My Lovren Problem

As we all know, Didier Deschamps was once firmly in the running to become Liverpool manager in the not too distant past. If the former World Cup winning captain keeps an eye on the reds these days then I reckon he might be a little perplexed by one of Brendan Rodgers defensive selections.

The reigning France manager appears to be a big fan of Mamadou Sakho who regularly starts for and has captained the French team under Deschamps’ leadership. Highly regarded defenders like Eliaquim Mangala and Laurent Koscielny are overlooked in favour of the ex PSG skipper currently plying his trade at Anfield. I purposely use the word ‘currently’ because it’s becoming increasingly likely to me that Sakho’s Liverpool career will be over before too long.

Walking out on your team prior to any game, as Sakho did before the Merseyside derby, is a stupid thing to do. The player was rightly criticised and punished for his actions. He was bang out of order to abandon Anfield when he wasn’t selected for that match and while I can never condone or accept that kind of behaviour, I’m beginning to at least understand his misguided petulance more every time I watch Liverpool’s comical attempts to defend this season. One player’s performances in particular have left me empathising with Sakho’s poor behaviour.

I wasn't a big advocate for signing Dejan Lovren in the summer. The eventual £20m price tag made what seemed to be a somewhat unnecessary transfer look downright foolish to me. I didn't understand why Liverpool were looking to sign a player at such a high price to replace the newest and arguably best centre half at the club. Sakho’s ungainly style unquestionably divides opinion, but after his first season in English football his potential was evident even if his consistency wasn’t. Quick, strong in the tackle and – crucially - rarely bullied, I considered him as a player who could really go up a level or two in the immediate future with some tweaks to his game. His front foot approach and ability to defend high up the pitch seemed to fit perfectly with Liverpool’s playing style. He impressed in the World Cup this summer as well and it seemed obvious to me that there was a lot more to come from the player going forward. Brendan Rodgers clearly didn’t share this optimistic line of thinking.

Whatever anyone falsely claims about all centre backs being able to play equally well on the left or the right hand side of defence, Dejan Lovren was signed to play instead of Sakho. His sole season at Southampton (presumably Liverpool signed him because of his performances during that campaign and nothing he’d done prior to it as the club could have purchased Lovren for a fraction of the cost from Lyon before he joined Saints) was played almost exclusively in the left centre half position. In other words, Sakho’s position. That was strange to me.

As I said, despite an up and down début season at Anfield I looked at Sakho as a player could easily go on to bigger and better things if he ironed out some of the kinks in his game. Then I’d look at Martin Skrtel. Everyone knows what Skrtel is. We’ve seen it for nearly seven years now so we’re fully aware; He’s a decent but flawed defender and is unlikely to become anything more than that at this stage of his career.

At the end of last season Skrtel was the centre back that I expected Rodgers to upgrade on during the summer transfer window. At the beginning of the last campaign the manager looked as though he’d lost faith in the Slovakian. Kolo Toure was starting games in his place before injuries allowed Skrtel back into the side. To his credit, Skrtel scored a few goals and had an okay season when he regained his place, but the same problems that existed in his game five or six years ago still endured. Easily bullied by big target men, rashness in the tackle, happier defending the edge of the box than pushing up, a walking penalty at set pieces - why wouldn’t Rodgers have been looking to replace Skrtel rather than the younger albeit more raw Sakho? Whatever his reasons, the manager clearly identified the left of his central defence as the primary problem area at the back.

As things stand today Skrtel and Lovren are the partnership that will start games together for Liverpool when everyone is fit and available. We’ve seen that already this season and this represents a huge problem for me. It’s early days of course, but Dejan Lovren doesn’t look like a better option than the dwindling version of Daniel Agger who fell out of favour with Rodgers last season, let alone than Sakho.

Before I wrote this piece I looked back over the fourteen goals Liverpool have conceded in the Champions League and Premier League to date. Eight of those goals contained a significant involvement or mistake from Lovren. From allowing forwards to easily run in behind him to score for Manchester City and Ludogorets to losing a physical battle with Philippe Senderos on the corner that led to Aston Villa’s winner at the Kop end, Lovren has made costly error after costly error when you assess the goals this side have given away this season. Even in Liverpool’s outstanding game of the campaign against Spurs, Lovren twice made critical errors that should have resulted in goals against his team. His blushes were spared on that day by a poor finish from Emmanuel Adebayor and a great Simon Mignolet save from Nacer Chadli.

In a red shirt Lovren has been repeatedly rash. His passing hasn’t been particularly impressive. He’s painfully slow on the turn and has little speed in his legs – Roberto Soldado left him for dead in a foot race at White Hart Lane last season. His judgement isn’t there either as shown by the penalty he conceded against West Brom and his missed headed interception that preceded QPR’s opening goal at Loftus Road. So forgive my negativity when I pose this question, but what exactly does Dejan Lovren actually offer that Mamadou Sakho, Kolo Toure, Martin Skrtel or even Daniel Agger didn’t last term?

