FantasyIreland
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 29 Oct 2008
- Messages
- 64,697
Article in the Mail
-------------------
Manchester City's maniac Mario Balotelli is certainly no King Eric...
By Des Kelly
The first thing we should say about Mario Balotelli is that he is not and, in all likelihood, will never be the new Eric Cantona.
The raw ability is there and he has certainly acquired a knack for kung-fu kicks, but it is not enough. Balotelli lacks the one quality that makes any comparison redundant. He does not have Cantona's intelligence.
Balotelli's supporters say he will grow out of his maverick streak one day, just like Manchester United's iconic Frenchman. But if he cannot summon the wit to pull on a training bib,it is fair to assume Balotelli might not be astute enough to make the most of his natural gifts.
Don't take my word for it. Ask the people who have worked with him; people like Jose Mourinho.
If I had to pick a manager to weigh up the good and bad in a footballer and assess whether their talent compensated for any character failings, Mourinho would be that man.
The Real Madrid coach - formerly at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan - cultivates great loyalty from his playing staff because he knows when to put an arm of encouragement around a shoulder and when to apply a boot to a pampered backside. His gift for man management is renowned.
But back when he was in charge at Inter, even Mourinho could not cope with Balotelli's tantrums and contemptuous breaches of professionalism.
It took six months for him to suspend the player. Eight months later, after endless disputes, missed flights, late arrivals at training camp and even an episode where he wore the shirt of rivals AC Milan on national TV, Balotelli threw his Inter jersey down at Mourinho's feet when he was substituted.
The coach took City's handsome cheque and guided a player he described as 'unmanageable' through the exit door, adding a typically pithy postscript that seems to resonate more and more with each passing week.
'Balotelli has one brain cell,' he said.
Manchester City found out what happens when that solitary, overworked neuron goes on strike when he put his studs into a Dynamo Kiev player, stamping the life out of his club's European campaign.
As if that were not foolish enough, he was pictured apparently confronting visiting fans in the middle of the road on his way home.
Stupid doesn't even cover it, and any apology cobbled together by agents and PRs on the club website cannot make amends.
Gianfranco Zola, another who has coached Balotelli with the Italian Under 21 squad, says: 'Everything is in place except self-discipline. Mario does not have self-control.'
Even Roberto Mancini - his manager at City, who introduced Balotelli to the Inter side at 17 and knows him like no other - branded his actions 'stupid' and said he will drop his £23million striker for the vital game at Chelsea on Sunday.
Funny that. Roll back 12 months and Mourinho was dumping Balotelli from his Inter side facing Chelsea in Champions League for his 'terrible attitude'. Nothing changes.
But it was all supposed to be better in England, away from the history of conflict in Milan and the undercurrent of racist abuse he suffered from a section of the fans.
Managers always think they can change a player. The excuse is that their excesses need to be indulged because there is a fine line between genius and madness.
If so, someone better tell Lionel Messi he needs to smash up a hotel room or two before the cliche becomes completely worthless.
At least Cantona grew to understand that he had to change. It took the threat of jail and an eight-month ban for it to happen, but he always had something more to offer on and off the pitch.
Is there much to Balotelli beyond an instinctive talent burdened with a huge chip on his shoulder?
On Friday at Eastlands they will have rewound the footage of his idiotic lunge and asked the all-important question: Is he really worth it? Is Balotelli the sort of player a club with unlimited resources and unlimited ambition should be trusting?
Or has his upbringing, the fact his parents put him up for adoption at the age of one, and the way everyone has told him how great he is throughout his formative years as a player, conspired to create a character who is irredeemably damaged goods?
Right now, he looks a loan deal waiting to happen. He looks like a player searching for something; only he has no idea what that might be.
Balotelli looks like a player who will never feel at home the way Cantona did at Old Trafford.
It may be small consolation to them right now, but the winners of an epic Champions League draw could well be two teams that were not in the pot - Arsenal and Manchester City.
While Chelsea and Manchester United prepare to trade blows in their heavyweight quarter-final and Tottenham prepare for the dazzling contest against Real Madrid, those domestic battles will be even more of a strain and the bystanders can take advantage.
Arsenal have nothing left to aim for but a title. While City must now fancy their chances of sealing that top-four place ahead of Spurs in the scramble for Champions League qualification. I'm predicting nothing other than I can't wait to see it all unfold
-------------------
Manchester City's maniac Mario Balotelli is certainly no King Eric...
