Mario Balotelli’s scapegoating hides the real issues at Liverpool

Bang on mate. Don't go on there any more as the RAWK police come after you.

Yet to comment on the game, but here my view point. We don't appear to have spent well in the summer, our tallisman has gone and it is affecting the good players we do have. Personally I would spend in the Window on anywhere but midfield, we have plenty of options there.

Need a defender or two and a striker that scares defences(other than Sturrige). Till then it might be tough viewing YNWA

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You'd seriously waste more money on defenders? When Brendan has brought in at least half a dozen in the last two seasons. I think it's clear to anyone that Brendan doesn't know how to set up a defence rather than they're all sh*t defenders...

Check out his latest escapade    .................

Player Thread

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

So why is Roger's playing him? Why pick out Mario, while not Lambert or Borini, for criticism. Christ, Borini has an army of supporters defending him - and yet the guy is not good enough for BR to select him !?!?  If BR felt he was better option, he'd play him. The Borini situation, with him refusing a 14mill move (Mario only cost 2mill more) etc, which meant we couldn't replace him with someone decent, while out of the limelight, for me is more frustrating than looking at Mario's sulky face, and that's saying something.

Mario frustrates the f**k out of people, me included. But these media things would be seen in a completely different light if he could just find some form.

You could practically see the press rubbing their hands with glee when they reported the signing.

Just to expand this point swab

You know what really gets to me is that we for the vast majority should freeze those cu*ts in the press out, I dislike 95% of them, and very rarely read the other 5%, in fact I haven't brought a paper of any kind in probably the last ten years, yet as you point out the press have had it in for the lad since they knew he was coming back, picking any thread they could waiting for it to unravel.. Picking the smallest thing and running with it, even the slightly bigger issue with the shirt swapping they have run it for 3 days, asking every pr**k who wants to be heard their opinion, yet when Sakho (and others) have done it in the past it's rarely mentioned if at all.. The press have wanted him to fail and wanted him to provide them with column inches to make their jobs easier, it's a discrace, hardly any of what he has done since he got here has been newsworthy in either a positive or negative way, yet I hear some tw*t the other day in the press bang on about a ' daft hat he put on leaving Anfield' making out he was going against club policy of suits etc, well I saw him arrive and he was suited like the rest yet once he is leaving to get in his car when he still has the suit on he puts a hat on.. I mean come on you tasteless pricks, there is no story, you can't wait for him to fail.

We fall for it as fans and some get on the lads back immediately because they are fed the lines.

Yes he needs to improve, yes he needs to change his game slightly, or we need to meet him halfway, we knew what type of striker he was when we got him so asking him to play how Luis or Danny do is unfair, it's like buying a car and blaming it for not being a motorbike. I think there is an element of scapegoating, definitely by the press.. To suggest that he has done anything but settle in is wrong as from the pictures we see of training and the times you see him interacting with his teammates in warm ups he seems to get on great with them.

I've said before he wouldn't have been my choice but I'm not prepared to throw him under a bus after 8 games, he needs to improve yet so do we, we need to get the best from him like we have previously with Danny, Luis, Torres etc etc etc.. He has come into a struggling side and is struggling for form and confidence.

The fact the press have it in for him makes me get behind the lad even more. All these stories about he will be gone in January they are running already is funny if it wasn't so utterly depressing of their chosen profession, cu*ts the lot of them.

Mario needs to improve, he hasn't worked out yet but I don't think from lack of effort from the lad, he just needs a few goals to get going and he deserves our support to help him. F**k the press, F**k everyone, get behind our walls and fight for Liverpool and our own, this is his last chance, I'm sure he knows that.. I'm gonna support the lad and do my bit to help him grab it. He has got to get better, let's do our bit to, and that goes for the lot of them.

Balotelli doesn't really press and play at a high tempo. He is tactically an Italian player really and he plays a certain way which is oddly enough not the way we played last year. He is more in the  Ibrahamovic mold (not class though). Physically gifted definitely. I don't think we can blame him for his influence on our team in terms of what he adds tactically, that is the lfc administrations decision not his. If he plays we need him to be supported. I think if he and Sturridge play together we will see a different outcome.

When did being an LFC supporter involve throwing our players to the wolves? Suarez is accused of racial abuse and goes on to bite people in front of the cameras no less than on two occasions whilst a Liverpool player and is given whole hearted support by the fans. Balotelli is accused of something and he's condemned as being guilty as charged? His crime? That he's not Luis Suarez.

