Jamie Carragher unimpressed with Mario Balotelli's contribution to Liverpool

 

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Criticism: Mario Balotelli
Jochan Embley2 October 2014

Mario Balotelli needs to sacrifice himself for the team if he is to be a success at Liverpool – something he is not currently doing, according to Jamie Carragher.

Liverpool slumped to a 1-0 defeat away at FC Basel on Wednesday evening, with the 24-year-old striker failing to make a real impact on the game.

Balotelli has only scored once for his new club so far this season against Ludogorets in the Champions League, and for Liverpool legend Carragher, his performances have been lacking.

Speaking after Wednesday’s defeat, Carragher said: “I think we need to see a lot more.

“I can’t hide the way I feel about him. When he was at [Manchester] City I wasn’t a fan. He’s got one goal [for Liverpool].

“He’s away in Europe tonight and playing as a lone striker. You have got to sacrifice yourself for the team tonight – play for the team and work hard.

“If there’s one word that I’d never use to sum Balotelli up, [it] is sacrifice.”

Carragher added that the Italian had not been a tough striker to defend against when he played him in the past.

FC Basel v Liverpool - player ratings

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He said: “I’ve never seen it with him. I hope I’m wrong because I want him to do well.”

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