Needs to learn fast
Horrible
The twenty year old is unlikely to feature for Manchester City in their game today at Chelsea after he was sent off in City’s Europa League exit on Thursday. He saw red for a horrible challenge that left the referee with little choice.
After the game, manager Roberto Mancini was clearly cross with his £24 million player.
“I don’t think he’ll be in the squad against Chelsea. I don’t know if it was a red card or a yellow card, but when you play a game like this you should pay attention. Mario thinks he could be a fantastic player. When he does something stupid like that, it’s difficult for me. I didn’t see the foul properly but I am very disappointed because in a game like this it is very difficult if you pick up a red card, and you can pick up a red card for doing something stupid.”
Stranger
Team-mate Nigel de Jong, himself no stranger to similar challenges, also spoke about Balotelli.
“He is a young boy of twenty and he has to learn from his mistakes. I told him. Everyone told him. He is still part of the squad and has a lot of potential. He is a very good player but has to realise, on a professional level, you sometimes have to change your mentality. We are there to help him, not to criticise him or blast him away. He has experienced guys around him and has to listen to them. After the game he was angry and he was disappointed. Sometimes you make mistakes and Mario made his mistake. But he will get everything straight again.”
Mancini was the manager at Inter who gave the young striker a first team place. He obviously believed he could handle him despite his volatile nature and discipline issues. After Mancini left, Balotelli never saw eye to eye with his replacement, Jose Mourinho, and the discipline issues started to increase.
Outrage
Balotelli appeared on Italian television wearing a Milan shirt, which understandably caused outrage and uproar amongst Inter fans. Then, when substituted in a game, Balotelli threw his Inter shirt to the ground when he was booed by his own fans. His time at Inter became untenable.
Mancini, now at Manchester City, went back to his old club and rescued the Ghanaian born Italian international. The transfer fee of £24 million was quite remarkable for a twenty year old who had played just fifty-nine first team league games over three seasons.
Mancini is no mug and like many others, I expected to see a pretty special player. I haven’t seen that yet. What I have seen is a sulky, petulant, immature young man who is in danger of wasting whatever talent he has got.
As Nigel de Jong said, Balotelli has got to learn by his mistakes. I hope he learns quickly, because if he doesn’t, it won’t matter how good he is, nobody will want to touch him.
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