Mario Balotelli suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty and was returned to Merseyside, missing out on two international fixtures.
Fortunately, the Liverpool Echo is reporting that the injury may not be as serious as feared, and Balotelli should be available for selection for the match against Crystal Palace this weekend.
Such news will be a breath of fresh air to Liverpool fans galore, as this weekend should also mark the return of last year’s 21-goal man, Daniel Sturridge. Why the excitement for one man on a squad of fifteen odd individuals, who have failed to deliver in fourteen matches?
Sturridge and Balotelli are expected to spearhead the attack alongside teenage star Raheem Sterling. Those three have only played together once, against Spurs in that famous 3-0 away victory, by far the most impressive performance by the Reds this season. The spectacle featured menacing runs by Sturridge, creativity by young Sterling, and brute force and smarts from Super Mario. There was a link between midfield and attack that has been invisible for two months now. However, another question arises, the exclusion of one player cannot really stymie an entire teams attack, or can it?
Perhaps it cannot, but Brendan Rodgers’ stubborn nature seems to have made it that way (that is a conversation for another day). In Sturridge’s absence, Mario Balotelli has been made to play as a lone striker. Balotelli has been invisible on many nights; he has looked frustrated and toothless in his attempts. Fans have turned on ‘Mario magnifico’, and the media has returned to its favourite past time of “Balotelli scrutiny”. To make matters absolutely silly, Liverpool icon and BBC pundit, Mark Lawrenson, suggested recently that 19-year old Divock Origi is better than Balotelli and he is the one to save Liverpool’s season. Origi is a 19-year old playing in Ligue One (yes, in France, for the same team which made Joe Cole look like a superstar at the age of 30). Sturridge has shown to be the silky striker who can work off the wing or even make intelligent runs, a clear example being the Steven Gerrard long ball to him which resulted in a breakaway goal.
Balotelli is the type of attacker to venture around the 18 yard box, use his strength and his shot from distance. When worked to the wings, he can be an aerial threat On a team like Liverpool, its hard to be an aerial threat when you are surrounded with attackers just a little taller than a 12-year old. Balotelli is not blessed with an abundance of pace or movement, this is where his strike partners have entered to create more space for Balotelli, and also more attacking options for his team. Where’s the evidence? When Mario Balotelli netted 20 goals for Manchester City in his first season in England, he played alongside the little speed demon known as Sergio Aguero. When Balotelli rose to prominence in Italy, his partner was the speedy Samuel Etoo. Below is Mario Balotelli’s heat map in Liverpool’s last fixture against Chelsea:
(Heat map from squawka.com)
That image absolutely screams for the need of a partner and deep attacking threat (and no, that doesn’t mean you put Rickie Lambert in). Fabio Borini has shown glimpses of being able to work with Balotelli, as was visible in the match against Swansea City (he assisted Balotelli’s goal). Borini is a pacey striker who will make runs inside and work his socks off. Unfortunately, Rodgers doesn’t see it the same way. The return of Sturridge will be a huge boost to Liverpool’s attack, but more specifically, Mario Balotelli and Raheem Sterling’s performance.
In other words, Liverpool sold 31-goal man Luis Suarez, lost Daniel Sturridge to injury for much of the season, and then put on Mario Balotelli on his own and told him to replace all those 50 odd goals. And when he wasn’t able to, he was labeled a failure by the Anfield faithful, sounds like a rather silly bunch of fans to me.
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