Top 10 slow-starting strikers

With Mario Balotelli struggling for goals and form at Liverpool, we attempt to make him feel better by finding ten others that came good after initial Premier League woe...

10) Edin Dzeko (Manchester City)

After moving from Teplice in 2007, Edin Dzeko had outperformed all expectations at Wolfsburg, scoring 85 goals in just three-and-a-half seasons to become the club's record Bundesliga goalscorer. That form persuaded Roberto Mancini to part with £27m and make the Bosnian Manchester City's second biggest ever signing after Robinho.

After joining in January, Dzeko scored just two goals in his first 15 Premier League games, and had gone nine league games without a goal before scoring the winner against Blackburn in April.

"I think it is a new beginning for me at City," Dzeko said after the game and, with a full pre-season under his belt, the striker proved his worth in 2011/12 as City won the title. He's scored 64 goals in 140 games for City since the start of that season.

9) Jurgen Klinsmann (Tottenham Hotspur)

A weird one for Klinsmann, who arrived back at White Hart Lane in December 1997 tasked with saving the club from relegation. Expectations were high after his wondrous season in English football in 1994/5, winning Player of the Year and perhaps inadvertently pioneering the comedy goal celebration.

Back at Spurs at the age of 33, Klinsmann's displays were disappointing at first, the only goal in his first nine matches coming against West Ham in January. By mid-March Spurs were 17th in the table, two points above Barnsley who had a game in hand.

What followed was eight Klinsmann goals in Spurs' last nine league games, including four goals at Selhurst Park on the penultimate weekend of the season to secure the club's survival. Supporters weren't wringing their hands about missing out on the top four back then.

8) Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United)

Having missed a penalty on debut against his former club Tottenham at White Hart Lane, Teddy Sheringham struggled during his first season at Manchester United. He scored fourteen goals, but too often Sheringham appeared sluggish around the penalty area, and famously also fell out with strike partner Andy Cole.

When Dwight Yorke arrived in 1998, it was presumed that Sheringham would leave the club, but he instead remained as back-up for the next two seasons, scoring most notably in the Champions League final in 1999.

It wasn't until Sheringham's fourth season at Old Trafford that he really hit the heights. Aged 34, he started 29 league games, was United's top scorer, kept his place in the England squad and was named Footballer of the Year. That's some Indian summer.

7) James Beattie (Southampton)

There can't be many more demeaning things in football than being included as 1/7th of the value of Kevin Davies as makeweight in a deal, but that unfortunate status quo befell James Beattie in the summer of 1998. During his initial time at The Dell, he looked to be worth even less than that.

However, Beattie is included not just for his drought but also the dramatic turnaround. Having scored five goals in his first 62 Premier League games for Southampton, including a run of 27 matches without a goal, the striker scored twice against Chelsea in November 2000. What then followed was a further eight goals in nine games.

If a striker can go 27 matches without a goal and yet play for England three years later, Mario Balotelli can make it at Anfield.

6) Juan Pablo Angel (Aston Villa)

When Angel joined Aston Villa in January 2001, he became the club's record signing at £9.5m. After family problems (his wife fell seriously ill) and homesickness, Angel sometimes struggled to even make the Villa bench. He rang his international manager to ask not to be considered for international selection, such was his poor form, and started just eight games under Graham Taylor in his first full season in England.

"I'm a professional and to be in the national team you have to be at your best. I decided to have a step back and say, 'Listen, when I'm playing I'll be back'," Angel said, and it worked. Given a fresh start under David O'Leary, the goals finally began to flow for the Colombian.

"When David O'Leary came in, he said he was going to give me a fresh start and the same opportunity as everyone. He said it would be up to me to take it. I started pre-season and tried to get my fitness right. I've been lucky to perform well and score some goals and I'm playing. It's all about performance." Makes you feel warm inside.

5) Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Whilst Liverpool fans largely stuck by Crouch following his £7m signing from Southampton (before the days when everyone made that move), there is little doubt that his initial goalscoring record was shambolic. Crouch failed to score in his first 18 matches for the club, and was subjected to ridicule from opposition supporters for his inability to break his duck.

Finally, during a December home game against Wigan, Crouch scored twice, adding three more in his next four league games including the opener in a Merseyside derby at Goodison.

By the time Crouch had left the club in July 2008 (for a profit), he had 42 Liverpool goals and had established himself as first choice for his country. In 2006 Crouch also scored 11 goals for England, a post-war calendar year record. Have that Bobby Charlton.

4) Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

He may now have been voted as Chelsea's greatest ever player, but Didier Drogba endured a difficult start to his Stamford Bridge career, with his tendency to feign injury and dive more apparent than his goalscoring prowess.

It took until January for the Ivorian to score his fifth league goal, and it wasn't until his second season that his reputation finally began to transform.

Drogba now has 159 Chelsea goals, shook off the 'diver' moniker entirely and is known as one of the game's good guys, his Foundation providing financial support in health and education in Africa. Aim for that, Mario.

3) Thierry Henry (Arsenal)

Of course Thierry Henry's conversion from a winger into a striker is written into Arsenal folklore, but the fabulous Frenchman didn't hit the ground sprinting.

Henry failed to score in his first eight league matches as an Arsenal player, the forward admitting that he needed to "rediscover the scoring instinct, that automatic reaction in front of goal."

It didn't come instantly. "I've literally had to go back to school and be re-taught everything about the art of striking," Henry conceded. Arsene Wenger remained convinced that his idea would come to fruition, despite his new signing having just two goals by late-November.

The rest is history. Sensuous, velvety smooth and sexy history, punctuated by the type of goals you wish you could legally apply to marry. Through patience, a star had been born.

2) Andy Cole (Manchester United)

Cole became an integral part of Manchester United's dominance in the late 1990s, but came very close to failing to make the Old Trafford grade after his British transfer record move in 1995. He did score 12 goals in 18 games in his first half-season, but five of those were against an Ipswich side amongst the most rotten in Premier League history.

His second season was a disaster. Cole scored 14 goals but missed chance after chance, much to the disgust of Alex Ferguson. Supporters began to lose faith in a striker famously described by Glenn Hoddle as requiring five chances to score. He was also rumoured to have been offered to Blackburn as part of a deal to sign Alan Shearer - it was clear that Fergie was searching for other options.

It was the retirement of Eric Cantona in summer 1997 that breathed new life into Cole's United career. He became first choice again, scored 71 goals in three seasons and won the treble. He also certainly didn't need 355 chances to score those goals - Hoddle had been speaking rubbish. Again.

1) Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)

When Bergkamp arrived in England, his signing had tripled Arsenal's record transfer fee paid, and even Arsenal fans were worried when the Dutchman failed to score in his first seven Premier League games. Not as worried as Stuart Pearce was though.

It must go down as one of the worst predictions ever: "Bergkamp struggled with Inter Milan. He made no impression. I would have taken Stan Collymore ahead of Bergkamp, even for £1m more. Liverpool have got a better deal than Arsenal. Buying Platt and Bergkamp at the same time is a massive gamble on Arsenal's part, I'm not convinced it will pay off."

Now I love Stan Collymore, but it all worked out okay for Dennis. Three titles, four FA Cups, two Goal of the Season awards and a statue outside the Emirates.

A version of this article first appeared on Football365