He wasn't as bad as made out tonight. He had little support and was reduced to a total passenger by 20 minutes down to his team and the opposition rather than himself. Still, he's a cock for the shirt change.
Balotelli signs for Liverpool - Official
- Thread starter shaggy
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Didn't really think he was that bad. Hard for him to do a lot when his team never had the ball, but I seem to remember him making some decent play down the right wing. Didn't he set up that Joe Allen shot that required a great save from Casillas?
He's good at pissing off him own fans by wearing rival merchandise, swapping shirts at half time and wasting nearly every opportunity he's had. That's quite a talent.
Everyone loves to hate on the guy, the entire Liverpool team turns off for the second goal...yet Mario is singled out for not charging down the cross! 
How about Coutinho giving the ball away in the first place, how about the entire midfield that does feck all as its passed across the pitch, how about Johnson not marking anyone, how about the keeper? nah whats the point mentioning them when Mario is on the field.
And then he had the nerve to swap his shirt!!! i repeat...he swapped his shirt!!! i'm just glad it was a school night to limit the number of kids that had to watch that EVIL act.
How about Coutinho giving the ball away in the first place, how about the entire midfield that does feck all as its passed across the pitch, how about Johnson not marking anyone, how about the keeper? nah whats the point mentioning them when Mario is on the field.
And then he had the nerve to swap his shirt!!! i repeat...he swapped his shirt!!! i'm just glad it was a school night to limit the number of kids that had to watch that EVIL act.
I actually agree within the context of his other Liverpool performances. This wasn't one of his worst, but he seems to be getting a torrent of abuse all of a sudden. There are other games where he deserved the criticism more imo.
Yeah, agreed. Don't really see what he's done today.
Strange signing anyway. Not an overly good player. Was rarely ever going to help in away games or games when they don't have all of the ball.
But tonight was just a bad night for the whole team.
Everyone's laying into him because it sums up his attitude as a footballer. He gets paid thousands of pounds a week and at 3-0 down in a big Champions League match he's swapping shirts like it's the end of the game in front of the fans. It's just plain disrespectful to the home support, nothing to do with it being an 'evil' act. Not exactly like it's the first stupid thing he's done either.
Everyone loves to hate on the guy, the entire Liverpool team turns off for the second goal...yet Mario is singled out for not charging down the cross!
How about Coutinho giving the ball away in the first place, how about the entire midfield that does feck all as its passed across the pitch, how about Johnson not marking anyone, how about the keeper? nah whats the point mentioning them when Mario is on the field.
And then he had the nerve to swap his shirt!!! i repeat...he swapped his shirt!!! i'm just glad it was a school night to limit the number of kids that had to watch that EVIL act.
I think he is getting the worst criticism because he has been poor all season.
Well he's never been the sharpest tool in the shed ... But that said he is everything wrong with modern football, a lot of footballers with little or nothing special to offer get paid millions for strutting their shit around looking like they should give a shit. But he just cant fake that shit to save his life. He wants the lifestyle but doesn't want to do anything much to get it...
Thought he did well in the first half, thought he was pool's second best player in that period although that's not saying much. Didn't understand the sub.
Like I said the media love to hate the guy.
The swapping shirts thing is used as a disrespectful example but honestly it doesn't bother me.
Much like how players waving their hands for a yellow card is jumped on by the media...it doesn't bother me either.
If I was a Liverpool fan tonight I'd be pissed off at the defence again! and not concern myself with Mario swapping shirts with a fellow professional.
The swapping shirts thing is used as a disrespectful example but honestly it doesn't bother me.
Much like how players waving their hands for a yellow card is jumped on by the media...it doesn't bother me either.
If I was a Liverpool fan tonight I'd be pissed off at the defence again! and not concern myself with Mario swapping shirts with a fellow professional.
He wasn't terrible tonight at all. Obviously some sort of tipping point though. Which had to happen eventually. He's been absolutely shite.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if they flog him in January. With that said, he was actually a little better than usual tonight. The shirt swapping is just another sad indication of his inability to use his brain. He brings all of the abuse on himself.
Him swapping shirts at half time in front of the crowd, while Liverpool are trailing 3 nil is disrespectful, in my opinion. It is Balotelli, though, so I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise.
I do agree that he wasn't that bad tonight. Brendan did say he wasn't providing enough intensity, though, which is why he was taken off. Maybe he wasn't running off the ball enough.
I do agree that he wasn't that bad tonight. Brendan did say he wasn't providing enough intensity, though, which is why he was taken off. Maybe he wasn't running off the ball enough.
I love the English media.
It's not the several years of under par performances that have caused them to suddenly write him off at Liverpool, or the alleged training ground bust up, or severely lacklustre and unarsed looking displays in a Liverpool shirt, or even the fact that he's certifiable...it's because he swapped shirts with a player at half time of a game which he was taken off at half time in.
Also, why did Brendan Rodgers pretend he wasn't aware this happend? Wouldn't it have been a slight give away when Balotelli came into the dressing room at half time with the wrong team's shirt?
It's not the several years of under par performances that have caused them to suddenly write him off at Liverpool, or the alleged training ground bust up, or severely lacklustre and unarsed looking displays in a Liverpool shirt, or even the fact that he's certifiable...it's because he swapped shirts with a player at half time of a game which he was taken off at half time in.