When he joined the club we were repeatedly informed by Rodgers and others in the press that Lovren was an exemplary leader. Sorry, but shouting a bit and waving your arms doesn’t constitute leading. Liverpool’s defensive line looks even less organised now than it did last season and he’s not advanced the team’s cause in that respect in any discernible way. I also saw lots of people claiming he’s a ‘beast’ which I understand is teenage speak for physically imposing. Well, Bobby Zamora repeatedly bullied him at QPR as though he were a school boy on Sunday so I guess the ‘beast’ theory now lies in tatters in the bin. Plenty of excited Lovren advocates told me during the summer he was better on the ball than Sakho or Skrtel. I don’t see this either. Often times he plays people into trouble in midfield and if you aren’t having kittens whenever he and Simon Mignolet exchange passes then I’ll need some of what you’re having please.

Of course, while it would be ridiculous to lay the blame for Liverpool’s defensive woes solely at the door of one player, I have to point out that the extravagantly priced defensive signing looks as odd to me now as it appeared back in August. Bar a decent début nothing has allayed the fears I had regarding Lovren’s signing and his transfer fee.

To be fair, Lovren isn’t exactly surrounded by team mates who inspire confidence or coherence. Whether it’s having to play next to a perennially distracted Jose Enrique who is likely to be day dreaming about his next online FIFA tournament or having to protect a keeper who looks as confident as Jerzy Dudek did whenever Manchester United rolled into town during the mid 2000s, there are undoubtedly mitigating circumstances involved when it comes to Lovren’s maladaptive start to Anfield life. However, all that being said, I need to see something soon. Anything that will help me understand why we paid top dollar for a player that the club wasn’t interested in at a third of the price just twelve months prior to his eventual arrival in L4.

Rodgers talked Lovren up all summer long and has protected him even at the expense of others. The manager publicly placed the blame for Sergio Aguero’s goal at the Etihad stadium on Alberto Moreno to avoid criticising his £20m signing. Apparently, Aguero walking on to the pitch, jogging behind Lovren and leaving him for dead wasn’t as crucial to that goal being conceded as our Spanish full back not getting tight enough to Jesus Navas (on the half way line of all places!). Shifting the blame on to Moreno that day when Lovren was clearly at fault set alarm bells ringing in my head. It appears that Lovren is a player that Rodgers badly wanted and fought hard for this summer and as a result he will defend him to hilt. We’ve seen precious little in the way of criticism for the Croatian despite his numerous costly errors while others have been hung out to dry or dropped from the side entirely for less significant mistakes. It seems obvious to me that Lovren isn’t going to be left out of the team anytime soon despite his wretched form. Rodgers has invested a lot of money and a lot of hot air in his newest centre back and he’s obviously one of the first names on the team sheet as things stand. Sakho fans like myself will just have to lump it.

Fair enough. Rodgers knows a lot more about football than I could ever hope to and he’s earned a bucket load of credit during his time as manager. Hopefully the faith he has placed in the defender pays off in the long run and Lovren improves. He drastically needs to, because right now he is the anointed leader of a shambolic defence and that simply can’t continue if Liverpool are serious about keeping their place in the top four this season.

If, as I expect, Lovren remains as the focal point of this team’s back line then one would assume that Mamadou Sakho isn’t going to get many games this season and will likely be off sooner or later. Considering the qualities both players have shown to date that would represent somewhat of a blunder for me. Sakho can be shaky now and then, but at least he’s shown glimpses of the player he can become and he doesn’t cost his side a goal every other game. I can fully see why Didier Deschamps puts faith in him for the French national side.

Now we need to see something to justify why Brendan Rodgers is placing the same kind of faith in Dejan Lovren because at the moment there is precious little to suggest that preferring the Croatian at the expense of Sakho when he returns from injury would be anything but folly.

Just as I’m sure that Didier Deschamps is, I remain perplexed by Dejan Lovren’s standing in this Liverpool squad right now.

Balo criticism is just lazy

Graeme Souness, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and that no mark troll Adrian Durham are just some of the public figures who have thrown their hats into the public ring this week. Plenty of others have already had their say. Criticism is rife and it’s anything but unexpected. This is what Mario Balotelli brings with him.

When you ‘put yourself out there’ as Mario does (he gets weird haircuts and does daft stuff once in a while, dontchaknow), you’re open to shots against you. With just one Liverpool goal to his name and plenty of detractors who have been waiting to jump on him from the moment he signed on at Anfield, Balotelli is under fire. But should he be?

