Don't forget a player far more suited to our style was passed up on a spurious reason when AC Mikan decided they wanted rid of a player who once professed his love for the club.
Do we not have an ex Man City scout as part of the recruitment team ?
Hmmmmmm!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah them same scouts rejected lovren for city
We cant even get the ball out of defence into midfield and hold it, im waiting to see what happens when they start setting him up instead of hoofing it tp him for him to control but has ot back to goal because of it
John Henrys Explosive Offense - #STOPISIS (U18764)
posted 35 minutes ago
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
---------------
The defence has been shambolic, but the midfield needs movement ahead of them in order to help unlock defences. There hasn't been enough of it, and Balotelli has been a culprit.
Pressing and closing down starts from the front too and guess what, Balotelli hasn't done enough of that either.
Other area's of the team are a concern obviously, but this thread is about Mario and imo for an experienced international with premier league experience, his contribution hasn't been great thus far.
Balotelli is a very good player but I am not convinced he suits how we play when we are at our best.
Reason we can tear teams apart when we are at it is due to one thing....movement. Suarez's movement is probably the best I have seen and it is infectious. Good movement enables midfielders to hit the easier passes and this too is infectious.
Balotelli doesn't have the natural movement or desire to move defenders around to create space for himself or others. He is good but good in a different way.
I am not convinced our team should be built around him because I am not convinced about his work ethic. He likes it banged into him for him to kill it and lay it off and then get in the box. But he is not a 90 minute all action hero like Suarez. But we all know that.
Obviously has ability however not for me or for liverpool. Suarez worked 50 times harder than he does. Saying that he has to play over Fabio Poorini
Lers wait till he settles properly and is partnering sturridge
I could imagine sterling or markovic working well off him
Sturridge will help, but for all his natural talent, you have to question his work ethic and desire.
Playing style, Mario and Luis are beyond any meaningful comparison. Their whole philosophy on the football pitch is as different as chalk and cheese.
That having been said, for me, he has been more of a team player than I expected; he passes the ball to others, and passes for them to score, something that was woefully missing in his City and Milan days. The main feature however is the latent number of times the opposition foul him and try to wind him up.
While he hasn't lived up to my expectation thus far, there's still time for him to improve. Give him time people.
JimmyTheRed
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Balotelli
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posted on 21/9/14
what I don't get is we went for costa when he had 21m buyout clause, no idea why, when we lost Suarez we didn't go back in for him at 32 million.
posted on 21/9/14
Come back after he's played a dozen games or more and then we could give you a reply that isn't just guesswork....
posted on 21/9/14
and in balotellis defence he hasn't been getting much service has he? we've been playing very poorly.
posted on 21/9/14
My thoughts are he's a very talented player who doesn't show his attributes often enough. He's also completely unsuitable if we are trying to play the way we did last season.
Suarez, Sterling and Sturridge were sensational last season and with two of those players last night we had no movement up front.
Ballotelli needs a player up front to do his donkey work and I'm surprised BR hasn't paired him up with Lambert from the start.
posted on 21/9/14
Players missing*
posted on 21/9/14
This isn't a wum i hope he does well, one things for sure he's a big game player always was for us so he'll be up for the Merseyside derby next week.
posted on 21/9/14
You bought a pup !
posted on 21/9/14
Lambert and Balotelli would be an ideal partnership when Sturridge is out. Lambert might be slow, but his quick football brain would be great for Balotelli.
Actually, I think that Balotelli will be better with Lambert than Sturridge, and the same with Sturridge and Lambert. I'm not saying that Sturridge and Balotelli can't play together, just that Lambert would be a better foil for each of them.
God knows why Borini started, he just isn't good enough!
We seem to have lost all ability to pass properly at the moment. That cannot be attributed to losing Suarez, its a team thing.
posted on 21/9/14
comment by harlequin (U16981)
posted 4 minutes ago
You bought a pup !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And you bought a coke head (according to rumours)
posted on 21/9/14
I had my doubts when we signed him.
As yet he has done nothing to dispel them, in fact he is confirming them. His lackadaisical effort is the polar opposite of what was required when we sold Suarez.
