Brendan Rodgers defends underfire Mario Balotelli as poor form for Liverpool continues

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has been criticized for his poor form

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers defended Mario Balotelli after the forward once again failed to get on the score sheet during their 3-2 win against Queens Park Rangers (QPR) at Loftus Road on Sunday

Rodgers said that Balotelli was not signed as a direct replacement for Luis Suarez, who left for Catalan giants Barcelona in the summer for a fee in the region of £70 million. Suarez was the top scorer in the Premier League last season with 31 goals from just 33 games and had played an instrumental role in Liverpool’s second placed finish, their first top 4 finish in 5 years.

Balotelli was signed from AC Milan for £16 million in the hope of filling up the massive void left by the Uruguayan international. But he has struggled to make an impact up to this point, as his return of just one goal (against Ludogorets in the Champions League) from his first 9 games illustrates. His poor form also saw him dropped from Italy’s squad for their most recent Euro qualifiers in favour of Southampton striker Graziano Pelle.

His latest display against QPR on Sunday, which saw him miss two great chances including an open goal from six yards out, led to Liverpool legend Jimmy Case branding the striker “a waste of space”.

Balotelli not a direct replacement for Suarez: Rodgers

Rodgers, however, is pleased that Balotelli is working really hard for the team and is confident that he will soon be among the goals, too.

“It’ll drop for the boy,” he told reporters. “The most important thing to me is his work rate. He’s working really hard. It’ll drop for him.”

“He's seen as a direct replacement to Luis [Suarez]. I’ve said before, Luis is irreplaceable, a real world-class talent.

“That’s not what’s being asked of Mario. He’s a great boy, I’ve enjoyed working with him.

“He wants to be better. He’s a completely different player to Luis.”