‘Work rate’ and ‘Attitude’ are two phrases that are never far from anyone’s lips when they are looking to chastise the Italian. Indeed, a national newspaper this week compiled a head to head comparison of Liverpool’s forward and Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck. Predictably, two of the categories used were centered around those exact attributes. Unsurprisingly, Balotelli did not come off favourably in either sub section.

The problem for Mario is that so many people have already made up their minds about him. They did so long ago. He’s marmite. You have to be compelled to love him or hate him apparently. No nuance or objectivity is required, just sweeping generalisations and stereotyping. When Jose Mourinho criticizes a player many lemmings, particularly in England, immediately write said player off. Souness mentioned how the Portuguese manager disposed immediately of Mario on Sky prior to Liverpool’s game with Basel. The ex Liverpool manager failed to mention that - apart from the fact that what he asserted was total bull shit - Mourinho used Balotelli regularly during the season his Inter Milan team won the treble. Mario played wide a lot that season, too. You know, as one of Mourinho’s famed ‘defensive forwards’. Fancy that, eh Graeme? It matters not to people like Souness though. Perception is everything when it comes to Mario.

We know this, not because of the fact that his performances are being criticized, but because of the nature of the criticism. Ask any Liverpool fan what has frustrated them about their new striker so far and it will likely be one of two things. One, he’s not scored enough goals. Two, his movement in the box needs to improve. The thing that has impressed the supporters of Balotelli’s new club? They would most likely be his work rate and his attitude.

In almost every game Balotelli has featured in for the reds he has been targeted physically. Whether it was Eric Dier lunging in at him from behind with a brain dead ‘welcome to the Premier League’ challenge, Alan Hutton and Tony Hibbert ‘leaving one on him’ (following through with intent after winning the ball as it’s also known) or Philippe Senderos blatantly booting him up in the air off the ball, Balotelli is coming in for some severe stick during matches. He has a temper and opponents are trying to stoke the fire within to get him sent off. It hasn’t worked yet. Despite numerous occasions where he would have been justified in losing his rag and reacting to the provocation, the Italian has kept his head. He’s usually muttered some words or limped away (something else Graeme Souness doesn’t like about him, incidentally. Limping after being kicked? Not in my day etc etc) to get on with the game. Long may it continue.

Of course, no one out to slam Balotelli cares about such a thing. The way he deals with provocation will only matter when he loses his cool. It is easy to guess what the media’s reaction would have been had the Italian lashed out at Stewart Downing in the hilariously idiotic manner that Wayne Rooney did last weekend. ‘Liability’ is a word that would probably have been written and uttered repeatedly. In truth, it’s a word that is already out there when it comes to Mario.

Yes, minds are well and truly made up. Too few people who analyse the game of football are willing to scratch beneath the surface and actually break down what the Italian is or isn’t doing at Anfield. It’s apparently much easier to simply stick to the cliches about how he’s a lazy madman who couldn't care less about his team. Neville Southall gave an unintentionally hysterical radio interview recently where he proclaimed that he had ‘never seen the lad (Balotelli) have a good game, ever’. Remember he’s talking about a player who led Italy to the Euro 2012 final, helped send England packing from the recent World Cup, scored the opening two goals in Manchester City’s most famous 6-1 demolition of city rivals United at Old Trafford, scored 12 times in 13 Serie A matches to drag Milan into the Champions League and has a winners medal in that competition, Serie A and the Premier League at the age of 24. Neville mustn't watch much football. As for facts? Bah, who need them? He’s got mad hair, has had the odd fight in training and wears colourful boots. He’s ‘hard to like’ as Souness again said on Sky during his pre game hatchet job….sorry ‘analysis’.

The predictable, ignorant barbs aimed at Balotelli were always likely to come. A striker that isn’t scoring goals is never far from negative headlines, especially one with such a profile as high as his. Critiquing his performances is expected. There are aspects of his play that require work and it’s completely justified to focus on those areas. But the amount of asinine ‘he doesn’t work as hard as Luis Suarez’ style drivel that is saturating the media at large and social networking sites is enough to make your head spin.

Take his performance against Everton. He was given a standing ovation from the Anfield crowd when he was substituted. Safe to say they liked what the saw. He battled, tracked back, tackled, won fouls, held the ball up, brought others into play and was two inches away from finishing the game off when he hit the cross bar. If the ball hadn’t clipped an unwitting Tim Howard on the shoulder he’d have been the derby day hero and probably the man of the match. As it was, the ball didn’t nestle in the back of the net and people merely chalked it up as another goalless, bad performance from the polarising clown that is Mario Balotelli. Ex red Steve Nichol said on ESPN that Rickie Lambert would have done just as good a job in that match after the final whistle before going on to castigate the Italian’s performance. The word ‘ridiculous’ doesn’t do such analysis justice. If you know a word that does please feel free to let me know because I’m struggling to sum that little gem up.

