Liverpool’s €16 million signing Mario Balotelli has made 6 Premier League appearances but has not scored a single goal. This is not the way that the Italian forward wanted to kick-start his career in Anfield as Balotelli was signed with the purpose of replacing Luis Suarez.

Luis Suarez was offloaded to Barcelona for a hefty price tag of €64 million and Brendan Rodgers utilized that cash injection by signing new players in all areas of the team with defenders, midfielders and forward being signed but has not made an impact of any kind in his new club.

Jamie Carragher is a legend at Liverpool as the former player of the Premier League club who has made over 699 appearances for Liverpool has stated that Mario Balotelli should start getting dropped more often and give the chance for other players to step up and perform.

Despite all of these unconvincing performances from Mario Balotelli and all of the criticism that the Italian forward has been receiving lately, Brendan Rodgers has backed and supported the former Ac.Milan player by saying that he needs time.

“The criticism of him has been unfair, yes. And that’s because he’s probably seen as the direct replacement for Luis, and as I said before, Luis was irreplaceable and a real world-class talent. And that’s not what’s being asked of Mario. He’s not going to be what Luis was’’

“Mario’s come into here, everyone knows him and they’ve seen him over his career, he’s a great boy, and I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He wants to improve and be better, but it’s not going to happen overnight.” Brendan Rodgers said.

Mario Balotelli spent 2 seasons in Italy performing for Ac.Milan and he managed on scoring 26 league goals while making 43 appearances but the Italian club decided to sell him as he just caused too many problems outside of the pitch and in the dressing room. Let’s see if Brendan Rodgers can turn the Italian forward into a player that can cause less drama but more importantly, score more goals.