Brendan Rodgers admits Mario Balotelli is struggling to adapt to Liverpoolâs style of play and has refused to comment on speculation linking Fernando Torres with a return to Anfield. Balotelli is available for the Boxing Day trip to Burnley after a groin injury and a one-match suspension limited him to just one match since November 8. However, the Italy striker, who has yet to score in the Premier League since arriving on Merseyside for £16m in the summer, is likely to be on the bench at Turf Moor. Rodgers recently changed to a 3-4-3 system with Raheem Sterling leading the attack and the Liverpool manager admits it does not suit Balotelliâs style of play. Rodgers pleased to have Balotelli back âI think weâve seen itâs not really his game,â Rodgers said on Sky Sports News HQ. âWorking with Mario, we see someone who is better around the box. âThat level of intensity and pressing isnât part of his game but you try and get the best out of the players you have and the qualities that you have. âSo thatâs something that we will focus on, but the most important thing is that heâs available after his ban. It adds another player to our squad and another player who is available, especially with Fabio Borini unavailable.â Rodgers may have been willing to talk about Balotelli but the Reds boss refused to be drawn on stories linking Torres with a return to Merseyside for a cut-price £10m. The Spain striker left to join Chelsea in 2011 but failed to justify his £50m price tag and was sent out on loan to AC Milan in August. The 30-year-old, who enjoyed the most prolific goalscoring spell of his career with Liverpool, has since failed to impress for the Serie A club, scoring just once in 10 games. However, Rodgers would not confirm or deny the reports regarding Torres: "I won't comment on any player linked to here. "My only concentration is working with the group here and if there's a possibility of strengthening in January, we'll take a look - at the right type of player -------------- They grate with me, again he shouldn't be saying this sort of stuff about one player in the media "I think weâve seen itâs not really his game." - Everyone could see that before he joined âThat level of intensity and pressing isnât part of his game but you try and get the best out of the players you have and the qualities that you have." - He seems to be trying to distance himself from his signing when just back in the summer he was saying http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor...brendan-rodgers-liverpool-fc-transfer-7185770 He needs to stop speaking about Balotelli in the media like this, it isnt going to help And if we sign Torres I'll give up He's shot, no good anymore
My take is that he is saying what most of us were thinking before we signed him. From day one Balotelli has shown good hold up play and not much else, which is all well and good if your team is set up to play with a targetman with midfielders prepared to run beyond the targetman , but we aren't The signing was the classic "we need the cheapest big name signing available" - evidently Remy wasn't a big enough name If he signs Torres the same thing will happen. If you're not going to adapt your style of play then don't sign players that don't fit into it
I dont think Torres should even be on a pitch mate let alone adapting to systems Was gutted aout Remy and Bony. W hat I'd give now to have those 2 rather than what we have
I agree on the Torres point to an extent but as I've said to others, what if we have no money to spend and its Torres or nothing? As **** as Torres is, he's still an improvement on Borini, Lambert and Balotelli. Despite losing his pace and acceleration that made him so deadly, he's still faster than all three of them. He offers more movement and pressing than Rickie and Mario too. And lets be honest, he can't score less goals than them can he?
Lambert and Balotelli have scored two, Torres has one. In the grand scheme of things, oen or two goals doesn't make a great deal of difference. However, better movement and pressing fits in with our team philosophy so in theory, Torres rather than MB or RL should make for a better 'team'
Can gaal said first it was and I quote disgusting to talk about a player and this week he's only said I can't talk to you about bale but alluded to the CEO therefore has all but said they are trying for bale Rodgers should have drawn a line under Torres. The fact us it's not even a free there was mention of a 10 mil fee!!!! Rodgers just sort of didn't deny it but I suppose after the balotelli flip flop he can't go denying anything but once a again I will say it anyone involved in signing that has been wants davking
Will someone fix the headline ... I keep thinking takeshis castle when I see it. And takeshis castle is ****ed up from the 2 mins I seen. A load of crazy japs getting battered
"That's the key for us -- that real aggressive pressure at the top end of the field. It gives us the platform to go and dominate the ball. "There's been a lot of work gone into that. We haven't just stumbled across this system. A lot of thinking time has gone into how we can maximise the players we have in order to be as close to our game model as we would like. "In the last three games, the performance has been much closer. We hope it will continue in that way. We have to work very hard. Players are now starting to adapt to the club, and the performances will get better, I believe." Let me break this down..... Mario and Lambert could not and will not do this in their wildest dreams. However, I put wee Raheem, brilliant man, young, fresh, energetic, in and it is a great stop gap.
I'm sure Rodgers suspected this when he signed to but as Rodgers is big on educating players he had a fair go at trying to teach Balotelli.
wouldve brought torres back last transfer window in all honesty. you dont go from being world class to **** without a reason behind it, give it a go i say
The thing is though is that he's moaning that Balotelli can't play that way but refuses to change his game so Balotelli can benefit from it. Balotelli likes to drop deep, have to wingers push ahead of him so it pulls defenders away which creates space. When they have the ball just have both wingers come back and leave him on his own to hold the ball.
Absolutely pathetic from Rodgers. Not just from him but the local journalists who have claimed that Rodgers has tried to play around MArio's strengths which is complete and utter sh*te. He bangs on about pressing and hard work - Balotelli's tackles/interceptions per games is higher than Sturridge and Lamberts.
How the **** has Mario not adapted? He hasn't played! I don't know if anyone's been watching the same games as I have but Balotelli's just been injured for a month and hasn't featured in our poor spell? So why are we heaping this pressure on him? It's got **** all to do with Balotelli and all to do with Rodger's thinking he's Pep ****ing Guardiola and playing players out of position, making up awful tactics and being stuck up his own arse. I take his comments as cheap opportunism to deflect some of the blame from himself and his ego onto a player that's been talked about six hundred million times more than necessary. All he has to ****ing do is tell Mario this in person and take the pressure off of his players. Mourinho does it week in, week out - he looks like an absolute idiot sometimes with the **** he says, but it works. Rodger's is too afraid of sounding stupid, so he has to come up with excuses for himself instead. No one has ever played to Mario's strengths in his life (perhaps a brief spell at Milan and City but that was short-lived). Don't go and lie that you're doing all you can to incorporate him. You're hanging him out to dry, and our own fans are lapping it up.
i also agree..... balotelli was asked about but i feel rodgers comments were designed to poke at those who influnece buying and distance himself from the disaster.... rodgers can't have it both ways. with lmabert coming on yesterday i feel balotelli will go just like keane did in 09. he will not play a second for us before jan 1 and then he will leave.