I could go on to question exactly why it is that a player who has clearly put in a great amount of effort during his time in a red shirt is still widely perceived as lazy. I’ll save that potentially controversial topic for another day though. I’ll just say that Andy Carroll barely put in 10% of the effort Balotelli has exhibited during his stint on Merseyside and yet the tall, aggressive, bull-dog spirited Geordie’s work rate was and is seldom questioned. You can make your own minds up on why that may be. I can think of numerous reasons that I won’t go into here.

Instead I’d rather focus ultimately on how Balotelli is performing for the reds and how the future looks for him. To me, as an individual the striker is playing well. He’s winning plenty of battles, he’s got obvious skill and great control and he’s showing a real desire to work hard for his team mates. His performances against Everton and Spurs in particular point to better days ahead. His goal record from open play doesn’t suggest he will ever become a man who can score 20 league goals in England unless Steven Gerrard relinquishes penalty duties, but then we all thought that about Luis Suarez after 18 months on these shores. For me, the keys to harnessing Balotelli’s obvious qualities are Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge.

With the Italian playing up front on his own Brendan Rodgers’ side have looked somewhat toothless. There are too few darting runs behind and across opposing defences. People will say that this is Balotelli’s job and he’s not doing it, but it should be clear to those detractors that things like that aren’t natural to the big forward. He’s not Daniel Sturridge or Luis Suarez and he never will be.

He’s far happier feeling a defender up against him, rolling his marker and popping it off or firing at goal. The lack of a striker like Sturridge and the repositioning of Sterling within the Liverpool team has hurt Balotelli’s game. Opposing defences focus intently on him, safe in the knowledge that they have little else to worry about in central areas. He doesn’t have a player to slip in when he gets the ball under control near the box. Too often, there is a lack of runners breaking their necks to get beyond the target man. Jordan Henderson is either sat way too deep or living in fear at having to track back should he not receive the ball after a forward run because he’s the only one with legs in the centre of the park. Raheem Sterling is playing out wide hugging the touchline a lot of the time and Lazar Markovic is completely lacking in conviction and confidence. Only Adam Lallana has semi regularly linked up with Balotelli and he’s hardly a player that looks to spring in behind defenders too often.

One assumes that with Sturridge in tandem and Sterling breaking from behind, as was the case at Spurs on Mario’s debut, space and the quality of opportunities for the Italian will be increased. When Sturridge has been reintegrated into the team and lined up regularly with Balotelli that will be the time to properly judge the striker. Right now he’s merely an isolated forward lacking in service and support in an underperforming outfit. Most top strikers would struggle to excel in such circumstances and Balotelli undoubtedly is.

Please, just don’t tell me it’s this way because he’s lazy.

We Were Liverpool

‘Who am I? Where am I going?’

A dazed and confused Tony Soprano is in shock and about to slip into a coma after being shot in the stomach. In his last moment of consciousness he asks these two questions aloud. Bear with me, this isn’t just an excuse to mention the greatest television show in history, there is a point to this. You see, these days ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where am I going?’ are the two questions that run through my mind whenever I think about Liverpool Football Club.

It shouldn’t be this way. Afterall, just five months ago everyone in the land knew who Liverpool were. We all knew where they were going, too. ‘We are Liverpool Tra La La La’ and ‘We’re going to win the league’ constantly accompanied the team throughout that exhilarating run of matches towards the climax of the 2013/14 season. These days those songs aren’t heard very often. It’s little wonder.

Clarity of purpose has been replaced by utter confusion. Bravado and bullishness have been usurped by anxiety and hesitancy.

Five months ago we knew that Simon Mignolet was an excellent shot stopper who stayed on his line, for better or worse. He knew too. Now he seems to be engaged in a constant battle against that magnet in his goal, trying in vain to push up the field and be something he’s not. It’s costing the team goals.

During the second half of last season we had evidence that Steven Gerrard was capable of sitting deep on his own in midfield and influencing games if legs were provided slightly further forward on either side to assist him. Now he’s playing more often than not with a babysitter stationed directly alongside him.

We also knew that Jordan Henderson’s energy was crucial to how the team played in one of those more advanced midfield roles. He pressed, he pressed again and he pressed once more. Against Basel he was instructed to essentially hold Gerrard’s hand in front of the defence to no great effect.

Last season Brendan Rodgers discovered that Philippe Coutinho could play in central midfield in games against Everton and Arsenal and dominate top level opposition. The Brazilian has played in four different positions by my count already this season and is yet to get going.

Raheem Sterling had developed from a jet heeled wide player into a footballer who could destroy opponents from central areas. Now, like Coutinho, he’s also being shuffled from side to side and even played as a wing back at West Ham.

