Firstly I dont care what he does off the pitch (within reason). Dieter Hamman (considered a model pro by everyone in the game) smoked on a regular basis throughout his whole professional career including when he was at city....no one ever used that to bash him though it has been used by some in recent weeks to attack balotelli. Plenty of footballers break curfews, go out have a few beers, sleep with women...again none of this is used to attack them on such a regular basis as it is with Balotelli (and we can all name ones who have done worse but is that ever referred to on MOTD by the likes of Hansen et al......?!?!?!?!?!?....of course it isnt, yet Marios behaviour off the pitch is used against him by these same players.
On the pitch - which is where it really matters. His performances havent been as good as they should be or can be/could be this season. I fully agree with this...however they havent been as bad as some are making out either. He hasnt had much consistent playing time...just occasional matches here and there...which can be used to excuse his low level of performance in some respects....not all but in some respects. But as I said, his performances are being overly criticised by some.....look at torres, rooney and many others...both have gone for large periods of time without scoring....aguero has been below par this season as well...it happens with strikers.
Behaviour on the pitch......his shows of petulance....ive seen him do it many a time, however if you have carefully read what he himself has actually said then some of it is forgiveable...ive seen him kick posts, throw his arms around etc...but imho and from what ive read it is shows of frustration with HIMSELF...he gets annoyed when he misses chances he thinks he should score or make a pass he should make etc.....yes he gets frustrated with other players....but so do them all....case in point...Yaya..does it all the time with referees and others......watch what yaya does to get the ball of nastic to set up the goal vs newcastle....he is waving his arms around demanding nastic gives him the ball....like a petualnt child as some have described mario on here..
Yes he gets frustrated with referees but someone else eluded earlier in the thread to differential treatment....we all see clearly that this happens with a variety of players around the premiership. Balo is a target for referees and this was confimred by an ex ref in an interview a month or so back (cannt remember where it was written)..but the ref in question (a premiership one) eluded to the fact that they will book certain players quicker than others to calm them down/send a msg etc. THAT ISNT RIGHT! and therefore i completely agree with balotellis frustration but like most young men he hasnt learnt to control it (and if you want to see many examples go out into the streets of manchester on a weekend and see for yourself - for all those saying he is 22 and should no better.....most guys of that age dont know better! and there are a lot older ones in the stands at the ethiad and every other football ground every weekend who dont know better either so there are a huge amount of hypocrits around!!!!!!!!)....ive seen him constantly fouled by refs and get nothing.
He is being used as a scapegoat by some, and by others who want him gone so we can again play fantasy football and buy another striker (falcao cavanni...insert name of player who is flavour of the month with the media)...im not doubting any of the talents of these or any others but equally they could not work out..or they might.
the utd game was a case in point....played well in the first half...link up was very good and was at centre of everything we did positively in the first half. Start of the second half tries a couple of flicks which dont come off.......and people are using this as an excuse to attack him becuase we ultimately lost to utd!!!.......What about silva who failed to track the run of rooney for the second goal (mirror of what steven ireland did with paul scholes a few years back and the reaction on here was awful)....what about kolorov who constantly stands off his man and allows crosses into our area every game he plays.....The point is ALL players make mistakes...even the best...wasnt it messi who lost the ball in midfield for the falcao goal the other night....HAHAHAHA (just imagining the threads on here if he had been playing for us and it had been against utd..."needs to be sold...doesnt play for the shirt, we have to stop this tippy tappy crap football"...all of this ive heard on here!)
Balo has negatives as every player does....BUT those refusing to see the positives are just doing cause they want him gone and some hae bought into the media bullshit spouted by the scum press......balo doesnt court attention off the pitch at all...i dont think many footballers do to be honest
