Mario Balotelli must reinvent himself by following the lead of the Liverpool legends.
That is the verdict of the Reds' manager Brendan Rodgers, who wants his star summer signing to grasp the philosophy preached by direct predecessor Luis Suarez – and before him the likes of Anfield legends Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler – to turn himself into a truly world-class striker.
Rodgers revealed he talked to Italy international Balotelli at half-time during Tuesday's Champions League win over Ludogorets, and urged him to work much harder to get into the penalty area when the Reds were breaking at pace.
The 24-year-old, signed from AC Milan last month for £16million, profited from that advice with a fine goal to offer a glimpse of his quality.
Now Rodgers will try to persuade the maverick forward to embrace the work ethic that Suarez and many other Liverpool greats displayed.
“Mario has really looked into the history of the club. He understands the great strikers of the past,” Rodgers explained.
“We’ve spoken about Suarez and his time here, but if you’re clever you’ll learn, and remember he’s still young and still learning the game and he still has this hunger to do well. When I first spoke to him, first met him, he had this keenness to learn.
Against Ludogorets, you could see he put his body on the line. He needs to do more of that. That will come as he gets fitter, and then getting into good positions will allow him to score goals.
“That’s going to be very important. The crowd demand that, because the players who’ve been here in the past in that position have been non-stop and he’s becoming attuned to that.”
Rodgers has no doubt Balotelli possesses the quality required to follow in the footsteps of some of the top strikers who have graced the red shirt.
Yet he also feels that much more than individual talent is required to reach the highest echelons of the game.
Suarez typified the effort the Liverpool manager - who once described the Uruguayan as being a monster on the training ground with his incredible appetite for work- feels can elevate a striker’s game.
Balotelli doesn’t yet possess that attitude. At times on Tuesday night he was seen strolling around the centre circle even as his team was breaking at pace towards the Bulgarians' box.
But Rodgers explained the club is already working hard on instilling a new mind set that can take the Italian to the next level.
Asked if Balotelli has been made aware of the need to work harder, the Northern Irishman replied: “I think it’s both, really. He’s well in tune with the history not only of the club, but of Liverpool.
“He’s prepared to work. You saw his work-rate. Okay, the ball has bounced off him a couple of times and we’re trying to improve him in the transitions so that when he makes a mistake he can go after it, but I think you can see what he’s trying to put in for the team. He needs to do more of it, and it will come.”
Rodgers is prepared to put in the hard yards with the striker to try to get the best from him... just as he did with Suarez.
And he isn’t worried about the amount of managerial attention Balotelli clearly needs.
“It’s not just him. I think in general as a coach you will always have players who are high maintenance and players who are low maintenance for different reasons,” he added.
“I’ll spend a lot of time with a lot of the players but he’s a good boy and I think you can see that he’s prepared to work.”
The good news for Liverpool is that not only is Balotelli getting fitter, but fellow striker Daniel Sturridge has returned to training following the injury he picked up on England duty and could even be in line for a return at West Ham at the weekend.
Source: Mirror UK
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