It seemed obvious to most that Mamadou Sakho had been earmarked as Daniel Agger’s long term replacement on the left of Liverpool’s central defence when the season ended. Last week he was driving back home before a derby match because he’s been replaced himself by an expensive signing who has injected no added stability or additional quality to the back line despite his hefty price tag.

We knew that Liverpool looked a match for everybody when they played with a diamond shape in midfield. Now that Brendan Rodgers has abandoned that system of late, his team rarely look a threat for anybody.

In short, we’ve seemingly done away with a lot of what made Liverpool Liverpool. There is no identity to this team right now. Nothing is certain. There is nothing to hang your hat on. Nothing to believe or invest in.

‘They’re not a pressing team. They’re not a counter attacking team. They’re not a possession team. I don’t know what they are.’’

Those were the words of Gary Neville in the aftermath of the latest defeat in Basel on Wednesday. He was right. Presently Liverpool resemble the England team from this summer’s World Cup. Good players everywhere but no discernible plan. Ponderous and porous at the back. Wasting two key players in Gerrard and Henderson by blunting their weapons of choice. Raheem Sterling stuck out on the flank in the vague hope that he will conjure magic because, well, he’s just that good and why shouldn’t you just expect a kid to deliver week in week out from any position?

Watching Liverpool right now is like looking a thousand piece jigsaw of the Mona Lisa that has been deconstructed and thrown into a jumbled pile. The pieces that once slotted together to create a beautiful image remain, but they are no longer in order. What we are left with is a jumbled mess. To continue with the jigsaw analogy, it should be noted that a few of those pieces have also gone missing.

This brings me to the one comforting thought that I revert back to when seeking some much needed optimism for the season ahead; Things will be different when Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge return. The reintroduction of those two players into this team would allow Rodgers to implement the same system and the same group of footballers that took to the pitch at White Hart Lane and trampled all over Spurs just a few weeks ago. You know the system. It was that diamond thing where Henderson and Allen provided the legs and nous either side of the captain while Sterling, Balotelli and Sturridge moved in and out of spaces all game long and bamboozled defenders with their technique, pace and power.

It may be an overly simplistic theory to suggest that merely replicating those tactics with those same players will solve the team’s problems, I grant you, but the one time the reds have genuinely looked like Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool this season was by doing just that in North London. The problem is that Joe Allen and Daniel Sturridge pick up knocks regularly and we have precious little in the way of like for like replacements given Rodgers’ new found aversion to having Coutinho play Allen’s role and Emre Can’s injury problems. Further forward Fabio Borini is a capable and willing lad but he isn’t Daniel Sturridge and Rodgers has already seemingly made his mind up on the Italian. The decision seems to have been taken that if Sturridge isn’t fit then the team will play with one up front. I’m sure there are valid reasons for that beyond my comprehension but whatever those reasons are, it clearly isn’t working out on the field.

Then we come to Adam Lallana. The piece that stumps me every time I try to mentally put that displaced jigsaw back together again.

Rodgers paid £25m for the former Southampton man. Lallana was his self confessed number one transfer target. The manager is going to want to play him. Lallana is unquestionably a good footballer who works best in advanced central areas just like a certain Raheem Sterling. He can also play wide, but if Rodgers does eventually go back to the diamond (as I’m obviously hoping he will), then the width will be provided almost exclusively by the full backs or strikers moving into those areas in that system. There simply are no wide midfield starting spots in the formation that seemingly compliments this team the most. For me, that means that in a diamond set up Lallana either plays at ten or he doesn’t play at all. The player himself has looked neat and tidy (whether neat and tidy is good enough is for you to decide) recently and hasn’t done too much wrong but, given the choice, I’d assume that most fans would have Sterling in that number ten role over Lallana seven days a week. He offers more pace, more penetration and more goals too going off what we’ve witnessed so far this season. This Lallana quandary leaves a nagging doubt in my mind.

When the latest monotonous international break has thankfully passed and Allen and Sturridge are hopefully available again, will Rodgers seek to find a spot for his most expensive signing to date or will he accept that he possibly overpaid for Lallana who - at a club that has Raheem Sterling on it’s books - should be a squad player able to deputise for the nineteen year old jewel in Liverpool’s crown?

Again, I admit all of this diamond talk looks oh so simple on paper. In reality it never is. But, to my eyes at least, Liverpool’s players are largely suited to that formation as I've argued before on this site. We know it works. Moreno can maraud forward and offer genuine width. Henderson and Allen can press in advanced areas and offer legs to support their ageing captain. Sterling can be involved as often as he should be rather than loitering on the fringes out wide. Balotelli will finally have someone to take defenders away from him and actually feed off his intelligent hold up play. Liverpool can play like the Liverpool we all fell in love with again.

