Liverpool better without Balotelli?

Mario Balotelli has been on Merseyside for only a few weeks and already he has found himself out of the Liverpool and Italy teams. Sources have told me that some of his team-mates at Anfield are none too impressed by his individualistic approach. It does not sound as if manager Brendan Rodgers is doing cartwheels of delight either. "He is not hitting the numbers he would have liked in terms of goals" was his response to a return of just one so far. Rodgers has been banging on to journalists about Liverpool's need to improve as a team. Asked why in that case he bought a player hardly renowned for his team ethic, his reply was both telling and damning: "It was a question of availability and affordability at a late stage in the window."