Mario Balotelli (Liverpool -> Nice)

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/23/mario-balotelli-police-investigate-liverpool

The show gets better and better... For the popcorn eating, Manc loving media.

Keep feeding the trolls, Mario!

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/23/mario-balotelli-police-investigate-liverpool

The show gets better and better... For the popcorn eating, Manc loving media.

Keep feeding the trolls, Mario!

Bloody hell - about the last thing he and the club needs... So in 24 hours he gets subbed off at half time after playing pretty badly - causes a stir with shirtgate and dosent come out for the second half - followed by a drive to Manchester where he abuses some lady for taking a photo of his car.

Great work Mario...

Mario Balotelli: Police called to 'Ferrari pictures dispute'

By Mike Keegan
BBC Sport
Police are investigating a claim that Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli "threatened" a woman who was taking pictures of his Ferrari.
Greater Manchester Police were called at 15:05 BST on Thursday by a resident in the Wythenshawe area of Manchester.
Play media
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Rodgers bemoans 'sloppy' Liverpool
It is understood the woman alleges that the 24-year-old moved towards her daughter, who was taking a picture of the red sports car, which was parked on the pavement.
Police will interview those involved.
A GMP spokesman said: "We received a report of threatening behaviour and we are investigating."
The forward was substituted at half-time in Liverpool's 3-0 Champions League defeat by Real Madrid on Wednesday and was criticised for swapping his shirt with Real's Pepe at the interval.
Reds manager Brendan Rodgers said he had reminded Balotelli about the "club culture" at Anfield.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29748830

Balotelli has been pretty awful but all this talk of him possibly being off in January shows a huge double standard.

Andy Carroll played in 44 league games for us.  Read that again.  44.  And there were STILL people thinking he would come good when we sold him!

Balotelli has played in 5.  5.  I'm not saying he's going to improve necessarily.  He hasn't shown any signs of it. 

But if Carroll got 44 games before he was shipped out, why is Balotelli's chance almost over having played only 5 times in the league?

But if Carroll got 44 games before he was shipped out, why is Balotelli's chance almost over having played only 5 times in the league?

It isn't mate.

Blown out of all proportion.

a 12 year old school  boy would have seen that pass.The premier league is not foreign to him and when Crouch played for us he put in a shift every game.
Having only 1 premier league assist in his premiership career is all you need to know about him.
He plays for Balotelli FC and in his world he is the best player and cant understand why others are not on his wave length.I think we all thought after Suarez it would be good to have a larger than life personality but to be honest on that score we would be better off with Ken Dodd

the Prem basically is foreign to Balotelli. hell, PUTTING A SHIFT IN is new to Balotelli.

aren't we Liverpool men and women? aren't we supposed to get behind players, especially new signings?

when he played under Mancini and Mourinho he didn't ever need to work.. he was never an important part of the team, the core team.. he was an important part of the squad, but he was a luxury, not a hard working cog. you need to put it into perspective. the guy is 24 but he's NEVER been asked to be a cog in a team. it's not normal, the career he's had so far!

he is working now. to say he is selfish or that he is lazy would be your anger shining through - he is putting the effort in, he just has no idea how to be a Liverpool player - he is just learning how to be a player, like a 19 year old strikers first year in the Prem. that's how I look at him, he's the rawest 'experienced' player I've ever seen.... we see him constantly, naturally drift out wide to pick the ball up - that's because that's been his game for years. a luxury playing off a main striker, deployed on left wing. we're asking him to change what has been his only style for years. shouldn't we as supporters have patience? :\

once he learns how to be a centre forward, which may only take a month or two more, then he can start mixing in with our great young talent and banging a few goals in. remember how close he came on his debut? don't believe things have slipped so drastically since then - it is not even November yet.

the Prem basically is foreign to Balotelli. hell, PUTTING A SHIFT IN is new to Balotelli.

aren't we Liverpool men and women? aren't we supposed to get behind players, especially new signings?

when he played under Mancini and Mourinho he didn't ever need to work.. he was never an important part of the team, the core team.. he was an important part of the squad, but he was a luxury, not a hard working cog. you need to put it into perspective. the guy is 24 but he's NEVER been asked to be a cog in a team. it's not normal, the career he's had so far!

he is working now. to say he is selfish or that he is lazy would be your anger shining through - he is putting the effort in, he just has no idea how to be a Liverpool player - he is just learning how to be a player, like a 19 year old strikers first year in the Prem. that's how I look at him, he's the rawest 'experienced' player I've ever seen.... we see him constantly, naturally drift out wide to pick the ball up - that's because that's been his game for years. a luxury playing off a main striker, deployed on left wing. we're asking him to change what has been his only style for years. shouldn't we as supporters have patience? :\

once he learns how to be a centre forward, which may only take a month or two more, then he can start mixing in with our great young talent and banging a few goals in. remember how close he came on his debut? don't believe things have slipped so drastically since then - it is not even November yet.

Ow - for god sake stop being sensible..!

