Mario Balotelli's Smooth Start Should Have Liverpool Fans Cautiously Optimistic

Most agreed that when Liverpool paid £16 million for Mario Balotelli, he was great value for the money. Given his seamless transition into the Reds' squad, he'll have that fee paid back in a matter of months.

Balotelli scored the opening goal of what was Liverpool's 2-1 win over Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday night. He was LFC's best player on the night, using his strength to bully Ludogorets' centre-backs throughout the match. His physical style was exactly what was needed to break down a tough, organized defense.

Steven Gerrard heaped praise upon Balotelli after the match, per The Guardian's David Hytner:

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You have to give Mario credit. When you are trying to find a breakthrough you keep going and he did. Great strikers need only one chance and he took it. A lot of people were wondering what we were going to see from Mario in terms of his work-rate and what he gives us off the ball but we saw tonight how hard he worked.

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Although it's still extremely early in his Liverpool career, it's hard not to be encouraged with how he's played so far. Here's a look at Balotelli's first three starts by the numbers, according to WhoScored.com.

	Minutes	Shots	Shots on Target	Passing %	Dispossessed	Turnovers	Final Rating
vs. Tottenham	61	5	1	50	2	1	6.91
vs. Aston Villa	71	2	0	95	0	0	6.09
vs. Ludogorets	90	7	2	88	3	4	8.53

As you can see, Balotelli has gotten off to a promising start. He hasn't set the world ablaze, but a learning curve was to be expected, especially considering the poor run of form the forward had been on last year and at the World Cup.

Then there's the negative perception that surrounds the Italian national team star.

Brendan Rodgers' comments to ESPN.com about Balotelli not marking on corners until arriving at Anfield are likely a bit of a stretch, but he has built a reputation for being a bit petulant and unwilling to adhere to his manager's tactics.

In the short time he's been with Liverpool, Balotelli's looked industrious on the pitch, running into different areas of the final third, holding up the ball for his teammates and dropping closer to midfield if necessary.

Of course, with Balotelli, you're almost waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it's all gonna go pear-shaped?

Everybody knows that the 24-year-old is immensely talented but carries with him his fair share of baggage. You could write a series of books detailing all of the urban legends and true stories that have made the rounds on the Internet.

Not only that, but he's also left Inter Milan, Manchester City and AC Milan all under less than pleasant circumstances.

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

"Balotelli is a strange phenomenon. Champagne corks are popped when he arrives but also when he leaves a team," said Sky Italia's Mario Sconcerti, per The Independent's Dylan Fahy.

Christian Vieri, who played for both Milan clubs, called the Rossoneri's sale of Balotelli "biggest coup in Milan's history."

Liverpool supporters should know as well as anybody that no amount of coddling and encouragement will guarantee that a mercurial star stays out of trouble completely.

The club's owners and manager did everything in their power to keep Luis Suarez happy and ensure that he retained a certain edge on the pitch without crossing the line. Despite their best efforts, Suarez was never too far from the next suspension.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

You can't expect a player at this level of the game to radically change the style that got him this far. Why mess with a good thing? Suarez did get a £75 million move to Barcelona, after all.

There is reason for hope with Balotelli, however.

He just turned 24 in August. It's reasonable that a player in his early 20s would deal with maturity issues. You'd expect that as he gets older, he will have grown out of some of the more childish behaviors he displayed both on and off the pitch.

This move also represents a kind of career crossroads for Balotelli. At what point does he cease to be a gifted, yet troubled striker whose potential is worth the headache and instead become a massive irritant who's not worth it because his promise will never be fulfilled?

Balotelli's agent, Mino Raiola, said in an interview with Corriere della Sera, via Football Italia, that the transfer to Liverpool was the proverbial "Last Chance Saloon":

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Now it’s up to him. Another flop is inadvisable... Not everyone is born to be a leader and a good striker is not always a leader either.

'Mario needs to get this pressure off his shoulders. He must feel free to score goals and that’s it.'

When asked whether this was the Last Chance Saloon for Mario’s career, agent Mino Raiola was surprisingly forthright.

'At the top level, yes. It's either make or break now. If it goes wrong? Mario is 24 years old. He no longer has the alibi of his age.

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With so much on the line, Balotelli can't afford to mess this up. That looks apparent so far with how he's hit the ground running at Anfield. He's making the necessary sacrifices for the betterment of the whole. While you've seen some brief glimpses of frustration, they're no different than you'd see with any striker in an attacking position when the ball doesn't arrive as planned.

Supporters shouldn't automatically expect the worst with Balotelli,  nor should they delude themselves into think that he's gonna play at the club for the next decade without incident.