BufordUSABlue said:
Damo, you have been unyielding in your support for the guy which is applaudable in itself, but surely even you must be having some doubts right now? So you should understand some of the (albeit way over the top at times!) apathy towards Balo from people who dont share your total loyalty to the guy?
I understand the frustrations of people, because I often share them myself. However, making long and sweeping statements like "get rid ffs", I find short-termist and somewhat self defeating.
People who watched him at Inter, and those who compare him to his first couple of games can see a noticeable change in his attitude, both in his outbursts and how often he tracks back when playing on the wing. He IS getting there.
Also, I don't have any loyalty to the guy on a personal level; he's just another one of the lads as far as I am concerned and would get the same treatment as anyone. However, there are certain players who come along once or twice in a generation, where you can just see something in them. At 20, he has the ability to be a matchwinner, and his scoring record is better than most. I rate his ability, higher than I rate nearly everyone (obvious exceptions apart).
When you have a player who has this type of ability, sometimes you have to let them grow up in front of you. Every single top player apart from Messi has done these things that Balo has done, it's just part of the process of getting there. People management isn't a one size fits all category, and you have to adapt to each player. Mourinho once said that a football manager who is fair is a buffoon; all top managers have just worked out how to show the illusion of fairness. I tend to agree with that.
There was a player for Roma in the 80s called Falcao (if memory serves). He decided that he didn't want to train, ever, on the day before a match. He was a matchwinner for them regularly, so they didn't want to piss him off, as he felt it was better for his body; thus, everybody on the team trained other day before apart from Falcao. He still won them matches and scored goals.
Sir Bobby Robson wrote an excellent autobiography, and in it mentioned his time at PSV where he managed Romario. Romario would barely train, smoked large cigars and buggered off back to Brazil regularly. He also wouldn't pass much on the pitch. He still got his games however, because he banged them in.
There are numerous other examples around the world; Maradona always took a week extra holiday and was consistently 30 minutes late to training at Napoli, but he worked out fine.
You can also point to Ronaldo at United, Cassano at Madrid, Bellamy at Newcastle, Barton at City, etc, of players who just took a bit of time to grow up. It happens sometimes in such an intensely public trade, and we as fans have an important part to play in how it ends. We can boo him, and we've wasted near £30m or we can show him some love and watch hiim grow in front of us.
The day Balotelli signed, I said that neither his performances nor his pricetag will determine the success of his time here. The reaction of the fans to his growing pains, is the sole determinant. He will bang them in, and grow into a giant of a player wherever he is, I would just prefer that to be here than elsewhere.
He's daft, he's immature and he's reckless at times. We all were at his age, even Mr Professional Ryan Giggs had his troubles back then. He is a testament to how much a player can evolve in the spotlight, and Balo COULD do this.
Special Italian players generally are twats until they grow up a bit. Our own Bobby Manc was a fucking dick until he was about Balo's age when he decided to grow up a bit. Cassano, Totti and the others, I won't mention!
The point is, Balotelli is a long term project who has short term positives (goals) and negatives (discipline). As he continues on here, his discipline will calm down, like it does for all players., and the positives will only grow stronger.
When you have as many positives as him, he's worth the risk. Mourinho himself said that he only trains at 50%, if he ever decided to train at 75%, he'd be the best player in the world!
We cannot throw that type of talent away because of a few small incidents, we need to look at the bigger picture here