In all fairness, you start by talking about how he needs to put in a shift then that he is playing in a new position and a new type of style. But how can it be so hard to stop being a lazy uninterested player and chase down the ball..? He should be able to do that now - and as Liverpool fans that is really all we ask for, is it not?

His antics over the last 48 hours have not been becoming of a Liverpool player - yes we have had other idiots at this club, some we all defended because of their on the pitch performance. 

I can't see what antics he has done which are so upsetting. As far as I'm concerned he has so far behaved impeccably.(would have helped his cause if he had bagged a couple of sitters - but sh*t happens)

You could argue with justification there is others in the team who have cost considerably more and have been equally if not more sh*te.
Lovren...........
Markovic........

Its truly amazing watching peoples opinions get swayed so drastically by media and ex-player opinion pieces.

I can't believe after 8 games fans are wanting a player to be sold.

Seriously outrageous.

Is this what football has become? 24hr media circus, managerial merry-go-round, pundits / body language experts over-analysing how much a goal keeper bends down, if a player swaps shirts at half time. I wonder if theres a camera following balotelli for 90 mins. How much you want to bet he was wound up by a united fan, but who cares right cause that would NEVER HAPPEN IN MANCHESTER?

Ridiculous 

Lovren and Skrtel must be relived that Balo is stealing all the headlines.

We know how to pick em that's for sure!

The more I watched the video of the "incident" the more it looks like Pepe initiated the request and Mario simply complied.

However, that brings in its own set of questions, first off, Balo should have said "Yea I'll swap but let me get out of view of the crowd first".

Secondly, I wouldn't put it past Pepe to have planned this, knowing that if he asked for Balo's shirt he would have respectfully obliged and then knowing that it would then become the firestorm it has.

Either way, Balo should have known better and it doesn't give him a pass on the fact that he didn't come back out to support his team and honestly, after going 3-0 down, he should have been fuming and I'd rather he'd have punched Pepe on the end of the nose than swapped shirts with him.

I am not worried about the shirt incident or his "antics" of the pitch. All I am concerned with is what he can do for us on the pitch and so far he has been a waste of space. He is 24 he should be approaching his peak instead his development as a player has never happened. He is big and strong with a nice touch but he seems to lack a footballing brain.

Balotelli has been pretty awful but all this talk of him possibly being off in January shows a huge double standard.

Andy Carroll played in 44 league games for us.  Read that again.  44.  And there were STILL people thinking he would come good when we sold him!

Balotelli has played in 5.  5.  I'm not saying he's going to improve necessarily.  He hasn't shown any signs of it. 

But if Carroll got 44 games before he was shipped out, why is Balotelli's chance almost over having played only 5 times in the league?

I think that's pretty obvious.

I am not worried about the shirt incident or his "antics" of the pitch. All I am concerned with is what he can do for us on the pitch and so far he has been a waste of space. He is 24 he should be approaching his peak instead his development as a player has never happened. He is big and strong with a nice touch but he seems to lack a footballing brain.

Yea, but the distractions off the pitch can affect his performance on the pitch, not only that but it can affect the locker room morale as well. I hold up my hand and admit that I may have been wrong about bringing him in. May have been a bigger detriment than I originally thought. Probably too early to tell and I'm hoping I'm just getting caught up in the ebb and flow of our season.

Give me a F***ing break

No 

Looked better second half when he went off, and that was without a recognized striker. The defence is another matter but in the Mario thread its not worth bringing up. How  much longer are we to afford him before he has to get his arse into gear? Then reaction of the players around him speak volumes. They are getting bored of his wasteful, CBA style antics too.

Give him time. Tired of people judging a player's season after two months. It is a new system and style and he was thrown right into the mix as our main striker.

A lot of you need to start supporting the players struggling instead of slagging them off.

Yea, but the distractions off the pitch can affect his performance on the pitch, not only that but it can affect the locker room morale as well. I hold up my hand and admit that I may have been wrong about bringing him in. May have been a bigger detriment than I originally thought. Probably too early to tell and I'm hoping I'm just getting caught up in the ebb and flow of our season.

some people actually thrive in chaos and can't cope with the mundane.Maybe he needs to let off some fire works

some people actually thrive in chaos and can't cope with the mundane.Maybe he needs to let off some fire works

I could help him with that...family business being fireworks and all

look at this monster!

Balotelli has been pretty awful but all this talk of him possibly being off in January shows a huge double standard.

Double Standard..?! You are constantly calling for our players to be sold (Migs, Hendo, Lukas and of course Borini) - yet you back Mario..?! What has he done in any game to warrant this Fed..?

Double Standard..?! You are constantly calling for our players to be sold (Migs, Hendo, Lukas and of course Borini) - yet you back Mario..?! What has he done in any game to warrant this Fed..?

He has been bloody well paid that is what he has done, needs to start earning his wages by putting the ball in the net.

Hopefully he'll get a goal or two today and kickstart his Anfield career, I'd imagine if that's to be the case, it will probably be from the bench, hopefully he'll come on with a point to prove.

Putting in extra training apparently, I hope it represents a change of attitude on the field from him. I really want him to succeed, he is a Liverpool player after all,  he should have our support.