Sure, they won’t be water tight at the back but if you are winning the ball high up the pitch and attacking teams with the quality that the trio of Sterling, Balotelli and Sturridge showcased at Spurs that becomes less of an issue. As it is, despite playing with two ‘defensive’ midfielders in a 4231 system, this team are no tighter at the back but are unquestionably far less threatening going forward as they’re playing with a single striker who has precious little support or service. The midfield offers hardly any protection or penetration when it is short of Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson is reduced to picking the ball up alongside his centre halves and exchanging five yard passes with Gerrard, Lovren and Skrtel. I’m struggling to see a reason for persisting with this set up when Sturridge returns. I hope Rodgers is too.

Whether the manager will choose to revert back to what has worked so well in the past seems up for debate to me, largely because of the implications it would have on his record signing. I sincerely hope he does revert though. If he doesn't then those two questions that I’ve been repeatedly asking myself over the last few weeks seem well set to be running around my mind in circles for a long while yet as Liverpool try and figure out exactly who they are these days and where they want to go.

O Captain! Roy’s Captain! - What happened to Wayne?

28 years old. Captain of both his country and one of the biggest football clubs on the planet. £300,000 a week wages. Commercial deals coming out of his ears. The prospect of becoming both England and Manchester United’s all time record goal scorer looms ever closer on the horizon.

‘So, where did it all go wrong, Wayne?’

If, like me, you grew up in the north west of England and took an interest in football then the chances are that you had heard of Wayne Rooney before he made his explosive Premier League entrance with that goal against Arsenal. Murmurs about a special talent dwelling in Everton’s youth teams were around long before David Seamen was left helplessly clutching thin air in front of a jubilant Goodison Park in 2002. Back then it was easy for a sceptical non Evertonian like myself to scoff at the notion that the Blues had some secret weapon ready to unleash upon the Premier League. I’d heard it all before and the reality never stacked up to the stories: Michael Branch, Franny Jeffers, Danny Cadamarteri, need I go on? Well, in this case, yes actually, I must. Because Wayne Rooney was no myth.

Within a few months of that famous goal against the then reigning champions, Rooney was lighting up English football on a weekly basis. Terrorizing defenders with a mixture of rare natural ability and breathtaking power, he blazed a trail through the Premier League and was, soon enough, making Euro 2004 his own personal coming out party before injury struck.

A £30m move to Manchester United quickly came along and with it a Champions League debut hat trick that confirmed what we already knew: Rooney was more than ready for the big time. During his first two seasons at Old Trafford he was undoubtedly United’s star turn. A period of transition was taking place at the club and the young Scouser was set to be the man who would lead United into a new era of success.

That success duly arrived in the form of multiple league titles and three European Cup finals. But this is where things become complicated in the Wayne Rooney story.

By 2007, Rooney’s downward trajectory was already in motion even if the public couldn't yet see it. Despite being England’s main man by this time, he had already become a supporting act at club level. He remained an audaciously gifted player capable of the extraordinary, but a supporting act none the less. It was Cristiano Ronaldo who had took on the mantle of becoming United’s next talisman. The Portuguese, who Rooney was often compared favourably to during their early days together in Manchester, had moved onto a new level and England’s latest great hope was now required to do a lot of the leg work while Ronaldo took centre stage.

People complained at the time - and indeed since - that Alex’s Ferguson’s decision to often use Rooney out wide and make the most of his work rate to free Ronaldo was what stunted the progress of England’s most talented footballer in a generation. They may be right. But so was Ferguson to do what he did. Vindication of his decision to ‘sacrifice’ Rooney in order to get the best out of Ronaldo was immediately apparent and hasn't diminished with the passing of time. Seven years on, it now seems almost unfathomable to think that debates ever existed about which player was more gifted or who United should have built around. In 2014, Wayne Rooney remains a very good Premier League footballer. Cristiano Ronaldo now belongs to a different stratosphere altogether and has done for years. The gap between the two continues to accelerate at a high speed.

Following Ronaldo’s protracted defection to Madrid during the summer of 2009, a new incarnation of Rooney emerged and flourished. He took his place as the spearhead of United’s attack and scored 26 league goals playing as a striker in just 32 appearances. One must acknowledge that his numbers have always been impressive. Goals and assists have never been in short supply during his career but, as early as that successful 2009/10 season, it was apparent that the Rooney we were witnessing was a different beast to the teenager who had defenders in a perpetual state of panic. Statistics were, and remain, enduring evidence of his undoubted quality, but the fantasy footballer who got people off their seats and had England fans dreaming of a bright future was no more. At this point he was ‘just’ an excellent striker, not the ‘White Pele’ United fans expectantly sang about upon his arrival.

