The high profile transfer now appears to be all but finalised, but will Balotelli prove to be another master stroke for Brendan Rogers or will he be left with the same headaches the prolific luis Suarez so easily caused for the Northern Irishman. We all love Balotelli for his sometimes absurd and often hilarious off-field antics but will he become an Anfield legend or leave the club with egg on their face in the same way Suarez did.
Goal scoring
Balotelli has always been thought to have bags of potential and has a decent goal record for his career so far, with a goals to games ratio of around 0.42. Put into perspective with other prolific strikers like Alan Shearer (0.52), Thierry Henry (0.51) and Jurgen klinsmann (0.44). It's clear super Mario is slightly off the pace compared to some of the best strikers in the world but he has the ability to perform as well as them in the future if he works hard and focuses. Obviously Balotelli is being signed as the replacement of free scoring Uruguayan Luis Suarez, whose goals to games ratio stands at a world class 0.61, which not even some of the greatest strikers are able to boast. Balotelli certainly has enough talent to be considered among the best in the future, just think back to the Euro 2012 semi-final where he tore through Germany with ease at the tender age of just 22.
Discipline
Baloltelli comes to Merseyside as a big risk, in his last stint in English football with Manchester City he was involved in training ground bust-ups and rows with the manager. He also had a terrible record for yellow and even red cards, Gary Lineker he is not. He racked up ten yellows and a red card just last season, so he is a big risk for Rodgers because he could be facing regular bans if he doesn't keep his temper under control. The flighty Italian also committed 72 fouls, an average of 2.4 per game which is clearly far too high for a striker with such promising potential. However, when compared to Luis Suarez his discipline appears almost angelic, Suarez has served bans for racial abuse and biting, being suspended for over 20 matches since 2010. Suarez has also accumulated numerous cards over the seasons, so signing Balotelli seems like a step down in terms of risk. Balotelli's discipline could be a major factor in his failure at Liverpool, If he can't control his temper he will be issued bans and won't be able to get into a good run of form. Although Balotelli will surely be a better option than retaining Suarez' services as he would most likely keep biting, and referees would keep banning, until he was only available for a tiny fraction of the season.
Team dynamics
Mario Balotelli is a larger than life character, an has been known to take over the dressing room. His knack for unbalancing a dressing room could seriously affect the team dynamics at Anfield. The departure of Suarez left Daniel Sturridge to lead the line as the main striker, and many people thought he would be able to blossom as he emerged from Suarez' monolithic shadow. However, for this to materialise Brendan Rodgers needed to show faith in him by not signing a new top level striker. The signing of Balotelli shows that Rodgers doesn't have enough faith in Sturridge as the main striker, so his performance may suffer and this could cause tension in the dressing room. Having Balotelli in the liverpool camp will definitely ruffle a few feathers among other players too, such as ricky lambert or Fabio Borini who will worry about their chances of getting game time with two quality forwards available. Whatever happens the arrival of Super Mario will cause a seismic shake up among the squad, only time will tell if it is for the better or worse.
Liverpool have taken a risk bringing in Balotelli as he comes with substantial baggage if not a lack of talent. Perhaps the worlds best strikers do need that cutting edge of temper, ferocity, arrogance and maybe a little insanity to be considered truly world class. Liverpool are no strangers to a world class or troubled striker, as the two seem to go hand in hand. Suarez had his moments of indiscipline but ferociousness on the pitch helped him to blow away opponents, Robbie Fowler had his problems off-field but was ruthless on the pitch and Balotelli continues that trend, so hopefully he can provide the cutting edge to propel the Reds to new heights.
Source: DSG
