Brendan Rodgers must handle Mario Balotelli with kid gloves to avoid souring his relationship with the Liverpool striker, writes Matt Stanger.
"I think in terms of goals, he needs to improve. It is as simple as that. At this moment, he has not hit the numbers he will have wanted."
After Brendan Rodgers' midweek appraisal of Mario Balotelli, it was perhaps inevitable that the striker would find himself benched on Saturday. Having scored only once in seven appearances, the Italian was overlooked in favour of a first Premier League start for Rickie Lambert.
The outcome was largely inconsequential, with Liverpool's midfield responsible for a 2-1 victory, but the impact on Balotelli's confidence may be hugely detrimental.
Rodgers must be careful that he doesn't turn Balotelli into a scapegoat for Liverpool's poor form.
In a week spent clutching at straws - before eventually admitting that the club's supporters should expect more setbacks - the manager has allowed his £16million capture from AC Milan to be singled out for attention. History tells us that placing Balotelli under the spotlight isn't normally conducive to getting the best out of him.
"We had attempts for other strikers that didn't materialise for one reason or another," said Rodgers, suggesting that Balotelli was a last resort.
"So it left us right at the end of the window with a decision on whether just to go with what we had, when experience told us we were too light, or take a calculated risk on a player who has quality and then could we get it out of him consistently?"
That consistency is clearly lacking at the moment, but there are mitigating factors which should be taken into account.
Liverpool have lacked the incision they displayed last season, with Balotelli often starved of sufficient service. Before Saturday, Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho had created just three chances each in three and four appearances respectively, while Lazar Markovic's struggles have been apparent.
"The quality of our service (against Basel) wasn't up to the standard it should be," Rodgers conceded. "You also have to make and create goals yourself and he didn't do that."
It boils down to a chicken and egg dilemma: Is Balotelli responsible for the team performing badly or vice-versa?
Taking the 24-year-old out of the equation on Saturday did no harm to the Italian's cause, with Liverpool's listlessness continuing despite their 2-1 lead at the point of Balotelli's introduction. He certainly offered more than Lambert in his half-hour cameo, testing Ben Foster with a low drive from an acute angle.
It may be claimed that this was simple squad rotation, but Balotelli's omission from the latest Italy squad means there was no need to rest him, while Rodgers' comments have made the striker's absence an issue.
"Roberto (Mancini) will know the same as me that the way to get the best out of Mario is to love him," said Zlatan Ibrahimovic during his former team-mate's spell at Manchester City.
It is yet to be seen whether Rodgers' tough love has the same success.
There is hope yet that the forward will spark into life. He was impressive on his debut against Tottenham, acting as a target man with Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling running beyond him, while he has shown an appetite to work hard and help the midfield.
Perhaps he has been too eager to track back, failing to get on the end of attacking moves against Basel and Everton after dropping deep to win back the ball.
As always with Balotelli, his future will be decided by the success of his relationships - both with the manager and his team-mates.
Sturridge's anticipated return may be the missing ingredient to unlocking the striker's potential, but Rodgers must be careful not to sour his own understanding with Balotelli if he wants his calculated risk to pay off.
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