Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has again suggested his striker Mario Balotelli needs up increase his work rate if he is to thrive in his first team.
Balotelli has made an impact coming off the bench in Liverpool's last two games against Crystal Palace and Besiktas, even though he attracted some negative headlines after insisting on taking a decisive penalty ahead of captain Jordan Henderson in the second of those two games.
While Rodgers refused to criticise his Italian forward for what Steven Gerrard called a show of defiance, he has suggested once more that the energy levels shown by Balotelli need to be improved as he offered this response when asked whether he was pleased with the striker's contribution against Besiktas.
"No, not really no," said Rodgers. "We need to ensure that whatever level of the game we are playing at we have everyone working as a team and once we got the penalty he stops working.
"So he needs to improve on that facet of his game to play in his position, rather than standing on the side of the football field.
