Back in the depths of early winter, Liverpool's season appeared to be in tatters.
Slowly but surely however, a change in formation from Brendan Rodgers has reaped rewards as last season's Premier League runners up grind out positive results.
However, Mario Balotelli has been left on the sidelines during this improvement and Tony Barrett, Merseyside reporter for The Times, painted a bleak picture of his future when he chatted to Off The Ball ahead of the Capital One Cup fixture against Chelsea.
"I think it's significant [that Balotelli has been sidelined]. It's one of those situations where Mario Balotelli is now missing games for a multitude of reasons. He's either too sick, injured, other players are playing well. He just is getting picked. He has reached that stage already. The only thing stopping Mario Balotelli being sold in January is the lack of an interested club. I also wouldn't be surprised if they let him go on loan," said Barrett, who feels that Rodgers deserves credit for finding a solution to some of the issues at Anfield.
But it seems Liverpool are reluctant to let defensive midfielder Lucas leave the club this month, despite interest from abroad.
"Lucas seems to be under-valued because of who he's not. At first he wasn't Xabi Alonso, then he wasn't Javier Mascherano and then last season he wasn't Steven Gerrard. What Lucas is, is a very effective, very methodical footballer who allows Liverpool to have a shape that they wouldn't otherwise have," said Barrett, who pointed out that Liverpool has only lost five of the last 57 league games that the Brazilian has played in.
"I think he is under-appreciated and I think he's been under-appreciated by people at the club as well."
Barrett also discussed Lazar Markovic's rise to prominence on the flanks and what Rodgers has done to help transform the Serbian's fortunes.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
