More from Brendan on Mario Balotelli: “Young players are indulged, yes, but that’s not just with Mario. I’ve said this before. I see it with British players. The difference with Mario is he is a proven talent. I’m not going to criticise any club. I’ve not worked with Mario at Inter Milan, Manchester City or AC Milan. But you can give players too much (leeway). Everything Mario does off the field gets monitored. A lot of what he does is kindness, I think. He does stupid things, yes. But for me, it’s just a case of making sure he is focused on his football and really makes sure this isn’t a circus around one player. This is a guy who I believe can help us. He is not the star of the team. It is about the team. Mario came in here and we were asked when the press conference was (for his signing). We replied ‘what press conference?’. He’s the same as every other player. We had no press conference for Adam Lallana or Lazar Markovic. It’s more a case of ‘get up the stairs, hold the shirt, get your photograph taken and get out’. He’s a good kid. But you can have young players feeling as though they are more than what they are and then the ego goes with it. Mario is a talented player. He is 24 years of age. But focus on the football and work your socks off. That’s what he has done this week. He has been working for 45 minutes extra doing extra training, specifics, practising free-kicks, even in the rain! Mario has wonderful charisma on the field. I remember when I brought Fabio Borini to Swansea. He said the best player he had played alongside was Balotelli. They were in and around the Italy under-21 squad together. Mario has beautiful feet and a lovely touch on the ball - skill, power, pace, has a real aerial threat, and once he picks the element of how to be in this team, then you have a player who is a genuine world-class talent. Mario has a winning mentality. I recognise that whenever I speak to him. He came in at Man City and in his first season he won the FA Cup and in the second season he won the league. He is a winner. He has scored goals at the highest level for both club and country. When you see him working on the training field - and that has been the big thing this week - and you strip away all the background noise and all the stuff he is supposed to be and keep it simple, you see his qualities. They are clear. If you look at our team, with our intensity, pressure and press, that’s a big thing for us. We had a few sessions on that this week, which was fun and interesting, but it highlighted what he needs to do. It also showed to me where other players were at before they came into here, and he is at the same stage they were at. Nobody ever associated Coutinho with pressing when he first came here, nor Sturridge or Sterling. What helped is that he played against us in pre-season in America and it was a big eye-opener for him. He actually said that AC Milan were almost acting like Liverpool’s reserve team, and talked about how he couldn’t get hold of Steven Gerrard playing in the deeper role. That’s how intense we are. Let us judge Mario over time. If we give him time, I’m sure he will be fine. You have to give the kid a chance.” liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fc-new-boy-mario-7694886
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 08:41:36 +0000