Mario represents everything that was wrong with our Summer transfer window. Not in his signing but in the failure to sign a decent Suarez replacement. I said at the time and have said several times since that if Mario had been signed as the 3rd striker and we'd had a decent goal scorer brought in the Balotelli would have been a genius signing. Someone who gives you something different, who can be brought on and provide something different, perhaps win a game with a piece of genius, or put in some games where we're able to change our style of play but who isn't relied upon to be the club's goal machine.

This is the problem with him, there's an unrealistic expectation for him to be the club's saviour in a period where the two main goal scorers from last season are missing and our defensive frailties have increased resulting in some very dour performances and so, because he's not Luis Suarez but 'Mad Mario', the Tabloid's long held pantomime villain, he's become the scapegoat for all this seasons ills. Does he help himself with poor performances? No. But that does not excuse the lack of support he's getting from the fans who mistake a different style of play than we're used to with SaS for laziness. Give the guy a break, give him support, sing his name and perhaps we might then see the best of him because last time I checked, being a Liverpool supporter didn't involve kicking someone when they're down.

Just to expand this point swab

You know what really gets to me is that we for the vast majority should freeze those cu*ts in the press out, I dislike 95% of them, and very rarely read the other 5%, in fact I haven't brought a paper of any kind in probably the last ten years, yet as you point out the press have had it in for the lad since they knew he was coming back, picking any thread they could waiting for it to unravel.. Picking the smallest thing and running with it, even the slightly bigger issue with the shirt swapping they have run it for 3 days, asking every pr**k who wants to be heard their opinion, yet when Sakho (and others) have done it in the past it's rarely mentioned if at all.. The press have wanted him to fail and wanted him to provide them with column inches to make their jobs easier, it's a discrace, hardly any of what he has done since he got here has been newsworthy in either a positive or negative way, yet I hear some tw*t the other day in the press bang on about a ' daft hat he put on leaving Anfield' making out he was going against club policy of suits etc, well I saw him arrive and he was suited like the rest yet once he is leaving to get in his car when he still has the suit on he puts a hat on.. I mean come on you tasteless pricks, there is no story, you can't wait for him to fail.

We fall for it as fans and some get on the lads back immediately because they are fed the lines.

Yes he needs to improve, yes he needs to change his game slightly, or we need to meet him halfway, we knew what type of striker he was when we got him so asking him to play how Luis or Danny do is unfair, it's like buying a car and blaming it for not being a motorbike. I think there is an element of scapegoating, definitely by the press.. To suggest that he has done anything but settle in is wrong as from the pictures we see of training and the times you see him interacting with his teammates in warm ups he seems to get on great with them.

I've said before he wouldn't have been my choice but I'm not prepared to throw him under a bus after 8 games, he needs to improve yet so do we, we need to get the best from him like we have previously with Danny, Luis, Torres etc etc etc.. He has come into a struggling side and is struggling for form and confidence.

The fact the press have it in for him makes me get behind the lad even more. All these stories about he will be gone in January they are running already is funny if it wasn't so utterly depressing of their chosen profession, cu*ts the lot of them.

Mario needs to improve, he hasn't worked out yet but I don't think from lack of effort from the lad, he just needs a few goals to get going and he deserves our support to help him. F**k the press, F**k everyone, get behind our walls and fight for Liverpool and our own, this is his last chance, I'm sure he knows that.. I'm gonna support the lad and do my bit to help him grab it. He has got to get better, let's do our bit to, and that goes for the lot of them.

Exactly PD.
I was waiting for Family Guy repeats to come on BBC3 (I needed cheering up after watching us against Madrid   ), and they had the shirt swap as a main item on 60 second news. I mean for fucks sake, how is it headline news?

Then we have the "new" story about him threatening some woman who was taking pics of his car outside his mums house. The reality is that if any of us saw someone we didn't know taking pics of our cars, we'd all want to know what the F**k was going on.
Add to that, it took place in Wythenshaw, so it was probably some manc taking pics, PLUS it was outside his mums house. What do people expect?

I might get flak for this, but I think people buy into these stories (and that's all they are, "stories" ) because it reinforces existing prejudice about the fella.

As you rightly say, F**k the press, the haters and the shitstirrers.
He might be a tw*t, but he's our tw*t, and as long as that remains the case, I'll support him.

Like the majority, i wasnt thrilled with signing Ballotelli but once he had signed i was behind him, as long as he was wearing the shirt and putting some effort in then he would get the same back in return.

