But I maintain Rodger's and journos in general were very wrong to single Balotelli out as one of the main reasons we lost against Basel when in fact he created/helped create two brilliant chances that normally should've resulted in goal.
I find it hard to believe that Rodgers has come out in the media and criticised Balotelli. I don't like managers singling out players publicly.
Rodgers has been singling out players this season, but then not giving an honest team appraisal in aftermatch interviews. Two of my favourite managers for being honest about the team's performance are Mark Hughes and Fatty Bruce, as they will assess the team's performance as 'unacceptable' or 'not good enough', without ever highlighting individuals.
I don't see a problem with a manager publicly declaring his dissatisfaction with the 'team performance' and I don't think it hurts morale for the manager to confirm something the fans are thinking anyway, because players with the right mentality will understand the need to show a positive reaction and improvement in the next game, after the manager lays down that marker.
Individuals and individual team areas being publicly condemned is wrong, especially in our particular case, openly criticising the defence, when we've no record of being strong defensively under Rodgers' entire reign anyway.
The only time I've no problem wit a manager being less than positive about a player is if, for example, they get sent off for violent conduct or something similar, other than that, keep the criticism of individuals behind closed doors and to their face.
As a team we're not creating nearly as many good chances, so Balotelli's no different, in that if we're not creating chances for him, how can his goal scoring record be questioned. It's a team game, collective responsibility. He won't make something out of a lost cause as he's not got the mobility to go chasing lost causes over by the corner flag. He can't be blamed for not being the kind of attacker he simply isn't. He's far stronger in the air than Suarez, but as we didn't put Suarez in a position of having to compete for the ball aerially, numerous times a game, he was never shown up that way.
Rodgers knew the type of striker/attacker he was getting. He chose to try to integrate a lot of new players in one season. He chose to bring Balotelli into a team that would be unsettled and fragmented by 'too many' changes in one go. So when Balotelli is struggling to fit into a team seamlessly, that doesn't suit his strengths, that is trying to bed in a lot of new players and things don't work instantly and smoothly from the off, then Rodgers shouldn't be surprised and accept that the decisions that have been made this Summer have made him the architect of his own problems.