By Des Kelly
The first thing we should say about Mario Balotelli is that he is not and, in all likelihood, will never be the new Eric Cantona.
The raw ability is there and he has certainly acquired a knack for kung-fu kicks, but it is not enough. Balotelli lacks the one quality that makes any comparison redundant. He does not have Cantona's intelligence.
Balotelli's supporters say he will grow out of his maverick streak one day, just like Manchester United's iconic Frenchman. But if he cannot summon the wit to pull on a training bib,it is fair to assume Balotelli might not be astute enough to make the most of his natural gifts.
Don't take my word for it. Ask the people who have worked with him; people like Jose Mourinho.
If I had to pick a manager to weigh up the good and bad in a footballer and assess whether their talent compensated for any character failings, Mourinho would be that man.
The Real Madrid coach - formerly at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan - cultivates great loyalty from his playing staff because he knows when to put an arm of encouragement around a shoulder and when to apply a boot to a pampered backside. His gift for man management is renowned.
But back when he was in charge at Inter, even Mourinho could not cope with Balotelli's tantrums and contemptuous breaches of professionalism.
It took six months for him to suspend the player. Eight months later, after endless disputes, missed flights, late arrivals at training camp and even an episode where he wore the shirt of rivals AC Milan on national TV, Balotelli threw his Inter jersey down at Mourinho's feet when he was substituted.
The coach took City's handsome cheque and guided a player he described as 'unmanageable' through the exit door, adding a typically pithy postscript that seems to resonate more and more with each passing week.
'Balotelli has one brain cell,' he said.
Manchester City found out what happens when that solitary, overworked neuron goes on strike when he put his studs into a Dynamo Kiev player, stamping the life out of his club's European campaign.
As if that were not foolish enough, he was pictured apparently confronting visiting fans in the middle of the road on his way home.
Stupid doesn't even cover it, and any apology cobbled together by agents and PRs on the club website cannot make amends.
Gianfranco Zola, another who has coached Balotelli with the Italian Under 21 squad, says: 'Everything is in place except self-discipline. Mario does not have self-control.'
Even Roberto Mancini - his manager at City, who introduced Balotelli to the Inter side at 17 and knows him like no other - branded his actions 'stupid' and said he will drop his £23million striker for the vital game at Chelsea on Sunday.
Funny that. Roll back 12 months and Mourinho was dumping Balotelli from his Inter side facing Chelsea in Champions League for his 'terrible attitude'. Nothing changes.
But it was all supposed to be better in England, away from the history of conflict in Milan and the undercurrent of racist abuse he suffered from a section of the fans.
Managers always think they can change a player. The excuse is that their excesses need to be indulged because there is a fine line between genius and madness.
If so, someone better tell Lionel Messi he needs to smash up a hotel room or two before the cliche becomes completely worthless.
At least Cantona grew to understand that he had to change. It took the threat of jail and an eight-month ban for it to happen, but he always had something more to offer on and off the pitch.
Is there much to Balotelli beyond an instinctive talent burdened with a huge chip on his shoulder?
On Friday at Eastlands they will have rewound the footage of his idiotic lunge and asked the all-important question: Is he really worth it? Is Balotelli the sort of player a club with unlimited resources and unlimited ambition should be trusting?
Or has his upbringing, the fact his parents put him up for adoption at the age of one, and the way everyone has told him how great he is throughout his formative years as a player, conspired to create a character who is irredeemably damaged goods?
Right now, he looks a loan deal waiting to happen. He looks like a player searching for something; only he has no idea what that might be.
Balotelli looks like a player who will never feel at home the way Cantona did at Old Trafford.
It may be small consolation to them right now, but the winners of an epic Champions League draw could well be two teams that were not in the pot - Arsenal and Manchester City.
While Chelsea and Manchester United prepare to trade blows in their heavyweight quarter-final and Tottenham prepare for the dazzling contest against Real Madrid, those domestic battles will be even more of a strain and the bystanders can take advantage.
Arsenal have nothing left to aim for but a title. While City must now fancy their chances of sealing that top-four place ahead of Spurs in the scramble for Champions League qualification. I'm predicting nothing other than I can't wait to see it all unfold