1229 minutes. That was how long it took for former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch to get off the mark with a fortuitous effort against Wigan Athletic almost 9 years ago. Balotelli is currently on 424 minutes without a goal, or 805 minutes away from immediate doom if you think that way. So can the Italian follow in the rather large footsteps of the former Anfield favourite and break his scoring duck?
Well, there’s no question he can and as far as natural talent goes Balotelli far excels that of Crouch. The Italian is stronger, more mobile and better from dead ball situations. So with that in mind it would appear a matter of when rather than if. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans ‘Super Mario’ hasn’t really shown any of that talent so far.
Against QPR on Sunday he looked laboured, out of ideas and completely out of sync with his teammates. Some joked that eventually Sterling came to the decision it would be better to pass it to a QPR defender than to Balotelli, there was more chance of scoring. As harsh as that may sound it was probably true.
With no international football since the World Cup the Italian has had plenty of time to get to know a large proportion of his teammates, to digest Rodgers methods and come to terms with the expectations of the club. So far that time has achieved little as he looks as out of sync now as he did on the first day.
This is the big difference between Balotelli and Crouch. For four months the former Liverpool number 15 worked his socks off and linked up play so well that I’m almost entirely sure the now cliché term “he’s got a good touch for a big man” was coined during his early Anfield days.
You see Crouch was doing a lot of things well during that time the problem often came down to a lack of confidence in front of goal; an acceptance that luck simply wasn’t on his side. When his luck did swing against Wigan he didn’t look back.
The problems with Balotelli at the moment appear to be more deep rooted. He’s not the very definition of poetry in motion like Luis Suarez, nor does he appear suited to leading the line. His movements off the ball are predictable and it does little to costless up space for players like Lallana and Sterling.
There is of course a very reasonable case to be made that the Italian is actually a second striker and that the return of Daniel Sturridge will lead to an upturn in fortunes but if that does prove to be the case then Liverpool have got themselves the wrong man - or at the very least a poor stop gap until Belgian talent Divock Origi joins next summer.
Supporters will no doubt be hoping that the big Italian does go on to break his goal draught like Crouch, ultimately Liverpool need him to or risk regressing.