There are many theories as to why this came to pass. A lack of professionalism off the pitch has regularly been cited. Rooney’s fluctuating weight, for example, has often been a source of ridicule for his detractors and frustration for his supporters. Injuries have been quite a regular occurrence also, and there is little doubt that they have taken a toll on a player has never resembled the finely tuned athlete he probably should have been. Whatever it was along the way that took the spark from Rooney’s game, it left him devoid of the one thing that made him truly special. The ability to beat a man with raw power or pace has been absent for a long time now. If you can’t beat players the chances are you won’t be perceived as an elite forward in modern day football. People gawp at the likes of Messi, Ibrahimovic, Suarez and Ronaldo because they effortlessly leave defenders trailing either by way of excessive skill, pace or power. Their status isn't what it is because they simply put up decent numbers. Like the defenders they torment every week, those elite players have left Rooney in their rear view mirrors.

So what of the present and the future? Wayne Rooney currently captains Manchester United yet there are plenty of Mancunian supporters who don’t even want him starting for their team. Robin van Persie usurped him, like Ronaldo, as United’s main attacking threat when he at the club arrived two seasons ago.

The Rooney of today works best as an out and out striker and, with the recent acquisition of Radamel Falcao, he’s probably the third best man in the United squad equipped to fill such a role. This puts Louis van Gaal in a tough position. The Dutch manager has made Rooney his captain. The idea of being able to sell the Scouse forward should he have a change of heart and prefer to marginalise his skipper and instead partner Van Persie and Falcao doesn’t appear to be realistic. No top club in the world is likely to come calling for Wayne these days. Certainly not when you add those £300,000 wage slips into the equation. He simply isn't worth it anymore.

Rooney remains a world class player only in the minds of marketers who know that, despite the progressive dwindling of his star, his name still resonates around the world. Van Gaal will have to find a solution to the Rooney problem and quickly or a storm could well be brewing in the Manchester skies before long.

On the international stage, a similar conundrum exists. Daniel Sturridge is undoubtedly the best out and out striker the country can field these days and has taken the number 9 shirt as his own. Rooney was deployed out wide in the first game of the World Cup against Italy and, despite an assist (he always has put up the numbers, remember) he looked poor and came in for criticism. Fortunately, with a press clamouring for the national side to still be built around him and a manager more than willing to oblige, Rooney was moved back in field for England’s crucial game against Uruguay. The man that switched roles with him was Raheem Sterling who was England’s best player in that opening match. Predictably, despite being indulged and allowed to play where he feels most comfortable at the expense of others, Rooney failed to galvanise his team and England were defeated by Uruguay.

Today, in the immediate aftermath of a drab 1-0 friendly win over Norway in Rooney’s first official match as his country’s new captain, even the English press appear to be waking up to the fact that their golden boy isn’t what he once was. There is a clamour for Sterling - as irony would have it, a teenage prodigy playing on Merseyside - to finally take Rooney’s central role behind Sturridge.

Wayne Rooney was a once in a generation talent. My personal prediction ten years ago was that he would either become one of the greatest players of his time or at least burn out in a blaze of glory a la George Best, giving us a handful of wonderful years before something went wrong and curtailed his progress. Neither really happened.

What came to pass was far less romantic than either scenario. Rooney never did conquer the footballing world, nor did he hit previously unscaled heights before prematurely self destructing like a shooting star. Instead, he just became a very good footballer who had peaked by his early twenties and has been slowly, gradually, fading in front of our eyes ever since.

Enough about Balo, Brendan

Brendan Rodgers likes to talk.

He loves reciting a story with a happy ending, especially if he stars in it.

It’s safe to say that right now the Liverpool manager has built up plenty of goodwill within the club’s fanbase and the media at large. He deserves it, too. He’s done a cracking job with this football club and has obviously improved certain individual players within the squad significantly. If he wishes to chat away to journalists about how he helped Daniel Sturridge finally realise his previously untapped potential or bang on about how he reinstilled confidence into Jordan Henderson’s game then I have no problem with that. Some may see it as self indulgent and categorise such musings as shameless self promotion or David Brent style riffing but, frankly, he’s earned the right to some self congratulation from time to time. He has an ego, like all of us, and if he wants it stroked for some of his achievements then that’s fine by me.

One thing has concerned me lately though when it comes to the topic of Rodgers’ rhetoric. It’s nothing too serious (yet), but the way he has been talking about Mario Balotelli has grated on me. I’ve tried to ignore it and most of the time it’s admittedly been fairly harmless stuff, but after Liverpool’s victory at Spurs it became downright patronising in my eyes.

