Balotelli continues to shine, does Liverpool regret it?

(Baonghean.vn) - Last Saturday, Balotelli continued to score to help Nice win 4-1 against Nantes. Witnessing the brilliant performance of the Italian striker in France, do Jurgen Klopp and the Kop fans feel regretful?

First of all, let's go straight to the answer: no. Why should the former Dortmund coach and the Liverpudillans regret when their team is showing an impressive performance? After 10 rounds, the Anfield team is sharing the leading position with 23 points as Arsenal, MC but inferior in terms of secondary index. Comparing with the first 10 matches of Liverpool in the Premier League 2014 - 2015 with Balotelli in the squad, the difference is clear.

At that time, The Kop only won 14 points with 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. In terms of attack, with Balotelli, Liverpool only scored exactly 13 goals (1.3 goals/match). In the same number of matches, this season, Klopp's students have scored 24 goals (2.4 goals/match). From the points to the number of goals scored, it reflects the fact that Liverpool with Balotelli is almost 1/2 behind Liverpool without Balotelli.

Internet photo.

Speaking of Balotelli personally, we can see the poor form of this striker in Liverpool's shirt. It was not until February 11, 2015 that Balotelli scored his first goal for the Anfield team in the Premier League in the match against Tottenham. Thus, in the previous 24 matches in the Premier League, the 'wild horse' only scored a round zero. Although coach Brendan Rodgers was quite patient with him, but throughout the 2014-2015 season, Balotelli only scored 1 goal in the Premier League and 3 goals in cup tournaments, after 28 appearances. In short, Balotelli at Anfield was nothing more than a disappointment.

Let's look at the faces that have replaced Balotelli at Liverpool this season. The player that coach Klopp often arranges to play as a number 9 is Firmino. After 10 rounds in the Premier League, the Brazilian star has scored 4 goals. It is worth mentioning that in coach Klopp's 4-2-3-1 formation, Firmino is not only responsible for scoring goals, this striker also has to support the satellites playing around him (Coutinho, Lallana, Mane...).

In addition, in specific situations, the former Hoffenheim player also retreats deep into the home field to enhance his defensive ability. Compared to Balotelli, the striker wearing the number 11 shirt is much more versatile, at least in the playing system that coach Klopp is applying at Anfield at the moment.

Back to Balotelli's current form at Nice. The goal against Nantes goalkeeper Remy Riou was his 6th goal in the last 5 matches. An efficiency of 1.2 goals/match, a dream number for any striker, not just for someone out of favor like Balotelli. However, if we only rely on those numbers to confirm, Balotelli will also do the same in other tournaments, specifically in the Liverpool shirt in the Premier League.

Internet photo.

Admittedly, Ligue 1 has improved in quality in recent years thanks to PSG and Monaco. But the gap between France's most prestigious league and the Premier League, La Liga and even the Bundesliga is still quite large. Ligue 1 is still just a stepping stone for young players before they move on to bigger clubs. Although the competition is quite high, in terms of quality and intensity, it is still far behind the top European leagues.

Just look at Ibrahimovic. In Ligue 1 with PSG, the Swedish player made waves. However, now in the Premier League, this superstar is struggling to keep his place in the MU squad. If it weren't for the favor of coach Mourinho, Ibrahimovic would have been "wearing his pants down" on the bench for a long time. Even a star of caliber and with a lot of experience like Ibrahimovic is struggling to find a place in the Premier League, so Balotelli doesn't have much hope of shining in Liverpool's shirt.

Many people believe that the “wild horse” has matured and become a real adult. The proof is that after scoring the goal to make it 2-0 in the recent 4-1 win over Nantes, Balotelli ran towards the home fans and bowed to them in gratitude. That was his way of apologizing for the red card he received in the victory over Lorient in October. If we only base on that action to judge that Balotelli has “better”, it is not really accurate.

As mentioned above, Ligue 1 is not as fierce and full of tricks as the Premier League. Therefore, the pressure on the Italian player is not so great that he has to reveal his mischievous nature.

Currently at Liverpool, Coach Klopp is building a team that is not "ordinary", with no one being a star standing above the team. In the team at Anfield, every player must obey the orders of the coaching staff. Certainly, with Balotelli's unique and unruly nature, there is no way Coach Klopp and Liverpool fans will feel sorry, no matter how excellent his performance is. Another simple thing is that The Kop is on the rise so they don't care whether Balotelli plays well in France or not.

Le Thanh Hung