Listened to debate intently, McGarry was the only one to come out with any credibility - his point was endorsed by Mourinho - not a bad reference.
Savage claimed any player who has ever played professional football has a touch of genius - including him, Claridge and presumably Gerry Crainey, Alan Kernaghen, Barry Conlon and Ged Brannan. Enough said.
The thing with these pundits is they miss the most simple observations. We struggled to find a goal against Arsenal (the day before this programme went to air) - step in Mario to take on their left back to set up the rebound for Silva. Without that single action we could have ended up 0-0 or worse. He also made his own chance in the first half - even with all the talent on the pitch, I feel he was the only one to make such a good chance from so little there.
Likewise the FA Cup, despite dominating the game, it was Mario's back heel (as part of his MOTM performance) that created the winning goal.
That in my view is genius - in football terms - on a pitch full of some of the worlds top professionals, he can do something that others cant that often makes the difference in games.
Comparisons with Cantona are so lazy. He wasted much of his career being a loon. After sulking round France - rarely its national team - he was rejected by Sheffield Wednesday and rescused by Leeds. He did have a great impact towards the end of his career but wasted much of it being a tool or being banned for attacking a fan - now that is madness!
As long as we keep Mario off the booze - the peril of many a 'genius' footballer - we should be fine. There is no man better placed to manage him than Bobby.
Life would be pretty boring if we were only surrounded by Michael Owens!