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Ray Houghton: 'Mario Balotelli is failing to adapt'

Liverpool legend Ray Houghton hits out at striker Mario Balotelli, saying that the Italian is 'failing to adapt to the team's needs'.

Liverpool legend Ray Houghton has revealed that Mario Balotelli's poor performances are down to the Italian 'failing to adapt to the team's needs'.

Since joining Liverpool from AC Milan earlier this summer, Balotelli has scored twice in 14 appearances and Houghton does not believe that the situation will change anytime soon, unless the 24-year-old becomes a team player.

"He is not a 'team player' and has failed to adapt," Houghton told Goal.com.

"He needs to come short more often and get involved in the build-up, but he isn't doing that. This is not a big surprise, he was the same at Manchester City and both Milan clubs.

"The frustrating thing is that it can work. The best performance of the season was the 3-0 win at Tottenham on Balotelli's debut in August. He linked up well with Sturridge, with Sterling playing at the head of a diamond."

Balotelli is still waiting to score his first Premier League goal for Liverpool this season.

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A general view of The Kop stand at Anfield home of Liverpool FC taken October 20, 2012
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1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


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