“Now it is up to him. Another flop is not advisable, his age is not an excuse." Mino Raiola, Mario Balotelli’s agent said to Corrierre della Sera, the Italian daily regarding the striker’s move to Liverpool.
"He's a very bright boy. He was very clever. He understood where he's at, at this stage of his career, and he knows himself that this is probably his last chance.
"Time will tell. Of course it is a risk. I am not going to say it wasn't but he knows he needs to fit into our culture.” Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager said of the player.
“The Suarez sins were utterly heinous, but atoned for by long spells of brilliance and an unremitting work ethic.
Liverpool and Rodgers are getting twice the trouble . . . and half the application and talent.” This is a line from Andy Dunn, The Daily Mirror’s columnist in his column on August 23, 2014.
The Mario Balotelli transfer to Liverpool was one of the most surprising deals in the transfer window this summer. However not as surprising was the volume of news it generated. Balotelli is a newsmaker-usually more for his off-field antics than his football prowess. Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian sport daily claimed that for the 568 days that the striker was at AC Milan, he made the headlines 788 times. If you care to know many of those were not about brilliant goals, but excesses outside the pitch.
In the discourse about the 24-year old Italian, very few have questioned his talent. Quite a number are convinced if he sorts out his life outside the pitch and some behaviours on it, he could be one of the very best on the planet. Indeed one of his ex-managers, Roberto Mancini was quoted as saying Balotelli would have to blame himself if he does not become one of the best players in the world. The over-riding theme however in this discourse is “risk”. Many articles and lots of commentaries on Liverpool’s acquisition of Balotelli are convinced his “fire cracking antics”, bust-ups with managers, and his desire for the game which comes in fits and starts will be on regular display rather than goals and skills.
Even the buyers-Liverpool-have not shied away from using the “risk” word. Brendan Rodgers talked about a “calculated risk”.
“……It is a calculated risk but one where we believe we can help him as a player and to mature as a young man.” Liverpool’s calculation is self-evident. The club was shot on quality in the striking area after Suarez’s departure. Search for replacements had been frustrating. The figures in some of the deals did not add up. The deal for Falcao, one of the targets was reportedly going to cost the club £20 million for a year’s loan. Time was running out. Suarez’s absence had robbed the brilliant Liverpool team of some ‘fear factor.’ Suarez produced an eccentric array of skills and performances on the football pitch that made oppositions dread facing him and Liverpool. Balotelli, though not quite a Suarez, belongs to the class of footballers capable of the eccentric and the spectacular; a footballer who can occupy the pre-match thoughts of the opposition. Balotelli was available for £16 million. In an inflated market where strikers in the second tier of the English game are attracting double-digit transfer fees, £16 million on the top striker of the Italian national team seems to represent great business.
“I think to get someone of that quality in this market is a very good deal for us,” “He is a world-class talent and it is an area we need to strengthen. It is a calculated risk but one where we believe we can help him as a player and to mature as a young man.”
The last line in Brendan Rodgers’ quote sums up the risk element for Liverpool in the Balotelli deal. In talking about helping Balotelli as a player and helping him mature Rodgers admit to taking on a task top managers like Mourinho and Mancini ultimately found impossible. Their love, management and control could not help as instead of churning out stunning performances on the pitch he continually produced a baffling array of destructive acts on and off it. Suarez predisposed Rodgers to some of the skills he would require to the turn this “calculated risk” into tangible return.
Inherent in Liverpool’s “calculated risk index” is the fear that Balotelli’s indiscretions rather than his football abilities may be what the £16 million will pay for; the risk of firecrackers flaring from his home onto the front pages of newspapers instead of standing ovations at the Kop in front of global television. There is also the risk that he may be a failure in terms of finding the net as frequently as Suarez did. Already there is disquiet among some Liverpool fans about “his lack of movement” as some fans put it and his unimpressive goal record so far (1 in 6 games).
