So i got home last night after MOTD and have only seen Mario's missed chances......I don't care about these, we all know he can stick the ball in the back of the net, they'll come. So how was the rest of his game? There were a few worried about his 'laziness' without the ball. Concerned that he wouldn't track back or close down. Did he do either? Did he fit the system well? Will he replace Suarez adequately and give Studge the room to perform?
Did well. Movement was good which gave Sturridge and Sterling the extra space. Tracked back when needed and closed down well, overall a very good 60 mins debut. You can tell he's not match fit - his passing at times was a little suspect and like you say he missed 3 chances. Those 3 chances when matchfit, he probably would have got a hat trick. So all in all a good start for Mario.
He pressed very well. Sturridge now has a free role across the front line but with Balo playing in the center we're seeing Sturridge playing as an inside forward (along with Sterling) I think time will tell with regards to the partnership (or threesome) but at the moment the signs are that it could be good as its not a traditional strike partnership as we have 2 inside forwards plus bombing full backs.. then lets not forget what Henderson & Coutinho (when playing) will bring to the team. Liverpool FC at the moment is attack porn
nah we can bury our heads in the sand all we want but judge in 3 months not now, this effort malarcy is too easy to put on for a couple of games. benefit of the doubt and deluded can be two sides of the same coin. in 3 months time we'll know
Sounds like he had a decent debut then I agree that one game shouldn't be the yardstick, was just intrigued at how he'd actually play in our set up.
very decent debut... if he got more than one on target and scored one it'd be a very good outing. he certainly didn't disrupt us in any way. we'll see after that. it'll be interesting to see over 5 games who gets the goals as there was not a one way street in passes like some allude to his single assist at city.
He was in the right place, which is very positive, even though the chances didn't go in. It was a good debut for him. No laziness whatsoever.
One thing I didn't like was that he tried to make the whole thing about him! Was last out of tunnel way after the rest of the team, took his shirt off at half time, made everyone wait for second half kick off because he was doing his laces, massive Ego on him. Saying that on the pitch thought he was pretty good, good closing down, tracking back, strong on ball and got in some decent positions.
I would have thought he was told to come out on to the pitch last to get a big cheer from our support, I found it quite amusing.
You're right but I am giving him a chance, MITO is somewhere towards my thinking but I want to see him go all season putting the required effort in. It was a good debut and he worked hard, I'm not bothered about the missed chances at this point I just want to see him work.
He had a good game (if you count missing three clear chances good - should have buried the first header and the open goal) up until he went to get a drink on the touchline, the look on him as he squeezed that water bottle suggested he was close to having had enough so Brendan was right to sub him off after 60, he's just not match sharp is all
On the tunnel thing, ever thought he nipped to the toilet as they were lining up in the tunnel. They leave the tunnel under the refs orders who are keeping to a time schedule. The shirt at half time, he'd run around a lot on a warm day, perhaps he wanted a change of shirt for the 2nd half. The boots laces, looks like he'd changed boots at half time but changed his mind when he tried them on the pitch and went back the ones he was wearing in the 1st half. Think your trying to make something out of nothing with these. The only thing missing yesterday was the finishing, thats probably due to not having much game time.
I've only watched the first 40mins so far but if that's his best efforts then my fears have come true. He wasn't as lazy as he appeared at Man City but good god, he wasn't mr energetic either!!!
Mario is the class clown / naughty boy in school. His reputation goes before him from club [class] to club [class] with everyone waiting to be proved right - and the class clown never disappoints. I though he was great yesterday - misses aside - lazy, definitely not.
He didn't score on his debut! Oh Noes! He wasn't lazy. He was rusty. He worked hard and made himself a nuisance and made space. We also look better playing up front with two than with one. Same as last season. It wasn't just that SAS were great- we played better with both because they opened up space for each other. Even if Balotelli is not a prolific goalscorer for us, I think he will be a nuisance for the opposition and help us out. I am reminded of Crouch, went how many games before scoring? All the rivals were laughing at him for not scoring, but all the Liverpool fans were saying "Did you watch the game? Did you see how he opened things up for others and contributed?" It doesn't matter who scores the goals, if it isn't Balotelli (and he will score some), then someone else will. As long as he keeps up and builds from his debut he will be a major asset!
yes rusty (i hope) yes looked better with two up... or at least better to say 3 narrow and pressing and midfield 3 narrow also. it compresses space no he won't be crouch. He'll score a lot sooner than that rivals are just morons.... its self evident they don't support LFC
I guess the lazy tag depends on what you expect from a player. We've had the same discussion about Gerrard and Johnson in the past too. I expect players to run more than Mario showed yesterday but I didn't expect Balotelli to run as much as he did either.
