Liverpool Manager Has Tough Words for Mario Balotelli

Mario Balotelli, who has made more social media gaffes than football goals this season, received harsh words from his manager Brendan Rodgers as to why the forward wasn’t even selected to play against Bolton. Balotelli seemed to be a promising pick for Liverpool after two and a half years at Manchester, but he has not yet scored a League goal for the reds.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers explains that in the week or so that Balotelli has been unwell, the forward has been able to see the “real Liverpool, and he sees what is required to get in the team, ” according to caughtoffside.com. Rodgers emphasized discipline in training and “the pressing and aggression–and if you can’t do that, you are not going to be a part of our team. We suffered in the first four months of the season, and we can’t go back to that.”

Balotelli has been having problems with social media as well as on the field. A storm erupted over a picture he posted of the video game classic character Super Mario with the text, “Don’t be racist! Be like Mario. He’s an Italian plumber created by Japanese people who speaks English and looks like a Mexican …jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew.”

Balotelli was threatened with disciplinary action. He deleted the Tweet, and then wrote, “My mom is Jewish so all of u shut up please.” This is only partly true. His foster mother, Silvia, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Then, backing off from getting defensive, and perhaps to avoid a suspension, he wrote, “I apologize for offending anyone. The post was supposed to be anti-racist with humor. Not all Mexicans have mustache, not all black people jump high and not all Jewish people love money. I used cartoon done by someone else because it was super Mario and I thought it was funny not offensive. I’m sorry.”