[ 2014-12-26 ]

Struggling: Mario Balotelli has failed to make his mark at Liverpool

Mario Balotelli told to change his style of play or be dropped
Mario Balotelli has been warned that he must start
adapting to Brendan Rodgers’s playing style or
the striker will spend most of the second half of
the season on the Liverpool substitutes’ bench.

Having spent six months altering tactics in an
effort to get the best from the Italian, Rodgers
said that it was up to Balotelli to adjust to
Liverpool’s revived attacking formula to have
any chance of being a regular starter.

Rodgers admitted that it had been obvious since
moving to Merseyside that Balotelli was unsuited
to the pressing, high-intensity game he wanted set
in stone at Anfield, and with remarks that will
cast further doubt on the long-term future of the
striker, suggested his role would be as deputy
unless he changed.

Raheem Sterling has been preferred as a striker in
recent games, although Balotelli returns to the
squad at Burnley on Boxing Day after a
one‑match ban.

“We have seen that level of intensity and
pressing isn’t part of his game,” Rodgers
said.

“Working with him for the period of time he’s
been here we have seen that he’s probably
someone who’s better in and around the box. But
you try to get the best out of the players you
have and the qualities they have. So that’s
something we will focus on.

“The most important thing is he is now available
and adds another player to his squad.”

Asked if Balotelli would have to get used to being
on the bench while Rodgers adopted his current
3-4-3 system, he said: “It’s something he
would have to. If the team is going to need him
from the bench then it’s something he would have
to become adjusted to.

“It’s the same for every single player, not
just him, when called upon, whether it’s to
start a game or come off the bench, you ask your
players to be ready.”

Rodgers could not have done much more in an effort
to accommodate the Italian striker since the
summer move but, with a tactical shape that puts
the onus firmly on defending from the front, it
will require a complete makeover in Balotelli’s
game to find him a place in the current preferred
line-up.

Balotelli’s prospects at Anfield have been
questioned since the moment he joined, with
Liverpool inserting financial penalty clauses in
the ­striker’s contract which pre-empted
potential problems.

He was described as a “calculated risk” on
arrival from AC Milan in a £16  million
deal but has still not scored a Premier League
goal this season and will fall further down the
pecking order once Daniel Sturridge makes his
return from injury in the new year.

A return to Serie A con­tinues to look the most
likely long-term outcome for the Italian, although
Liverpool suggest that he will remain at the club
until the summer, at least. That does not mean
that the club would not welcome interest if they
could recoup any of their fee at the earliest
oppor­tunity, with the move for Balotelli looking
increasingly like a misplaced bet.

While Rodgers questions how quickly the
24-year-old can fit into his side, other recent
recruits are being tipped to flourish over the
next few months – most notably Adam Lallana.
Lallana has also endured a mixed start on
Mersey­side, but has impressed in Rodgers’s new
formation.

“People talk technically about Adam, but one of
the key attributes for me is how he presses the
ball and his work-rate,” the manager said.

“He is a wonderful manipulator of the ball and
brilliant technically, the space he can turn in
and get himself out of trouble and open up the
game for you is incredible. But one of the key
features for me in bringing him here was also his
ability to press.

“When you see his intensity when he goes to
press the ball, tactically he’s very aware and
him and Philippe Coutinho in those roles are very
difficult to mark because they are technically so
good but when they lose the ball their transition
is very good. I have said that right from the
beginning that once he grows into being a
Liverpool player and gets a run of games he will
show what a really good player he is and I think
you see that in his game.”

Brad Jones is likely to retain his place at the
expense of Simon Mignolet against Sean Dyche’s
side. Rodgers said that Mignolet would become a
better keeper having gone through the difficult
experience of being dropped.

“Simon’s response has been fantastic,”
Rodgers said. “Some might think coming out of
the team has a negative effect but he has been
outstanding in training and we are analysing his
work where he can improve. That time out of the
team can help. I have seen an improvement in him
and he will be a better keeper for it. We have
seen that has been the case with goalkeepers in
the past and I am confident that will be the case
with Simon.

“I will make my mind up when to bring him back
into the side at the right time. I just want to
give a chance to reflect and focus on his
game.”

Source - The Telegraph

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