Balotelli (continued)

[ChrisNUFC]

So was it the back heel that got to Bobby Manc then?

Having heard some quotes from after the game seems as though Balo had a total nightmare however having watched the game back i didnt think he played that badly (certainly not as bad as i expected having heard aforementioned interview)

I know the timing of his flicks etc may have been inappropriate but trying to drill that out of a player is curbing his natural game and talent.

I know he is not everyone's cup of tea but i think some are a little too harsh. If that had been Ronaldo trying something similar at 2-0 down i doubt anyone would have abtted an eyelid

That's the problem, he doesn't have much talent yet he and others think that there is a Ronaldo esque performance just around the corner. There isn't, he's bang average

I can count on 1 hand the amount of times his 'talent' has got him on the back pages rather than his 'personality'

Fair enough. I have not seen enough of him to formulate a strong opinion. He does always seem to be in the headlines for non football related activities surely though if he was only average he would of been fucked off ages ago. I got the impression that the reason he was tolerated and kept at the club was that the potential would eventually come good.

Why else would he still be there?

 

[sergiokun]

Ship him out Mancini before it's to late... Overrated player who will never be as he thinks

 

[Blue Hefner]

So was it the back heel that got to Bobby Manc then?

Having heard some quotes from after the game seems as though Balo had a total nightmare however having watched the game back i didnt think he played that badly (certainly not as bad as i expected having heard aforementioned interview)

I know the timing of his flicks etc may have been inappropriate but trying to drill that out of a player is curbing his natural game and talent.

I know he is not everyone's cup of tea but i think some are a little too harsh. If that had been Ronaldo trying something similar at 2-0 down i doubt anyone would have abtted an eyelid

That's the problem, he doesn't have much talent yet he and others think that there is a Ronaldo esque performance just around the corner. There isn't, he's bang average

I can count on 1 hand the amount of times his 'talent' has got him on the back pages rather than his 'personality'

Fair enough. I have not seen enough of him to formulate a strong opinion. He does always seem to be in the headlines for non football related activities surely though if he was only average he would of been fucked off ages ago. I got the impression that the reason he was tolerated and kept at the club was that the potential would eventually come good.

Why else would he still be there?

Because no other team is daft enough to fork out 20mil and 100k-a-week for him!

 

[ChrisNUFC]

That's the problem, he doesn't have much talent yet he and others think that there is a Ronaldo esque performance just around the corner. There isn't, he's bang average

I can count on 1 hand the amount of times his 'talent' has got him on the back pages rather than his 'personality'

Fair enough. I have not seen enough of him to formulate a strong opinion. He does always seem to be in the headlines for non football related activities surely though if he was only average he would of been fucked off ages ago. I got the impression that the reason he was tolerated and kept at the club was that the potential would eventually come good.

Why else would he still be there?

Because no other team is daft enough to fork out 20mil and 100k-a-week for him!

That sir is a good point.

Given that and the level of investment you (as a club) have in him would it not be more prudent to support him as much as possible in the hope things will improve?

 

[Blue Hefner]

Fair enough. I have not seen enough of him to formulate a strong opinion. He does always seem to be in the headlines for non football related activities surely though if he was only average he would of been fucked off ages ago. I got the impression that the reason he was tolerated and kept at the club was that the potential would eventually come good.

Why else would he still be there?

Because no other team is daft enough to fork out 20mil and 100k-a-week for him!

That sir is a good point.

Given that and the level of investment you (as a club) have in him would it not be more prudent to support him as much as possible in the hope things will improve?

That would be all its based on, hope. He's been here 2 and a half years and there is no evidence whatsoever that he will ever deliver what people 'hope' he will

 

[sh249]

He did fine yesterday. First 20 minutes was the best we've played all season, and he was prominent in that - his movement was good, as was his link up play with Aguero. He went out of it after the first goal, as we did as a team. Start of the second half he gave a shit pass away infield from the left, then did the stupid backheel. No issue whatsoever with him coming off, and Tevez clearly did make a difference. But nor was there any problem with playing him from the start - Tevez hasn't been playing especially well, nor have we as a team, Mancini changed it and for that first period we looked the better for it, played with far better tempo, urgency, movement than we have for ages (apart from Madrid second half).

So can't see any justification for all the 'Balotelli is shit', 'picking him was the same as giving Utd a 2-goal lead' (!), 'he'll cost Mancini his job' etc. All seems totally misplaced to me.

 

[Blue Hefner]

He did fine yesterday. First 20 minutes was the best we've played all season, and he was prominent in that - his movement was good, as was his link up play with Aguero. He went out of it after the first goal, as we did as a team. Start of the second half he gave a shit pass away infield from the left, then did the stupid backheel. No issue whatsoever with him coming off, and Tevez clearly did make a difference. But nor was there any problem with playing him from the start - Tevez hasn't been playing especially well, nor have we as a team, Mancini changed it and for that first period we looked the better for it, played with far better tempo, urgency, movement than we have for ages (apart from Madrid second half).

So can't see any justification for all the 'Balotelli is shit', 'picking him was the same as giving Utd a 2-goal lead' (!), 'he'll cost Mancini his job' etc. All seems totally misplaced to me.

Has he ever done anything more than a midtable striker would do ie go on a good run of goal scoring form or made a place in t he team his own.

Scoring in the 6-1, playing quite well in the semi final and scoring at the death V Spurs is about it isn't it? Over 2 and a half years than just not good enough

 

[Shaelumstash]

I keep hearing and reading in the press how Balotelli was "a disgrace" yesterday, but I still haven't heard anything specific that he did that was disgraceful.

He was our best player in the first half yesterday, but unfortunately his reputation for being a nob head precedes him so people don't bother to analyse how he actually plays.

 

[Anonymous]

I keep hearing and reading in the press how Balotelli was "a disgrace" yesterday, but I still haven't heard anything specific that he did that was disgraceful.

He was our best player in the first half yesterday, but unfortunately his reputation for being a nob head precedes him so people don't bother to analyse how he actually plays.

You including the manager in that final paragraph because he was the most vocal of Balo's critics yesterday, and in many respects he opened the floodgates by hanging him out to dry in the manner in which he did.

 

[sh249]

He did fine yesterday. First 20 minutes was the best we've played all season, and he was prominent in that - his movement was good, as was his link up play with Aguero. He went out of it after the first goal, as we did as a team. Start of the second half he gave a shit pass away infield from the left, then did the stupid backheel. No issue whatsoever with him coming off, and Tevez clearly did make a difference. But nor was there any problem with playing him from the start - Tevez hasn't been playing especially well, nor have we as a team, Mancini changed it and for that first period we looked the better for it, played with far better tempo, urgency, movement than we have for ages (apart from Madrid second half).

So can't see any justification for all the 'Balotelli is shit', 'picking him was the same as giving Utd a 2-goal lead' (!), 'he'll cost Mancini his job' etc. All seems totally misplaced to me.

Has he ever done anything more than a midtable striker would do ie go on a good run of goal scoring form or made a place in t he team his own.

Scoring in the 6-1, playing quite well in the semi final and scoring at the death V Spurs is about it isn't it? Over 2 and a half years than just not good enough

I'm certainly not denying that he hasn't done enough since being here, although - to my mind - he's had far more good games than you suggest. I just can't understand how/why anyone would suggest that his selection yesterday was the key factor in us losing/going 2-0 down? It's completely bizarre, if perhaps regrettably predicatable.