Should Liverpool fansbeappalled at their club signingMario Balotelli from AC Milan'Liverpool will buy Balotelli for20/16 million, perBen Smith at BBC Sport.Balotelli Is Another Nicolas AnelkaYou have already witnessed aBalotelli-esque career before, per theAssociated Press (h/t theHurriyet Daily News): "Billed by team management as a future superstar but derided by many fans as a moody, overpaid prima donna."Dated September 13, 1999,that passage was a pithy description ofAnelka'sacrimonious stint at Real Madrid.Spanish football writerSid Lowe quipped, perFear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: "[Anelka] cost 5,540 million pesetas/23.5 million fromArsenal. [Real president]Lorenzo Sanz called it a 'beautiful madness'. Others dropped the 'beautiful'."Instead of taking responsibility for going on strike and embarking on a cold war against Real manager Vicente del Bosque, per Marca (h/t BBC Sport),Anelka's excuses were asprofligate asBalotelli's shooting.Balotelli shot below 50 percent for Milan last season, per Squawka.He took 152 shots to score 14 Serie A goals at 10.9 shots per goal.Excluding penalties,Balotelli scored 11 league goals from 149 shots at 13.5 shots per goal.In comparison, Luis Suarez's shots per goal for Liverpoollast season was 5.8 (31 goals from 181 shots in the Premier League).Balotelli's close-range finishing has markedly deteriorated.This was on show when he failed to convert from 12 yards out againstGenoa andNapoli.Balotelliis a punching bag for critics.Why'They detestBalotelli's petulanceand his tendency to come up short in crunch time."[Balotelli's]performance against Roma was shameful," Milan's UEFA Champions League-winning midfielderZvonimir Boban said, perRadio Deejay (h/tFootball Italia). "He just walked around the pitch annoying all his teammates."Milan legendAlessandro Costacurta is not a fan ofBalotelli."[Balotelli]is not a star and in my view will never be a world-class player,"Costacurta said, perSky Sports (h/tFootball Italia). "Balotellican be a player theRossonerican count on, but only as long as he isn't the fulcrum of the team."Juventus' set-up would have suited Balotelli more than Milan, a club in an erratic rebuilding period, according to Milan legendPaolo Maldini.However,Maldini made it clear that he believesBalotellilacks the intangibles of a winner."Balotelli is still not a champion,"Maldini said, perLa Gazzetta dello Sport (h/tEnis Koylu at Goal). "The day I see him put the team on his shoulders and drag them for 90 minutes then he will be."Balotelli addsLiverpool as another major European club to his CVhe has also previously played for Inter MilanandManchester City.He is only 24 years old, which tells you he has hadno framework of stability in hiscareer.It is a mental Anvil that has weighed downBalotelli.His inability to rise to the occasion is anominousredflag.Why AreLiverpool SigningBalotelli'Liverpool managerBrendanRodgersis taking aglass-half-full approach toBalotelli.High upside: still only 24 years old.Physically outstanding: mobile, 6'3", 194-pound centre-forward.Experienced: has eight seasons of top-flight football under his belt.Impact player: world-class free-kick taker.Balotelli is stuck in a corner after adisastrousFIFA World Cup campaign, which could work toRodgers' advantage.Milan presidentSilvio Berlusconi bemoanedBalotelli's transfer stock nosediving, perLa Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t The Guardian).Once again the scapegoat,Balotelli is vulnerable.Rodgers is acaring, sympathetic and understanding manager who will put his arm aroundBalotelli and be a genuine father figure.This increases the likelihood ofBalotelli buying intoRodgers' philosophy.Rodgers can containBalotelli if his behaviour is not as bad as the media hype it up to be.That wasSteven Gerrard's view onAnelka.WhenParis Saint-Germain loanedAnelka toLiverpool, hemade a positive impression on Gerrard, perGerrard: My Autobiography:Anelka had done well forLiverpool and seemed an all-right guy.Anelka actually surprised me.He had a reputation for being trouble, for being moody, but I liked him.He was dead quiet, and he just got on with things.He was a star at the time, a far bigger star than me.[...]Everyone expectedLiverpool to keepAnelka, but not the man who mattered,Gerard Houllier.We finished second in 2002 withAnelka and fifth in 2003 with [El Hadji] Diouf.Draw your own conclusions.LikeAnelka,Balotelli is misunderstood.It is hard toseparatetruth from fiction regardingBalotelli's behaviour, as is the case with one of his childhood heroes, boxerMike Tyson, perTIME.Balotelliis perfect for "The Tyson Zone," perBrendan Quinn (h/tThe Sports Guy,Bill Simmons at ESPN):Quinn:If a friend said, "Did you hear that (fill in celebrity's name) just (fill in the insane behaviour: urinated on a police officer, began breeding unicorns, etc.)'", I would have no problem believing it was true.Simmons:First of all, fantastic theory.I think we should call this "The Tyson Zone."Others who qualify: Dennis Rodman; Omarosa; R. Kelly; Landon from the Real World; Najeh Davenport; Suge Knight; Flava Flav; Brigette Nielsen; anyone in G Unit; Billy Joel; Andy Dick; Lindsay Lohan's Dad; Anna Nicole Smith; Margot Kidder; Tara Reid; Lil John; Gary Busey; Ricky Williams; the late Bison Dele; Liza Minnelli; Paris Hilton; and Henry Winkler.Bottom LineRodgers turned a UEFA Europa League-calibresquad into the second-best team in the Premier League.If you are an optimisticLiverpool fan, you will hopeBalotelli turns the corner under Rodgers.But Balotelli isAnelka 2.0; he appears promising but will ultimately leave you underwhelmed.Rodgersattempting to fix the mad genius andlabyrinthine persona ofBalotelli is like a woman trying to settle down with a Janus-faced, high-flyingphilanderer.Once the honeymoon period is over, the relationship will crash and burn.@allanjianga+allanjiangStatistics viaWhoScoredRead more World Football news on BleacherReport.com
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