However, as a lone striker he is so out of depth.

But as out of place as he may be in the squad he is far from the only problem we have.
Brendan has to shoulder alot of blame for the way we are performing in the league, we have gone from having a small compact side full of quality to a big side full of mediocrity. The new signings, yes they need time to bed in and gel with the team however i still expect to see some sort of performance from them. Unfortunately im not seeing that.

Moreno and Manquillo are the two which stand out and are probably the better of our signings. Can, ok my judgement is still out on him as he hasnt played much. Markovich has been a waste of £20 million, and at the end of the day did we really need him?
Then there is Lovren, who seemed to be an ideal replacement for Carra, but he is so poor defensively. I dont know if it is confidence or what it is but he just doesnt look upto the task at all.
I really feel for Ricky Lambert, i was made up when we signed him because of his past history with the club and at this level he has proven he could score goals. It was obvious he wouldnt be a starter, however for me, when he plays its like he is trying to hard, and as a result isnt performing like he can. Almost reminds me of when we had Robbie Keane.
Adam Lallana, now Alberto Moreno aside, Lallana was the player i was most excited about signing this summer. Unfortunately for Adam he had his injury early on however he has shown some signs of the player he can be recently.

I was gutted we got rid of both Reina and Agger and i cant believe how badly we have replaced them.
I know a lot of people disagree but i feel Mignolet is a terrible keeper, he is a good shot stopper. But goalkeepers need to be commanding and need to be able to dominate their area, Mignolet does neither. His ball distribution skills are absolutely shocking, kicking almost 99% of the time ends up at the feet of the opposing team. Reina may have burnt his bridges at LFC before his loan to Napoli but for me i would have kept him at the club, he fits the style of play. Reina too is a good shot stopper, all round he is very very good. I miss the days of a Reina throw out starting a counter attack.
Agger when Daniel was fit he was superb, although keeping him fit was the issue. However, is he any worse the the 20 million paid for Lovren?

Defensively we have been very poor all season and i cant help but wonder, had Steve clarke still being involved with the team would we be so poor. I dont think we would, last season and this season we could have done with some of Clarke's coaching methods. One of Brendans biggest mistakes was allowing him to leave.

I dont care about his style. I dont care how he compares to Suarez. I dont care if he was our 5th choice target. I dont care if he has a pop at someone for taking pictures of his car. I dont care if he likes going to x in the city. I care but can get over him missing sitters

What I do care about and will not get over very quickly or forgive is a player who has been blessed to be handed a Liverpool jersey to go and represent this club on the pitch arsing about the place. I said jokingly in another trhead that Pepe must have been delighted to swap shirts with Mario as the shirt would be bone dry due to lack of sweat from effort.

Balls to all this "he has the talent" crap. Let him start showing it through hard work. If he mishits a pass he looks around at the other players like its there fault he fooked up a pass.

Scapegoat my arse hes lazing about the place doing nothing

I don't think it's "scapegoating" to point out that Balotelli has been incredibly poor so far, it's just stating the obvious. Clearly he isn't the ONLY reason the team is currently dysfunctional and less than a sum of its parts, but he is obviously one of the reasons. My guess is he's a fairly significant one at that, and despite all the doom and gloom on here I thought we looked a far better side on Wednesday night when he wasn't playing.

It wouldn't surprise Me ,  some of us here knew what we getting before we signed Balotelli , we knew he's lazy , childish , sulks a lot , selfish .

Will Brendan pick him on Sunday just to be bloody minded ?.
If he does play he is definitely not there on merit.

Will Brendan pick him on Sunday just to be bloody minded ?.
If he does play he is definitely not there on merit.

I hope Balotelli does play on Sunday!

Hope Brendan plays Lambert tomorrow though 

It wouldn't surprise Me ,  some of us here knew what we getting before we signed Balotelli , we knew he's lazy , childish , sulks a lot , selfish .

There's something called confirmation bias.. Every human in the world has it whether it be looking for something positive or negative

Will Brendan pick him on Sunday just to be bloody minded ?.
If he does play he is definitely not there on merit.

Only 3should start on merit & that's Lallanna, Sterling & Coutiniho, rest need benching.

I hope Balotelli does play on Sunday!

No point playing Balotelli up front on his own because he's been rubbish in that role since he arrived. I'd drop him and play Lambert or Borini. Both are inadequate in a red shirt IMO but Balotelli clearly can't perform that role to a sufficient standard either so they should be given a chance. If they're not they should be sold at Christmas because they're clearly of no use to us.

