A picture that Mario Balotelli uploaded on Instagram showed the Liverpool team surrounding Jordan Henderson after his goal against Burnley, the comment beside the post saying “Someone doesn’t like me”. The message was posted after Liverpool won 2-0 at Anfield against Burnley.
The ‘someone’ mentioned in the post is still not clear, and may be referring to Jordan Henderson with whom he had a conflict in the Europa League round-of-32 first leg match against Besiktas, or even Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers who has criticized the Italian on several occasion and has not given him proper playing time recently.
The post which Balotelli posted talked about his ability to be a team player and his love for his new team.
‘Someone’ – Henderson or Rodgers?
During the mid-season transfer window, Rodgers claimed that Balotelli was not for sale – despite interest shown by Inter Milan in the 24-year old. Although Rodgers feels Balotelli will stay on even after the end of the season, the player has also received enquiries from Sampdoria.
Balotelli caused controversy last month when he challenged Henderson’s decision to take a penalty in the Europa league fixture against Besiktas. Although the team won the match with Balotelli’s goal, the reason the matter escalated was because many felt it was disrespectful of the Italian to do so as Henderson was the captain of the team that day.
Rodgers though backed Balotelli on the decision to take the penalty, saying he was above Henderson in the pecking order for taking penalties. But the Irishman has criticised the Italian for his poor work rate.