Also, why did Brendan Rodgers pretend he wasn't aware this happend? Wouldn't it have been a slight give away when Balotelli came into the dressing room at half time with the wrong team's shirt?
Genuinely feel sorry for the guy. This will surely be his last chance with a big club.
Swaping shirts at half time does not piss me off just makes no sense to me. Why not wait until after the match for all that?
He's been poor but it's too convenient to blame everything on him. We are leaking goals but apparently that's his fault too, he's giving the rest of the team an easy way out.
Be lucky if he could get a hat trick of decent passes never mind goals.
Wouldnt surprise me if he has his biggest and best game of his career and Liverpool somehow win this
That and Mignolet has the game of his life.
Not sure who has been worse this season it's fairly close between the two.
I think it will be a close match. Liverpool (although struggling defensively) aren´t Levante or Granada. Real´s performance against Ludogorets wasn´t that inspiring. It will be 2-1 to Madrid in my opinion. Balotelli to score one
Liverpool are a shadow of the team without Suarez/Sturridge. The pressing they offered high up the pitch along with penetration forced opposition teams back which gave the already mediocre defence and midfield plenty of cover. Now that they have zero pressing high up the pitch and no pace bar Sterling the defence is being exposed even more. Teams can play out of the back easily or can press high themselves as we've seen with the multiple man marking jobs done on Gerrard with no real worries.
It's taken less time than I expected for people to finally turn on him but that's just a reflection on how bad his performances have been. He's never been close to world class and the myth of his world class potential is just that, a myth.
Managers never seem to see any controversial incident against their own team even if it's right in front of them, but can clearly see when they've been denied a penalty for a minor infringement stood 50 yards away.
Maybe the media thought that Rodgers might be able to manage him like he did Suarez last season where he didn't do anything stupid (until the World Cup of course). I don't think a big club will be willing to take him if he fails at Liverpool, how many more chances does he need? Even City, who kept Tevez around after that substitute farce had enough eventually.
Why? Yeah, he's getting some undeserved stick today, but he's brought all of this on himself. His personality is the only reason some people still think he's a decent footballer (for whatever reason), so he can't really have any complaints when that personality make people turn on him as well and make him a scapegoat.
Why feel sorry for him? He constantly acts like a pratt and takes this piss out of our team.
Why feel sorry for him? He constantly acts like a pratt and takes this piss out of our team.
He's a wasted talented and this will surely be his last chance at making it in football.
I don't think he deserves pity for being a wasted talent. It's his own fault, it's not like Torres or others where injuries have ruined their careers. His own laziness and idiocy will have ruined his career if he doesn't get another chance at a big club.
Lots of people have 'some' of the tools to be a top pro, he's just another, if anything he's lucky he achieved so much with such poor attitude.
"Down there for dancin' " as they say in Dublin. A good footballer has it between his ears too.
Yeah agreed, much of his problem is self-inflicted. Still sad to see him as well as others with the talent to squander it. He could've been much more than what he's become, which at this point is little more than a caricature of himself.
The shirt swap isn't a big deal to me - it's not like he went running off begging, Pepe asked him when they were in the mouth of the tunnel.
Let the fame and hype get to his head, thinks the world revolves around him
The issue is the wider context, this could be interpreted as another way of him disrespecting the shirt. It's simplistic but not far off the truth to say the swap would have been taken as positive (pepe wanting his shirt) if Mario was busting a gut and banging in goals.
I think he just lacks mental strength and is prone to sulking.
He's a average player with a bad attitude and has only a special moment in 5-6 matches over a season
Real idiot
Balotelli's going to be the pin-up boy for all of their failures this season, isn't he? He will be blamed for everything.
Unfortunately, two of them will probably be against us.
About 3 months into his Liverpool career though and he's already proving why he isn't worth a gamble. He's a complete loose cannon and just can't be relied upon. At least back when City signed him he still had 'potential'. Did he even set the world alight at Milan?
Also, why exactly would you swap shirts at half time? I know they are hardly the first players to do it but what is the point? I just don't get it.
The whole shirt swapping is a storm in a tea cup for me imo, in England it's made out a big deal when it's really not. If the shirts were swapped further down the tunnel away from the cameras there wouldn't be this over reaction. Most footballers change their shirts at half time anyway.
This shirt swapping issue is deflecting how poor Liverpool were and in some perverse way making Balotelli a scapegoat. I feel sorry for the guy, he's not the high energy, hassling striker like Suarez, i'm really not sure what Rodgers and the Liverpool fans were expecting. He's more of a target man who needs some decent service which he has been deprived of.
Just goes to show another case of poor judgement by Rodgers, he wants to play a certain way but he needs to buy the right type of players to play in that system. Unfortunately for Baloteli he will be taking a lot of blame this season when it should be Rodgers.
I feel as if this swapping shirt thing (if it was a United player say) is something I should be annoyed about... but in actuality it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
Who cares if they swapped shirts?
It was smart of him doing it. Now everybody talks about his freaking shirt, and not how absolutley uniterested he seems when he plays. Looks like he dont care about anything that goes on.
It was smart of him doing it. Now everybody talks about his freaking shirt, and not how absolutley uniterested he seems when he plays. Looks like he dont care about anything that goes on.
The swapping shirt should be done at the end of the match but I don't understand how it can warrant such an outrage. A fart in a storm is what it is.
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