You are taught at school boy level that defending starts from the front and he doesn't work hard enough or chase anything down. He would get a lot less stick if he did this, despite his inability to hit a F***ing barn door.

But agree with others, it isn't just Balotelli who has been poor, the whole team have, and he has had very poor service to be fair.

Like Luis, he needs to work hard and create chances for himself. Take a game by the scruff of the neck and win them for us. He doesn't seem arsed though.

I don't agree with the shirt swap at half time and never will.

But as Swab said earlier it isn't news and is forgot about now as fae as I'm concerned.

I wonder what Mario would think of his latest debacle that has created this particular debate probably "Why always me". Things seem to be blown out of proportion one way or another when Mario is involved.

I wonder what Mario would think of his latest debacle that has created this particular debate probably "Why always me". Things seem to be blown out of proportion one way or another when Mario is involved.

He's certainly polarising but why does he deserve special condemnation while others are getting off scot free? Why should it be we're doing so poorly because of him (and we're not doing that poorly) when Mignolet, Skrtel, Lovren, Johnson, Gerrard, Henderson, Lambert, Borini and, until recently, Coutinho have all performed badly. No one is raging over their piss poor performances. That's what the issue of this thread is. In this case, it really is "why always him?".

~I do not get the scapegoat crap I do get he is crap.
I didn't want to see him again after QPR and what was Brendan thinking of playing him again last night.
when managers like Mourhino and Mancini just give up on him then something is drastically wrong in the lads make .I think most of us wanted him to succeed rather than expected him to do so.
Now we have a situation where he may find himself in a very difficult position as his team mates have already started having a go at him.

I think you're right mate, the fact that his teammates are getting fed up with his lack of effort and selfishness is really worrying for us. It's beginning to disrupt the amazing team spirit we built last season. The defensive errors and poor results haven't helped, but you could see the team sticking by the defenders. But Balo's behaviour is not worth the team spirit.

I actually don't think he's been terrible. Underperforming and not good enough to start, yes, but not a disaster. He, like BR has stated, should be treated the same as any other underperforming players and dropped. But his attitude has stunk and that's what pisses the fans off more than anything.

He has to prove himself on the training pitch to regain his place again now and I wouldnot bother starting him until Studge is back and maybe he will be more effective then.

But I don't agree with the article. I don't think Balo has been made a scapegoat, just been told he hasn't been good enough in his effort and attitude,that's all. But it hasn't been used as an excuse to deflect away from our failings elsewhere on the pitch. BR has stated the defense's failings and we have all been saying it since the start of the season. There is no way Balo's antics has masked our shortcomings elsewhere                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

He can piss up the Pope's leg as far as I am concerned as long as he scores goals.

I think you're right mate, the fact that his teammates are getting fed up with his lack of effort and selfishness is really worrying for us. It's beginning to disrupt the amazing team spirit we built last season. The defensive errors and poor results haven't helped, but you could see the team sticking by the defenders. But Balo's behaviour is not worth the team spirit.

I actually don't think he's been terrible. Underperforming and not good enough to start, yes, but not a disaster. He, like BR has stated, should be treated the same as any other underperforming players and dropped. But his attitude has stunk and that's what pisses the fans off more than anything.

He has to prove himself on the training pitch to regain his place again now and I wouldnot bother starting him until Studge is back and maybe he will be more effective then.

But I don't agree with the article. I don't think Balo has been made a scapegoat, just been told he hasn't been good enough in his effort and attitude,that's all. But it hasn't been used as an excuse to deflect away from our failings elsewhere on the pitch. BR has stated the defense's failings and we have all been saying it since the start of the season. There is no way Balo's antics has masked our shortcomings elsewhere                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Could you provide evidence for that statement, please?

Could you provide evidence for that statement, please?

Watch the QPR game. There were at least
two occasions when we were on the counter attack, and instead of playing the midfielders in, he chose to try a 30 yards shot on one occasion and tried to take on defenders and lost the ball on another. On both occasions there were simpler passes.

It was Hendo having a go at him for one of the times and Stevie for another. He's done similar things previous games and the lads just got on with it. This time, they've started having a go at him, suggesting they're losing patience with him and that's not good for team spirit.

I do watch games and analyse what's happening, I didn't just make it up out of the figment of my imagination...but thanks for asking for evidence supporting my point of view. It's refreshing on this forum, usually we just discuss what we dreamt about.