Balotelli (continued)

[sergiokun]

Liability. Get rid, had no confidence in him startinmg depsite him looking okay as a sub recently.

This

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Liability. Get rid, had no confidence in him startinmg depsite him looking okay as a sub recently.

Im not sure about Dzeko either mate but this is the Balo thread

 

[crystal_mais]

I thought Mario had a fairly decent first half apart from that miss. He was dragging their players out wide and making space but then play always slowed down.

I said to the guys sat near me, Nasri should have come off instead. Then we would have had 3 strikers running at the UTD back line. Would have been a different story.

Mario for all his sins still tracks back in the channel he operates in.

It's a shame - lots of talent but we will not see he best of him

 

[mekonmcfc]

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.

how many shots did we have in the first 20 minutes of the best football we played all season ???? NONE

they had 2 attacks and scored twice

Off the top of my head I can think of Balotelli's free-kick, his shot over the bar, Aguero's side-footer (perhaps later?). Can also think of a couple of really good moves where we didn't quite get the final pass right (i.e. the move that came right before their first). We had all the ball, and had them pinned in their own half, struggling just to live with us. Also had a lot of pressure from corners which didn't come to anything.

Genuine question: do you think we didn't play well in that period?

-- Mon Dec 10, 2012 12:19 pm --

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.

I agree that his selection wasn't the main n reason we were losing but to pick him ahead of Tevez was ridiculous. He is not good enough to play against them.

I'll go back to what I've said earlier, he has done nothing more than a midtable striker would do.

Start at the top of the league and go down it and see where you would get before he would make the starting line up i any of those teams. I'd suggest you would get quite for down the league

Fair enough - we obviously just rate him differently. For what it's worth, I think he'd be a starter for almost any team except us and Utd.

genuine answer - i think we kept the ball extremely well, but we dont get it forward quick enough. United can have 2/3 passes and be in the box causing problems. we always give teams time to regroup. 2nd half a much better tempo and caused many problems

 

[Blue Hefner]

I thought Mario had a fairly decent first half apart from that miss. He was dragging their players out wide and making space but then play always slowed down.

I said to the guys sat near me, Nasri should have come off instead. Then we would have had 3 strikers running at the UTD back line. Would have been a different story.

Mario for all his sins still tracks back in the channel he operates in.

It's a shame - lots of talent but we will not see he best of him

Really?? I just don't see it

Would he get in Utd's team, no. Chelsea's, no. Everton, they wouldn't waste their time with him. Spurs', ahead of Defoe, wouldn't have thought so, L'pool, they've already got enough strikers that don't score often enough. Arsenal, see L'pool

I'm baffled, I just don't see 'it' in him

 

[sir baconface]

So reading between the lines it seems that Balotelli is on fairly good money and is unlikely to achieve such a wage elsewhere and therefore your wagons are tied together for now.

So given that then what are peoples theories idea's on how to resolve the issue?

Get behind the lad as much as possible?

Get rid of him? (if this is selected is it a realistic option)

I'm not fishing here i'm genuinely interested as to what people would like to happen.

Selling is one possibility, Chris, but I'd bet the Italian clubs will be all-mouth-and-no-trousers when asked to show us their dicks. As for PSG, who knows? I wouldn't mind seeing him loaned out ASAP as he and Mancini seem to have painted themselves into corners. We're wasting millions while his arse collects splinters but a run in the starting line-up would be a slap in the eye for other, more committed players.

Ideally Balo will restore some credibility (and market worth) elsewhere and maybe even start to grow up. Then the options are to either rehabilitate or sell. We will need to resolve the longer term situation in the next 12 months or so as he will then be well into the last 2 years of his contract and our testicles will be in a vice.

 

[flb]

Mancini will fall on his own sword with Balotelli, this father son type relationship just simply cant work and to be frank isnt.I just cant see what the loyalty is for him from the manager and the other strikers and team members must be sick and tired of it-we moved up a couple of gears yesterday when he went off, more than a coincidence in my eyes.

 

[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.

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.

Doesn't really answer my question does it? What did he actually do yesterday that was so horrendous?

 

[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.

Doesn't really answer my question does it? What did he actually do yesterday that was so horrendous?

Your question is moot when it's our own manager who's leading the criticism, and it's our manager who subbed him some five minutes into the second half.

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

get rid of him - sell him back to an Italian club, any woud do. I would rather see John Guidetti get a chance to show what he could do, rather than sit through a game and at the end get totally pissed off with Mario's contribution