Ex-Liverpool players- Graeme Souness and Gary McCallister-and pundits fear Balotelli can break the team ethos Rodgers has established in Liverpool. Even though factionalism rather than errant behaviour of one player usually breaks team harmony, you do not want your players going into games with bust-ups and destructions in the background. Balotelli has had that kind of history. And that constitutes a major fear for Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool.
Observe the trend of Balotelli’s transfer figures- £22.5 million, £19 million and £16 million- and you may not be wrong in concluding that his career is on a similar slide. His agent does not mince words when as quoted above warned his client this could be his last shot at a top club. The least Raiola owes his client is his frankness and real assessment of where his career is at presently. Balotelli has been lucky to have graced the grounds of glamorous clubs like the two Milan clubs and Liverpool despite his indiscretions. In warning his client, Raiola recognizes the fear of failure the striker’s career faces. Fail at Liverpool and the player’s ability may never be realized. Brendan Rodgers talked about “super Mario’s” honesty in their four-hour talk prior to him signing for Liverpool. But as Roberto Mancini once said Balotelli cannot be trusted. Whether the player himself recognizes and accepts this fear is a different proposition all together. He alluded to making a mistake in leaving England for Italy. Hopefully that is a comment borne out of a careful assessment of his career and some of his excesses. It is the hope of Mario’s fans and it should be the hope of Liverpool that age will come with maturity. Having been around for a while it is so easy to forget he turned 24 in August. Some of his indiscretions occurred when he was still young and perhaps impressionable. Having turned 24, and having acquired all these experiences, Balotelli should be wise enough to realize where his career is and where it is likely to head if he does not reform. He can use the fear of failure to give his career the spark.
The welcome accorded Balotelli during his first visit to Liverpool’s Melwood training ground epitomized the fans’ excitement at the signing. He is arguably one of the club’s high-profile signings in recent years. The fans were celebrating what they believe is a quality signing that will strike fear into opponents. The joy of those Liverpool fans, who waited hours to see Balotelli at Melwood is probably the worry of other fans in the Premier League. It was clear after Suraez’s departure that Liverpool’s attack, Sturridge apart, wasn’t impressive. The attack was no longer one that was going to make many defences cringe. To have acquired a player of Balotelli’s standing; a player who despite his baggage can potentially win and change games can strike fear into opponents. This is not being critical of a very good Liverpool team. The Sterlings, Coutinhos and Sturridges are very good players but without Suarez Liverpool was shorn of some amount of “fear factor”. Balotelli’s presence can help re-establish that even tough so far he has not caused much fear among defences in the league. Star players, the atmosphere in a particular stadium among others can all make the opposition quake in their boots and jerseys even before kick-off. The legendary Liverpool manager, Bill Shankly talked about creating a fearful Liverpool team during his tenure.
“My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility. Napoleon had that idea; he wanted to conquer the bloody world. I wanted Liverpool to be untouchable. My idea was to build Liverpool up and up until eventually everyone would have to submit and give in.”
Shankly’s teams were feared. They rampaged up and down England winning trophies. He changed the team’s jersey to red in November, 1964 and acquired some of the best talents across Britain all in his bid to make the team fearful and intimidating. Of the change in jersey colours, Ian St. John, a player under Shankly commented in his autobiography:
"Shankly thought the colour scheme would carry psychological impact - red for danger, red for power.”
FC Barcelona endured a difficult season in 2013/14 and in offering a reason why their rivals were struggling, Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos told GolTV, US Sports channel:
“What has changed is the fear other teams had of them”
Fans of Liverpool’s rivals are hoping Suarez has gone away with the club’s fear factor whiles Liverpool’s fans and management hope Balotelli has brought it back.
The signing of Balotelli has created a ‘unity’ as eccentric as himself. Three groups are united by some form of fear from this deal. LFC and their fans while happy and expectant hold the fear that Balotelli will be Balotelli-and he will disappoint again and flop. Balotelli, based on the utterances of his agent should hold the fear of jeopardizing his career if his attitude and performance does not improve. Rival fans fear Balotelli coming good in a Liverpool shirt and helping them wreak havoc in the league. Only time will tell whose fears materializes.