Liverpool news: Mario Balotelli future in doubt after Brendan Rodgers says he is not good enough to play

Posted Sunday, January 25, 2015 by Telegraph.co.uk

Anfield manager says axed Italian must raise his standards if he wants a long-term future, as Daniel Sturridge nears return.

Frozen out: Mario Balotelli has been told he must raise his standards if he wants a future at Liverpool

Mario Balotelli's already precarious future at Liverpool was called further into question on Saturday with Brendan Rodgers admitting he had omitted the striker from his squad to play Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup fourth round even though he is fit.

With Daniel Sturridge returning to training with the first-team squad on Sunday - and possibly on the bench for Tuesday's Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea - Balotelli will fall even further out of contention.

Rodgers revealed he had spent an hour with the Italian, who has recovered from illness, on Friday to explain to him why he will not feature in the team at present. Raheem Sterling started against Bolton as a striker with Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert on the bench.

"Just not selected," Rodgers said, when asked why Balotelli had been omitted from a game he would be expected to play in as Liverpool juggle their resources. "Absolutely it's tough for Mario because obviously the team is going very well and he has seen the real Liverpool over the last few weeks and he sees what is required to get in the team."

"I've had a good chat with Mario and he knows what's required to get in the squad."

"I spent about an hour or so yesterday chatting. He understands where it is at. He was out for a week or so unwell and he knows the level at what this team is at, it's difficult for him."

"The pressing and aggression - and if you can't do that you are not going to be part of the team. We suffered in the first four months of the season and we can't go back to that."

Despite costing £16million Balotelli has been a huge disappointment since he was signed from AC Milan in the summer.

"It doesn't matter who the player is and what price it cost. If you want to contribute you have to be at it every day in training in order to be in the squad for match-day," added Rodgers.

"He was fully understanding and he saw the level of performance against Chelsea (last Tuesday) and in fairness said that was a struggle for him in terms of how he would play the game as he is naturally a box player but there is more asked in the intensity of this team and he has seen that clearly in the last six or seven weeks. I'm confident he will respond well."