Balotelli: Liverpool tactics didn't suit me
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers’ tactics had as much a part to play in Mario Balotelli’s failure at Anfield as his own poor form, the striker said as he sealed his return to AC Milan.
Balotelli, 25, has returned to the Rossoneri on a season-long loan from Liverpool, where he scored only one Premier League goal last season after moving from the San Siro for £16 million.
The Italy international told La Gazzetta dello Sport in a lengthy interview published on Thursday that one of the reasons for his struggles was that he did not fit in with Rodgers’ style of play, although he has also accepted he was at fault for failing on Merseyside.
“I accept my side of the blame, but Rodgers’ tactics were not suited to my characteristics either,” Balotelli said. “At the start, I missed a few easy chances, and then I had fewer chances to score, a bit of bad luck and injuries. It was a mess.
“But I never protested. I accepted the coach’s decisions and always behaved professionally. My attitude and lifestyle were absolutely normal at Liverpool. There have not been any problems with my private life this last year.”
Balotelli insists he is a changed man, amid reports that Milan have laid down some strict rules in his contract regarding his behaviour.
“I have made a promise to myself, to Milan, to [coach Sinisa] Mihajlovic, to [agent Mino] Raiola and to everybody who cares about me,” the former Inter and Manchester City forward said. “I’m starting out from scratch.
“I know that I can’t get anything wrong anymore. I cannot assume anything and I have to win everything back. I accept any rule and I know I will get a game if I deserve it.
“But it’s not as if I’ve forgotten how to play football. I’m back, full of energy, willingness to work and enthusiasm. My game is not over yet. I feel like somebody who has just played the first half of his career, as a boy. Not everything went well and I wasted plenty of opportunities, but the game is not over yet.
“There is still a second half to be played and I’m going to play it as a man. I know that not many believe I can come back again, but it is my duty to try, and I am certain I will succeed.
.@FinallyMario is back! / Mario è tornato! #weareacmilan pic.twitter.com/6YTW6ol0d9
– AC Milan (@acmilan) August 27, 2015
“I’m 25 now — I’m not a kid anymore. I’ve already thrown away too many chances. And then there is life — that is something you cannot plan. It’s when something unexpected happens that it changes you.
“Those are the situations that mature you — the joy of realising you are a father, and the pain of losing a father.”
Even though there was only a week of the transfer window remaining, Balotelli was always convinced he would find a new club, although he did not expect it would be Milan.
He said: “Mino called me on Saturday morning saying, ‘Mario, pack your bags and get a private jet — you’re going to Milan.’ I didn’t need the private jet because I got on a scheduled flight.”
Mihajlovic, who took over at Milan this summer, had invited Balotelli for a one-on-one conversation in Florence last Saturday,
The Serbian had helped launch the striker’s career in 2007, when he was working as Roberto Mancini’s assistant at Inter, and Balotelli said: “He’s known me since I was a child.
“My problem has never been a lack of quality, but if anything it was my character. Lots of things have been said about me and everything gets amplified, so it was right that he wanted to look me in the eyes, to understand if I had the right motivation.
“He listened to me, without being influenced by what he had heard doing the rounds, and I thank him even only for this. [I told him] that I’ve seen the error of my ways and that if he gave me this chance, I would not let him down. I will give it everything I have got. I am a man now and I don’t create problems.
“[I told him] that I would accept all of his decisions. The coach is a leader. He’s tough, honest, direct, faithful. He doesn’t bluff. He looks you in the eyes when he talks to you, which is what I like. He looks at the person, not just the footballer. He’s shown this by taking me back, and I owe a lot to him.”
It was not purely Mihajlovic’s decision to take him, however. The final decision rested with Silvio Berlusconi, now officially the club’s honorary president, who referred to Balotelli as a “rotten apple” last year.
“Berlusconi saying yes was the biggest surprise of them all,” Balotelli said. “I would never have expected it. What he said about me was taken out of context, though. I was never a rotten apple. I was a lad, and now he will find a man, and I will pay back his faith.”
Balotelli could make his second Milan debut on Saturday night, when they face Empoli, and said he is not expecting any change in the way he is treated by rival supporters.
“The day they stop whistling me is the day I start to worry,” he said. “That will mean I no longer frighten them. I accept the whistles. They don’t cause me problems. I won’t be provoked and I will respect everybody — opponents, referees and fans. Without making signs to silence the fans.
“I won’t be disrespectful to anybody, but is it too much to ask for them not to insult me constantly?”
Balotelli is hoping his return to Serie A will see him back in the Italy squad, having been called up just once since Antonio Conte took charge after the World Cup.
“I want to do well at Milan to win back my Azzurri shirt, but now I just need to work hard,” he said. “Let’s take things one step at a time. If I can put a lot of these steps together, then maybe I’ll end up in France — I want to play at Euro 2016 and I’ll do all I can to succeed.
“Seeing myself in a national team shirt again was one of my father’s biggest wishes before he died. I owe it also to him.”
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