6 Radical Ways to Get Liverpool's Mario Balotelli Firing Again

Liverpool’s win against Swansea City in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday was notable for two main reasons: Dejan Lovren scored the winner, and Mario Balotelli scored.

In seven Premier League matches for Liverpool this season, Balotelli has failed to get on the score sheet: Tuesday’s goal was only his second in a Red shirt, coming more than a month after his previous one, against Ludogorets in the Champions League.

As Liverpool players and coaches rush to defend the enigmatic striker—Daniel Sturridge recently claimed that Balotelli is “stereotyped” (per ESPNFC)—here are six radical and less conventional ways to get him firing again. Enjoy them with a grain of salt.

After an entire half season that saw Brendan Rodgers optimize his team with a 4-4-2 diamond formation and repeated evidence that a dual-striker system brings the best out of his charges, he has still insisted on fielding Balotelli as a lone striker for most of this season.

Sure, Daniel Sturridge is injured, depriving Balotelli of his most natural strike partner, but the final 30 minutes of the goalless draw against Hull City last Saturday showed the potential of a Rickie Lambert-Balotelli combination, and the win over Swansea should have pushed Fabio Borini up the pecking order once more.

Maybe that’s what Balotelli needs—someone who can drag away the attentions of opposing defenders, and who can find him with a good pass.

Radical Level: Try getting Rodgers to play a diamond again…

There was a time when Liverpool were known for their penchant for winning penalties and their fondness of scoring from set pieces.

Yes, that was at a time when Sturridge was not injured and when Rodgers still used two strikers to add extra movement and penetration in the box, but in Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and co. he still has the players to win penalties.

It’s about time Steven Gerrard began to be phased out slowly into a squad player to manage his fitness and ageing legs. And we all know if there’s one thing Balotelli can do with his eyes closed on the football pitch, it’s taking penalties.

Radical Level: Try getting Rodgers to bench Gerrard…

So when, if ever, is Daniel Sturridge coming back from injury? An injury setback right when he was on the verge of making a first-team return ruled him out for another four weeks (per the Liverpool Echo).

Not only are Liverpool without their top scorer of last season, but they’re also without their second top scorer of last season. No wonder they’re struggling. No wonder Balotelli is struggling to do it all on his own.

Might as well send Sturridge to Serbia to get a horse-placenta treatment from “medical miracle worker” Marijana Kovacevic. The likes of Diego Costa and Robin van Persie have tried it.

Radical Level: Try getting Rodgers’ medical-science team to approve…

It was only a matter of time before we reached this conclusion, but Balotelli’s record of scoring only in cup competitions this season will not go unnoticed.

It was he who got Liverpool going when he knocked in Alberto Moreno’s cross against Ludogorets in the Champions League after a frustrating game at Anfield. And it was he who scored Liverpool’s equalizer from Borini’s cross against Swansea in the Capital One Cup.

We’ll worry about the causal correlation later.

Radical Level: Time for Rickie Lambert to be Liverpool’s first-choice striker…

It was only a matter of time before we reached this conclusion, but Balotelli’s record of scoring only after 80 minutes this season will not go unnoticed. (To be more specific, after 82 minutes.)

82 minutes was how long it took for him to score Liverpool’s first against Ludogorets, and 86 passed before he notched their equalizer against Swansea. In both games, Liverpool went on to win.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Or all things come to he who waits.

Radical Level: What if Liverpool are already 3-0 down by 80 minutes? 

Or maybe, what Balotelli needs is just time, patience and space.

In the literal sense, besides the 80 minutes and cup-competitions trend, the space he would have access to with a strike partner on the pitch would allow him to work his magic from a deeper position.

And if that strike partner is Sturridge, who has the searing pace to occupy the attentions of any opposing defence, perhaps Anfield could finally witness Mario Balotelli in his full glory. Their only time playing together, at Tottenham Hotspur at the end of August, was promising enough.

Some love, as suggested by Andrea Pirlo (per the Daily Mail), and not constant scrutiny, might help too.

Radical Level: What football fan has patience anymore?

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