Complete opposite. Borini is all work ethic little talent. Balotelli is lots of talent with little effort. Cissé might have been a letter comparison. ..
Balotelli isn't lazy and is capable of pace but he can also put his foot on the ball and look to do the right thing while opponents bounce off him City won the league because he was calm enough to pick out Aguerooooooooo
IF we get him, it would signify an amazing windows for us. We've addressed almost every weak area on the pitch (besides back up GK), and in my opinion our squad is the best it's been in my life time. As for Balotelli himself, he has shown signs of maturity since he moved to Milan and we gave to trust Rodgers on this one. He's very different to what we already have or have even had. Very strong but also quick, good on both feet with a rocket of a shot, his build up play needs touching up on but the attributes are there for sure. For £16m you can't go too far wrong and is a more than adequate addition, I'd even go as far as saying he's marquee. Ayre
A few weeks ago a Leicester supporter was on here asking us not to sign him and I posted this. I still stand by it and I'm glad to have him: I don't mind Balo. His problems are exaggerated. He was a super youth at Inter where Mourinho ignored him and failed to provide him with any semblance of a proper rounded youth personality (that's fine, he won the treble there so you can see that he made the right choice for Inter). He was racially abused by fans, abused on the pitch by w**kers like Totti and as a young man put through a huge issue of race vs. ethnicity vs. nationality (adopted as a child to Italian parents, raised Italian without any ties to Africa, and then rejected by his own country on basis of skin). He then was sold for mega money to a newly rich club that had no proper stability and was a collection of massive egos, flashy cars, and a culture of throwing money at their problems. Mancini was too busy dealing with Tevez and not losing his job to really give any guidance either. The English press have a field day making up stories that are often blatant lies, and exaggerating most that aren't. Then he's sold to Milan where he now plays with the weight of an aging, crumbling team fully on his shoulders. Amidst turmoil, Allegri's idiotic tactics, and Galliani/Berlusconi's politics (both of which blame Italy's WC losses on him fully despite the rest of their squad being equally ****) he still has obvious talent. Many of his problems are his own creation and he isn't some angel child. He is obviously lashing out and acting foolishly, much more than almost all players out there. But when you've followed his career from when he was 17/18 you sort of see that with a stable, loving setting such as Rodgers' Liverpool, he could excel and motivate himself towards better behaviour. He's also said some nice things about Liverpool in the past. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong and he's just a f**king idiot. But he isn't a player I'd mind at Liverpool. He has a lot of potential that I think a friendly club could help him unlock. Now that he's actually about to sign I'm quite excited. I think we need to really show him that we are a family that will support him - he hasn't got any of that in his career and I feel like its the final piece of the puzzle that Mancini, Mourinho and Allegri couldn't provide. Our strike force looks a lot scarier now too.
Didn't his parents abandon him as a child because they didn't want to pay to feed and clothe him- so another couple kindly raised him... and then when he became famous his birth parents started demanding a cut... or something like that. I'm sure an upbringing like that can explain partially his mindset.
I called this transfer two months ago. Apart from Remy it's the best value signing we could have made and Rodgers has shown he will take a chance on problem players. As i said at the time: If balotelli is ready to grow up then its a good signing, but if he is anything like he was at city then it will be a disaster. One thing is for sure is that this is the last chance saloon for Balotelli: If he fails at Liverpool then he will be consigned to the footballing wilderness.
danilo - really good post I disagree with that. Look at Suarez, the same could have been said about him particularly after the Ivanovic bite - if he does it again nobody will want him - and just look where he is now. I don't think Balotelli is a long term signing and we're certainly going in with our eyes open, should he perform well, he'll be off to Barcelona or Madrid too, perform badly and/or carry on the childish antics then it's back to Italy - knowing his character it could easily be early retirement for him
What do you mean? We're clearly basing our assumptions on youtube videos and hyping him up since he's signing for Liverpool. He's **** anyway, no other club would want him, he'll flop and bring the game into disrepute, and Lukaku is 100x better anyway. Clearly there is nothing to discuss.
I said when the first rumours come about that I'd take him and I'm getting quite excited about this now to be honest. He has grown up a bit and let's be honest at 20 years old being slung in with a load of world class players on hundreds of thousands a week - your gonna act like a twat! Rodgers has shown me more than enough with the way handled Suarez and lets not forget sterling too, may not work out entirely but I can't see it being 'disastrous' that's just over reacting. One thing is for sure - if he were playing against us I would be worried because sometimes he is ****ing brilliant. Hopefully we can get that Mario playing 80% of the time rather than 20%
Why do we have so many stickies?... have to scroll down half a page to find the new content on the Liverpool Forum. A thread should live on the first page, or drop to the second based on its own merits- not via a sticky! Join the revolution! #deathToAllStickies
Very please, hope it can all be finalised. He scored 30 in 54 for Milan last year and scored the winner against us in the World Cup. With Suarez gone I actually think we need someone with a big of an ego about the place, we're a little soft and nice atm imo. Of course there are always questions about his temperament, but I hope Rodgers can work some magic - and lets face it its unlikely to be anywhere near as bad as all the crap that Suarez caused us. £16 mill is great business, especially if we sell Borini for 14 and Welbeck is supposedly worth £16 This transfer would give the club a real lift. Fingers crossed.
Didn't he miss 11 games through suspension in his last season at City (not including the actual games in which he was sent off and left his team with 10 men). That's not too much different to how many games Suarez would miss thru doing stupid things. Granted, he was obviously angry at City and wanted to leave in has last season... I think in order for Telly to do well he has to be settled. I think the trick is making him feel happy and wanted and settled without letting him get lazy. I think when he gets lazy and uncaring, he does stupid things.
Yeah, but that's nothing like being a racist and biting people - twice! He's never had anywhere near the bad publicity Suarez brought on us and himself. £16 mill is well worth a punt.
