What Has Fabio Borini Done So Wrong at Liverpool?

01 May 2015 15:23

Last weekend’s uninspiring 0-0 draw with West Brom, and Tuesday’s disappointing loss to Hull City, has left Liverpool’s season most likely petering out. Last week I wrote a column endorsing Brendan Rodgers, I stand by this and believe there are few coaches in the game that would have challenged for a title with Liverpool’s squad last season.

However, all season long, Liverpool fans have been turning to the same excuse. The loss of Suarez/Sturridge. The latter is a legitimate complaint, with Suarez gone this was meant to be Sturridge’s season as the main man. But injuries have disrupted that…story of his career so far I’m afraid. If he can stay fit, he could well be that player.

Now to the Suarez complaint. This has been mentioned after every poor Liverpool performance this season, but Liverpool fans really need to move on and accept that he is gone, a Liverpool loss cannot be blamed on someone who is not there, and it is the job of the players that are there to fill that void. I don’t remember Man Utd fans blaming lack of goals on Ronaldo leaving in 2009, or Arsenal fans on Van Persie leaving in 2012, and Southampton fans certainly don’t seem to be too distraught at losing their top scorers from last season (Rodriguez-19 injured, Lambert-15 sold).

They have tried Balotelli, Lambert, Sterling, they have even tried playing with the ‘false 9’, so no striker. Surely this is an opportunity to give Fabio Borini a chance. I’m not saying he will be a 20 goal a season forward, but, having been bought for £10.5 million pounds, why not give him a chance? After his transfer, he struggled to make an impact, so he went on loan to Sunderland where he did quite well scoring 7 times. Not mind blowing numbers, but compared to this seasons premier league return from Ballotelli (1 goal) and Lambert (2 goals), Borini starts to look pretty good.

Some of Liverpool’s transfer dealings have been questionable at best, players like Luis Alberto (£6.8M) and Tiago Llori (£7M) have rarely been seen or heard, much like Borini. But unlike the other two, we know Rodgers is (or was) a Borini fan. Having coached him in Chelsea’s youth team, then on loan at Swansea, he knew exactly what he was getting for his money. So why freeze him out? It was understandable with Suarez there, but now he should get his chance.

Despite the club seemingly trying to get rid of him, he has refused loan and transfer deals. Why? Simple, he believes he is good enough to play for Liverpool, and Rodgers must have believed that at some point, so now is the time to find out if he has what it takes.

The unfortunate truth, is that Liverpool’s season is fizzling out, bar a collapse from one of the Manchester clubs. It will be back to the drawing board this summer as Rodgers tries once again to attract the next Luis Suarez to Liverpool, but as far as the rest of this season goes, why not give Borini a chance. In his last season in Italy, he scored 9 league goals for Roma in 24 appearances at 20 years old, and he is a player who busts a gut when he is on the pitch. That should be enough to endear him to Liverpool fans a little more than the striker who started against Hull!

Source: DSG