Mario Balotelli has openly criticized Brendan Rodgers, his former manager at Liverpool, labelling him as the “worst coach” he has ever had.

Balotelli’s career, which began with a promising start at Inter Milan in the late 2000s, has been marked by notable successes and high-profile transfers. However, his journey in football has also been punctuated by various incidents both on and off the pitch. Now playing for Adana Demirspor in Turkey, the 33-year-old forward took the opportunity to express his dissatisfaction with his stint at Liverpool, particularly highlighting his experience with Rodgers.

During the 2014/15 season at Liverpool, Balotelli’s performance was not as expected, culminating in him being loaned out to AC Milan, the club from which Liverpool had originally signed him for £16m. His tenure at Liverpool was further marred by a controversial incident where he swapped shirts with Real Madrid defender Pepe at half-time during a Champions League match, an action that reportedly angered Rodgers.

It’s fair to say that he didn’t really fit Rodgers’ system and soon fell out of favour. He probably just simply wasn’t good enough. Yet, he’s putting the blame for his underwhelming time in Merseyside on Brendan Rodgers. He said: [Record Sport]

“Brendan Rodgers is the worst coach I have ever had. He was number one as far as training sessions were concerned, what with keeping possession of the ball and the small-sided games. But as a person, he was a disaster.”