The Celtics manager has drawn criticism in a recent interview.
One of Brendan Rodgers’ former teammates has criticised him. During their time together at Liverpool, Mario Balotelli, who was managed by the Celtic manager, had criticism of Rodgers as a coach and a person.
One of Brendan Rodgers’ former teammates has criticised him. During their time together at Liverpool, Mario Balotelli, who was managed by the Celtic manager, had criticism of Rodgers as a coach and a person.
2014 saw Rodgers bring Balotelli to Anfield in an effort to replace the departing Luis Suarez. A year after joining the Reds, the Italian forward was loaned back to AC Milan after failing to score in the Premier League and failing to make any kind of impression at all.
Balotelli and Rodgers didn’t get along well, and at halftime of their Champions League match at Anfield, the manager chastised him for switching shirts with Pepe of Real Madrid.
In an interview with TVPlay, the striker—who currently plays for the Turkish team Adana Demirspor—criticized Rodgers.
“I have never had a worse coach than Brendan Rodgers. When it came to maintaining ball possession and playing small-sided games during training, he was the best. However, he was a disaster in person.”
Additionally, Balotelli has previously commented on his relationship with Rodgers. The Italian said their relationship was a “disaster” and their time together was the “biggest disappointment” of his career after leaving the club. The former Celtics manager, though, does agree with him.
In a 2016 interview with talkSPORT, Rodgers chuckled and retorted, “To be fair, he was probably pretty accurate. For some reason, I was unable to relate to Mario. He was one of those who arrived at our window very late. From a club standpoint, it was a risk taken because we had lost Luis [Suarez].
He’s a big talent, so we thought he could come in and grow because he has all the necessary tools. To be honest, I just couldn’t seem to get along with Mario. He did his best on the pitch. It most definitely didn’t turn out the way that everyone had hoped.”
In fact, former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard felt the same way about his former colleague. In his autobiography, the former captain provided some insight into Balotelli’s time at Anfield, characterising it as ‘fighting a losing battle’ with the striker.
“I saw that [Jose] Mourinho was correct when he said that Balotelli is uncontrollable. Though he has the talent to be a world-class athlete, he will never reach that level due to
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