Liverpool FC Forum

[maguskwt]

who would've tought  ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSBZ7UdZcoc

[tonyeh]

This is not going to end well.

[chriserfolg]

He has all the qualities to be a top world class striker but he acts like a child . I hope BR can help him to mature but dont think thats going to happen but either way he will score goals and have flashes of brilliance , we will also be frustrated by his madness .

I love this guy because you never know what you are going to get when you watch him play  , not sure if i'll feel the same that now he could be in our team . Fingers crossed the moments of brilliance will outshine his moments of madness and end up as a genius .

If its confirmed  , welcome abroad and dont go overboard

[kazza]

Becoming a dad will no doubt have a deep effect on his personality and now he is 24. Most of his crazy behaviour came when he was 20-21. I think he wants to settle down and maybe Liverpool is the right place.

[lakes10]

I don't get you lot sometimes....is he not what we have been looking for...a top striker.
this is a great move.

[Homebooby]

I don't get you lot sometimes....is he not what we have been looking for...a top striker.
this is a great move.

Wouldn't be a board if people weren't whinging 

[woof woof !]

I don't get you lot sometimes....is he not what we have been looking for...a top striker.
this is a great move.

We all bang on about his "ability" and I fear some of us may be getting a tad carried away.

"A Top Striker", is he really ? if that means one who sticks the ball in the net more often than most then we should perhaps have a look at some sobering stats from Liverpool Echo online.

Moments of brilliance continue to be counterbalanced by issues of temperament and discipline. He has never scored more than 14 league goals in a season. His record at Milan - 30 in 54 games - is impressive but break it down and you'll discover that of the 26 that came in Serie A, less than half (12) came from open play. The rest were penalties (9) and free kicks (5). Only a couple were against teams in Italy's top four as well.

A talented footballer without doubt but top striker    All I can say is hopefully he becomes one but right now 12 goals (from open play) in 54 games is hardly the work of a top striker. In the 2013/14 prem season at least ten players exceeded Balotellis' score whilst playing fewer games and they include the likes of Loic Remy, Wilfred Bony and Jay Rodriguez, Even 4 million pound man Rickie Lambert came close to matching Balotelli with 10 goals from open play.

Don't get me wrong, despite some reservations I won't be unhappy to see us sign the talent that is  Balotelli, but those who think Balotelli is a "top striker" who will start scoring week in week out may find themselves somewhat disappointed.

[RedAnt]

It's a good sign that we can bring in a player of this calibre. He may be a "bad boy" but so what? Too much starch in footie these days. People honestly think he's unliked? He's not. People love him. He's fun. He's not nasty, or vicious, or evil. So what if he complains about being on the bench? Good! So what if he sets off some fireworks in his bog? Coulda thrown a tv out of the window, or put ink on the scouts binoculars. All kinds of people become footballers. Some become good ones, some, not good. Mario is good! We've had problems before and dealt with them. Have faith in the club. If Mario becomes a problem, we deal with it and move on. If he dosen't? We have a young, world class player for £16m.

[RedAnt]

Re: Woof

I said world class at the end of my post there. Maybe that's a bit much, but I'm not sure. He's one of the few players I hated lining up against us. But he has plenty to learn. Clearly he's had problems, but BR believes he's the man to guide Mario. I was against BR's appointment but he's really won me over. My faith here is in BR rather than Balotelli perhaps.

[laza]

Still remaining on the fence over this one

Not overly excited about the transfer but not dreading it like the Torreless knee jerk Carroll transfer

His price and his age are definite plus but whether he will disrupt the dressing room is on the minus side

Oh well, least it will be an interesting chapter in the Red history

[ballotelliman]

think signing samuel eto on a year deal is a smart deal aswell. with champions league aswell brendan can chop and change  and rest his strikers when need be.

[kazza]

Balotelli has agreed to a three-year contract which is heavily incentive based.

He will earn around £100,000 per week at Anfield – around half of what he pocketed in Serie A.

However, he has the potential to top up his salary to the level he was on at Milan if he triggers a series of performance related and behavioural clauses.           

Brendan Rodgers has already gone on the record to say that Balotelli's presence at Anfield won't disrupt Liverpool's team ethic.

Balotelli flew into Manchester on Friday after the Reds’ talks with his agent Mino Raiola reached a successful conclusion.

The controversial frontman was met by club medical staff and underwent a series of scans in Manchester before travelling to Melwood to meet Brendan Rodgers for the first time.

His medical will continue on Saturday and the transfer should be rubber-stamped over the weekend.

Balotelli won’t be eligible to play against his former club Manchester City on Monday night but could make his debut away to Tottenham next weekend.

Balotelli will be the Reds’ ninth signing of the summer and take their spending during this window to around £116m.

They have received around £80million in transfer fees.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

I don't get you lot sometimes....is he not what we have been looking for...a top striker.
this is a great move.

We all bang on about his "ability" and I fear some of us may be getting a tad carried away.

"A Top Striker", is he really ? if that means one who sticks the ball in the net more often than most then we should perhaps have a look at some sobering stats from Liverpool Echo online.

Moments of brilliance continue to be counterbalanced by issues of temperament and discipline. He has never scored more than 14 league goals in a season. His record at Milan - 30 in 54 games - is impressive but break it down and you'll discover that of the 26 that came in Serie A, less than half (12) came from open play. The rest were penalties (9) and free kicks (5). Only a couple were against teams in Italy's top four as well.

A talented footballer without doubt but top striker    All I can say is hopefully he becomes one but right now 12 goals (from open play) in 54 games is hardly the work of a top striker. In the 2013/14 prem season at least ten players exceeded Balotellis' score whilst playing fewer games and they include the likes of Loic Remy, Wilfred Bony and Jay Rodriguez, Even 4 million pound man Rickie Lambert came close to matching Balotelli with 10 goals from open play.

Don't get me wrong, despite some reservations I won't be unhappy to see us sign the talent that is  Balotelli, but those who think Balotelli is a "top striker" who will start scoring week in week out may find themselves somewhat disappointed.

To be fair to Balotelli though mate this is probably the worst Milan team in a generation. His goal scoring record is pretty decent considering Milan these days are a mid table team who can't even make the Europa league. They seem to be a club in perpetual in crisis and went through another 3 managers this year alone - Allegri, Seedorf and now Inzaghi.

[SouthCoastShankly]

He's not a TOP striker that's clear from the stats but we're paying £16M for a good striker with lots of potential, which most would agree is a really good price.

It's all perspective people. Blimey

[woof woof !]

To be fair to Balotelli though mate this is probably the worst Milan team in a generation. His goal scoring record is pretty decent considering Milan these days are a mid table team who can't even make the Europa league. They seem to be a club in perpetual in crisis and went through another 3 managers this year alone - Allegri, Seedorf and now Inzaghi.

Mate, it's not just at Milan that goal wise he failed to set the world alight. He scored just once in his last season with Man City. I'm hoping he succeeds with us but looking at his record it would be wishful thinking if we expect him to be banging goals in week after week but along with every one in here I'll be delighted if he does.