Saying that Balotelli’s time at Liverpool could be his ‘last chance at a big club’ was justified. He made the same type of public assertion when Daniel Sturridge came to Anfield and frankly, it was fair assessment in both instances. His joke that Balotelli would add ‘Trouble’ to the squad when he was asked about his new signing on live television may have been slightly misguided but it was obviously just a rib. An off the cuff joke not to be taken seriously. Still nothing to see here.

Then came the post-match press conference at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

‘For the first time in his life he marked at a corner. Serious. International player, won three titles in Italy, cups, Champions League. And we were doing corners and he went ‘I don’t mark at corners’. Well you do now...’

Sorry. What?

First of all, the notion that Balotelli has never picked a man up at a corner before is just a complete fabrication. You don’t even need to go and re watch old games from the Italian’s career to know that it’s pure fantasy. The idea of a big centre forward never having been directed to defend a corner under the tutelage of the likes of Jose Mourinho, Roberto Mancini or Cesare Prandelli is, for want of a better phrase, complete bollocks. Even if Balotelli did say that in training (and if he did I’d assume he was kidding) why bring it up in front of the press? What purpose did it serve?

It’s a fairly inconsequential quote on the face of it and, coming off the back of an outstanding 3-0 win, it was unlikely to be scrutinised too much, but that doesn’t make it okay. It was completely patronising and disrespectful towards the player and his former coaches. Worse, it also feeds into the notion that Mario Balotelli is some kind of lazy primadona aimlessly floating along in need of Brendan Rodgers to bring him back down to earth.

Predictably, some people lapped it up. ‘Look at what Brendan said. Mario never even used to bother marking players he was that much of a lad! Brendan will sort him out though. Won’t get away with that here.’ That sort of stuff. It was a line that made people chuckle, no doubt. But it was completely unnecessary of the manager to make that conversation public.

Put yourself in the striker’s shoes for a minute. You’ve just helped your team to a 3-0 victory on your debut. You’ve played pretty damn well given the circumstances and gone off to a standing ovation from the away fans. Then you hear your manager talking about you as if you are some spoilt ten year old who has belatedly found a proper role model who will finally insist that you eat your greens whether you want to or not. If I were Mario and I read those quotes I’d feel like a bit of an idiot.

Balotelli famously dislikes the rumours, half truths and apocryphal tales that surround him. He’s not too fond of the media and their desire to paint him as some immature, detached nincompoop. No wonder. He’s a complicated young man with a few mistakes in his past but he isn’t merely the bumbling comedy act that many would have you believe. Those quotes from Rodgers were worthless. They only served to underline this perception of Mario the class clown who desperately requires a guiding hand from his new headmaster.

I’m sure there was no malice intended from Rodgers and his mouth just got a little carried away in the aftermath of an impressive day’s work, but he needs to rein it in. He’s been quoted as saying Liverpool aren’t going to become ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’, so maybe it would be better if he didn’t add fuel to those particular flames with silly quotes that immediately write headlines for opportunistic journalists out to promote the myth of ‘Mario the Maverick’.

The amount of surprise on show in the aftermath of Balotelli’s debut illustrated just how difficult a task it will be for the player to alter the general perception of him. People we’re apparently amazed that he’d actually worked hard for Liverpool against Spurs! Some have even dared to use it as proof that Rodgers can ‘turn the player around’. It was as if Balotelli was a changed man in their eyes. He’d apparently gone from a lazy git into a workaholic after six days on Merseyside.

Again, this is just pure fiction.

A work shy player unwilling or unable to contribute defensively to his team simply doesn’t play in a Jose Mourinho side no matter how talented he may be (ask Juan Mata). A complete lay about doesn’t lead the line for Italy and destroy one of the best centre halves in world football during a Euro 2012 semi final the way Mario did to Mats Hummels. Preening, uncommitted individuals aren’t usually popular with their peers at any football club for long and yet one need only look to the reaction of Man City’s players to Balotelli’s presence at the Eithad last Monday for confirmation that he was a well liked figure there.

There is no doubt that, when his head drops, Balotelli can lose motivation. While other players will run around more when they’re frustrated, he can sulk and withdraw from a game if things aren’t going his way. Liverpool and Rodgers will no doubt have to cross that bridge when they come to it sooner or later. But this idea that Mario Balotelli is just some rebel without a cause who simply does whatever the hell he feels like every time he steps onto a football pitch is completely unfounded. It needs to be knocked on the head, not propagated further by irresponsible quotes from the player’s new manager.

If Mario Balotelli does succeed and improve at Liverpool Football Club then I will quite happily listen for hours on end to Brendan Rodgers reminiscing and eulogising about the work that went into making that happen. Until then though, I’d rather he keep schtum and let Mario’s football do the talking for him. After all, as Brendan said himself, Liverpool don’t need to become ‘The Mario Balotelli Show’.