Four years is a long time. Think back 48 months and picture where you were. I’d imagine things were quite different whether in terms of work, relationships or just general circumstances. Sometimes it’s important to remember that football, for all the cash and attention it receives, does not exist in a vacuum, with the last 1,460-ish days having seen many changes.The curious case of Mario Balotelli is evidence of this, with the Italian having been riding the crest of a wave at the back end of the summer of 2012. ‘Balo’ had just finished the European Championship as the joint highest scorer with three goals to his name after helping the Azzurri to the final, where they were beaten by, arguably, the greatest international side of the past 20 or so years.It wasn’t so much the goals, nor was it the showpiece final appearance, that saw Balotelli’s stock rise to its highest point, it was a bullying performance against Germany in which he looked to have truly discovered how to put his talent and physicality to use that really made everyone sit up and take notice.

However, here we are four years on with the now 26-year-old pulling on the red and black stripes of Nice rather than AC Milan. It’s been a sad few years.

To give this a little bit of context, Balotelli left Liverpool last week after two ineffective seasons for another final chance, this time in the south of France on the idyllic Mediterranean coastline. The imposing striker’s 24 months on Merseyside will go down as one of the worst returns on a transfer in the club’s history, with just four goals – only one in league action – chalked up next to his name (albeit he did spend 2015/16 back on loan at Milan, although that stint does little to sway the tally).

Naturally, there has been frustration vented by Kopites, and former defender Jamie Carragher openly mocked Balotelli upon the move, claiming that the free transfer was still “over the odds” on the Ligue 1 side’s part. Ouch.

Balotelli hit back via Twitter – the new mode of doing so in the modern world – with a sarcastic picture in which he labelled ‘Carra’ a “hater”. Liverpool fans have, unsurprisingly, backed their club hero.

I’ll put it out there; I’m a Liverpool fan. I’ve followed the club for my entire life, and despite not being a native of the Merseyside region, I consider myself to be a diehard supporter. Yet I’m ‘team Balotelli’ in this debate, even though I, as many other Reds do, love Carragher and everything he’s done both on and off the pitch for the club.

I’m not backing the forward to the extent that I’m picking Balotelli over Carragher, but rather in that the ill feeling towards the striker has left me feeling a little ashamed. The ‘I’ll drive him to his next club myself’ brigade are a breed of fan I have little time for. Why vilify a player who, despite the media narrative, wanted to play for Liverpool and wanted to do well? It’s madness.

It’s fair to say the Balotelli experiment didn’t work out. But was that his fault? He arrived at the club in perhaps the most difficult period of the last few years and was unfairly given Luis Suarez’s boots to fill. Factor into that Steven Gerrard’s decline, Brendan Rodgers’ own struggles and the long-term injury to Daniel Sturridge – whom he looked excellent alongside in the one game they got to play together away at Spurs – and the odds were stacked in favour of the house.

I’m not blinded by some form of loyalty to Balotelli, though. We all know he came to Liverpool for the money on offer and the chance to get back into the Premier League after a bad spell back in Italy, but why vilify him? I WANT him to succeed in France and prove what a player he can still be.

One of the great mercurial talents of his generation, Balotelli is often held up as an object of ridicule, as an easy target. Fair enough, he hasn’t often helped himself, but it’s unedifying watching people laugh at his expense when he’s making a brave decision to move to a club in Europe to rebuild his career. He could have taken the vast sums of cash on offer in China or waited it out on the bench at Liverpool to collect his pay packet there.

But he’s taken the difficult route, a route that requires effort and a swallowing of pride. And to mock him for a bold decision in what should be the prime of his career is bad form. Carragher is by no means alone in this, but his status among Liverpool supporters and his influence garner a level of responsibility. He has his opinion, and has every right to voice it, but respect for a professional footballer should be forthcoming from someone who was a professional footballer himself until very recently.

It may once again end in disaster for Balotelli, but we can all dream of seeing that player that lit up EURO 2012 once again, even if we’ve had to wait four years for the privilege.

[survey_monkey id=D9GJTJ8]

[ad_pod id='writeforus' align='center']