Mario Balotelli and the Lessons of Liverpool Past

James Dutton looks at two lessons from Liverpool’s recent past for Mario Balotelli…

Mario Balotelli is at a crossroads. In fact, Mario Balotelli is always at a crossroads.

Every decision he makes, however crucial or anodyne, is analysed for its far-reaching consequences and wider meaning by somebody somewhere. Every pass, every run, every shot, every turn is scrutinised and pored over in minute detail like every dismissal suffered by Kevin Pietersen. The record-breaking batsman once famously said, “It’s tough being me in this dressing room”, and you imagine the Italian knows where he’s coming from.

This scrutiny reached new peaks at the weekend when he was patronised by commentators for working the channels and tracking back; like a schoolchild receiving a gold star for a sympathetically deficient piece of homework.

In reality it was a seven out of 10 performance for a footballer fully capable of nine and tens, but who has mostly hovered around the fours and fives since his £16m to Liverpool from AC Milan.

For Liverpool to be stuck in this position with a misfiring multi-million pound striker is nothing new. Andy Carroll will always pop into mind when the term “expensive flop” is bandied around Anfield, but for now Balotelli is neither of those things; £16m is not a lot of money in football anymore, and there is still time for him to rectify his career on Merseyside.

The two strikers of recent Anfield past whose difficult starts run most in parallel with Balotelli’s own are in fact Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane. Continue reading

The Mystery of Andrei Arshavin

A-Arshavin-Arsenal-Sunderland-andrei-arshavin-19937988-594-396

False Nine editor Hugo Greenhalgh reflects on the Russian star’s troubled career at Arsenal… 

An interesting bit of trivia emerged just before Arsenal’s Capital One Cup Quarter Final away at Bradford. If a certain player had travelled to Yorkshire that night, he would be returning to the site of his professional debut. Continue reading

The FAI Must Escape Trap

After a series of man-management mishaps, it’s time for Giovanni Trapattoni to go quietly writes False Nine editor Hugo Greenhalgh

Stubbornness appears to be a quality synonymous with great management. The master of this trait was probably the late Brian Clough. When asked how he handled players who disagreed with him, Clough famously replied, “We sit down for 20 minutes, talk about it and then decide I was right”. Continue reading