10 Things Liverpool Want You To Forget About Mario Balotelli

2. Rows With Managers

Excluding perhaps Milan, where he has shown signs of maturing as a player slowly but surely, Balotelli has had constant fallouts with his managers everywhere he has gone. Although he and Mancini often had almost a father-son relationship, at both Inter and City, their relationship was very strained at times as well. In January 2013 they had a very public physical altercation during a City training session, with the two men almost coming to blows. Many felt it was the final nail in the coffin in Balotelli's career at the Eithad, and he was sold to Milan less than a month later. Balotelli's relationship with Jose Mourinho at Inter was even worse. He was dropped on numerous occasions because of his erratic behaviour, with the Portuguese manager once claiming: "As far as I'm concerned, a young boy like him cannot allow himself to train less than people like Figo, Cordoba and Zanetti." In November 2009, Mourinho was so disgusted with the quality of Balotelli's performance that he claimed afterwards that it 'came close to a zero rating'. Rodgers will be well aware that he has his work cut out with the Italian, but is a manager with so much belief in his own ability that he will believe he can handle the 24-year-old. If Balotelli starts trying to go to war with the Northern Irishman there will only be one winner with the Reds fans, such is the Northern Irishman's popularity at the club.