What made us such a dangerous team last season was was based on the players giving it their all, pressing opponents above all and excellent movement from Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling.
Balotelli's so far hasn't fitted into this mold and it shows.
I'm sure he will score some goals, but the problem I have is that his lethargy will effect our performance level and results will suffer accordingly.
posted on 21/9/14
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
posted on 21/9/14
posted 9 minutes ago
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
------
Who blamed Ballo for not being Suarez? If you want who I would blame it would be Brendan Rodgers assuming he makes all the decisions on who we sign which is debatable at best.
If we are signing players with a view to changing style fine, but I feel the Ballo singing was made by numbers. Don't forget a player far more suited to our style was passed up on a spurious reason when AC Mikan decided they wanted rid of a player who once professed his love for the club.
Do we not have an ex Man City scout as part of the recruitment team ?
Hmmmmmm!
posted on 21/9/14
I think we will see the best of him once we have the chance to play sterling and Sturridge up there with him. Doesn't seem cut out to be a lone striker. He tracks back more than I thought but he also needs to put 100% in for 90 mins
posted on 21/9/14
comment by Aggers Right Elbow (U3402)
posted 23 minutes ago
posted 9 minutes ago
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
------
Who blamed Ballo for not being Suarez? If you want who I would blame it would be Brendan Rodgers assuming he makes all the decisions on who we sign which is debatable at best.
If we are signing players with a view to changing style fine, but I feel the Ballo singing was made by numbers. Don't forget a player far more suited to our style was passed up on a spurious reason when AC Mikan decided they wanted rid of a player who once professed his love for the club.
Do we not have an ex Man City scout as part of the recruitment team ?
Hmmmmmm!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah them same scouts rejected lovren for city
posted on 21/9/14
We cant even get the ball out of defence into midfield and hold it, im waiting to see what happens when they start setting him up instead of hoofing it tp him for him to control but has ot back to goal because of it
posted on 21/9/14
John Henrys Explosive Offense - #STOPISIS (U18764)
posted 35 minutes ago
No hes been fine with 0 service, blaming marios for not being suarez its the midfield and pathetic defence that is to blame.
---------------
The defence has been shambolic, but the midfield needs movement ahead of them in order to help unlock defences. There hasn't been enough of it, and Balotelli has been a culprit.
Pressing and closing down starts from the front too and guess what, Balotelli hasn't done enough of that either.
Other area's of the team are a concern obviously, but this thread is about Mario and imo for an experienced international with premier league experience, his contribution hasn't been great thus far.
posted on 21/9/14
Balotelli is a very good player but I am not convinced he suits how we play when we are at our best.
Reason we can tear teams apart when we are at it is due to one thing....movement. Suarez's movement is probably the best I have seen and it is infectious. Good movement enables midfielders to hit the easier passes and this too is infectious.
Balotelli doesn't have the natural movement or desire to move defenders around to create space for himself or others. He is good but good in a different way.
I am not convinced our team should be built around him because I am not convinced about his work ethic. He likes it banged into him for him to kill it and lay it off and then get in the box. But he is not a 90 minute all action hero like Suarez. But we all know that.
posted on 21/9/14
Obviously has ability however not for me or for liverpool. Suarez worked 50 times harder than he does. Saying that he has to play over Fabio Poorini
posted on 21/9/14
Lers wait till he settles properly and is partnering sturridge
posted on 21/9/14
I could imagine sterling or markovic working well off him
posted on 21/9/14
Sturridge will help, but for all his natural talent, you have to question his work ethic and desire.
posted on 21/9/14
Playing style, Mario and Luis are beyond any meaningful comparison. Their whole philosophy on the football pitch is as different as chalk and cheese.
That having been said, for me, he has been more of a team player than I expected; he passes the ball to others, and passes for them to score, something that was woefully missing in his City and Milan days. The main feature however is the latent number of times the opposition foul him and try to wind him up.
While he hasn't lived up to my expectation thus far, there's still time for him to improve. Give him time people.
JimmyTheRed
Page 1 of 1