Inter coach and players criticize Balotelli

(GSM) – Inter manager Jose Mourinho and a number of his team players criticized Mario Balotelli after the latter threw his Inter shirt away following his team’s 3-1 victory against Barcelona. Several Inter stars, including Dejan Stankovic and Javier Zanetti, criticized the 19-year-old for his disrespectful gesture.

Balotelli has gotten himself into trouble on a number of occasions with manager Jose Mourinho. After a recent bust-up, Mourinho left Balotelli out of the team for six consecutive.

But “Super Mario” then apologized to the manager and was later included in selection. However, Balotelli has now sunk into trouble again and the Inter fans jeered him as he went off the pitch.

“I’m disappointed with the way the fans treated Balotelli, I always want them to support him right to the end, but I understand their reaction because they saw the same things I did,” Mourinho said.

“They saw a team dead on its feet, Milito left the field with cramp, (Goran) Pandev left the field with cramp.

“I put (Cristian) Chivu on and he gave his all, I put (Dejan) Stankovic on and he gave his all.

“Then Mario with this attitude, and all of you (the press), or almost all of you, say it’s normal but then there’s this idiot coach who says it isn’t normal.

“It’s the second most important match in football (after the final) and everyone goes off dead, but one player could have done more to help his team which was struggling, had lost Maicon and was under intense pressure from Barcelona.

“We all wanted more from him, then they whistled him and he did this with the shirt.

“We’ll play on Saturday and he’ll play, no problem with that because we need to rest others.

“He needs to show that he wants to be with us and has understood how to play football and that he should leave the pitch dead. Of course he’s not going home dead because he didn’t run much.”

Inter duo Dejan Stankovic and captain Javier Zanetti also blasted Balotelli for his negative behavior.

“What do I think of Balotelli, how much time have you got? You need to see what is in his head, he’s like a child,” said Stankovic.

Meanwhile Inter captain Zanetti said, “Mario needs to concentrate on doing what he can do on the pitch, he can’t allow himself to behave in this way.”