Mancini - Balotelli

[Marvin]

The title is almost certainly lost simply as a result of there being a better team in the league during the entire course of the season. Pure and simple.

There are moments in the season when virtually every player 'didn't quite perform' and moments when those players 'stood out for praise'.

On balance, Mario would be lower down the list of stalwart performers, and for that reason, when you come to 'improve a team' you do so separating the wheat from the chaff. Mario is chaff.

If this was 3 years ago, and we were hovering around top 6. then there might be an argument for having a little more tolerance, but we are TRYING to compete with the best teams in the world now (and we are total novices), we simply can't afford to carry 'learners' or 'wildcards' in the same way a more experienced team might be able to.

I've watched James Milner these last few days - he's no world beater, but he's a fine player. He works hard. He shows passion (but not at the expense of a hot head).
I've looked at United.... They have grafters of the same ilk

City have an imbalance of stars vs grafters. We're not far off the right balance, but not quite there yet. And for me, Balo's not a grafter, and he's not really superstar either. And worst of all, you just can't depend on him.

He needs to go.

How many City players, in the backs of their minds must be distracted, worrying about HIM? If you have a player by your side that you just trust and rely on, it means you can focus on your own game. If you're having to babysit another player, it means you're less focussed on your own job.

With Milner - you know what you're getting week in week out. It's decent, it's dependable, and across a season probably adds up to more 'value' than Balo.
United have won the league many times by playing 'percetage football' - solid, week in week out perfomances (this season a prime example)... plodding along, until eventually, you've got more points than the rest.

Balo out, Kolo out, Savic out, Tevez out, Johnson out. Too 'mad', too unfit, too inexperiences, too disruptive, too disinterested.

We HAVE a decent team spirit. We just have a few too many 'issue' players that need to go

Very good post

Not sure I agree about the Kolo, Johnson bits but the mario bit definitely. So hard to understand why Mario has become so central to mancini's plans.

 

[redmizzle]

Re: Will Balotelli be sold? Mancini: Probably- but I don't know

Mancini: Balotelli could be sold

Roberto Mancini says he will "probably'' sell Mario Balotelli this summer after the controversial striker was sent off in Manchester City's Premier League defeat at Arsenal that signalled a virtual end to their title challenge.

Mancini also appeared to suggest Balotelli would not play again for him this season, although the club later claimed he said that because he expected the Football Association to throw the book at the controversial 21-year-old.

Balotelli will serve a ban of at least three matches after his sending off in this Sunday's 1-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium and Mancini seemed to call on the FA to take further action against his own player for a knee-high challenge on Alex Song that went unpunished.

Asked for how long he he could put up with Balotelli's antics, Mancini said: "I am finished. We have six games and he will not play in the next six games.''

Pushed further on whether he would try to sell Balotelli at the end of the season, Mancini replied: "Probably - but I don't know. It depends, because Balotelli is a fantastic player.

"I can continue to play with Mario on the pitch. Every time, we risk one sent off, like today. But he can score also in the last minute.''

Asked if the authorities should examine the incident with Song that referee Martin Atkinson and assistant Peter Kirkup took no action over, Mancini said "I hope so'' and admitted the striker deserved a lengthy ban.

Mancini insisted he kept Balotelli on the pitch because he did not see the tackle on Song until after the game and defended his decision not to substitute him even after he had been booked for another bad challenge on Bacary Sagna.

Mancini, who has known Balotelli since the forward was 17, added: "I love him as a guy, I love him as a player, because I know him. He's not a bad guy. He's a fantastic player.

"But, at this moment, I'm very sorry for him because he continues to lose his talent, his quality. I hope, for him, that he can understand that he's in a bad way for his future, and he can change his behaviour.''

Mancini had said before the game that if Manchester United were to beat QPR and his side lost at Arsenal the title race would be over, but after their 1-0 defeat at the Emirates the Italian said City will keep on fighting.

When asked if the championship was gone: "No, it's not mathematically (over), but it's clear now that it's very difficult. We have a game in three days and we will try to win. Never say never in football.

He added on Sky Sports: "In life until it's over you should do your best. In the end if we don't win it's probably because they (United) did better than us. It's clearly difficult (to lift the players) but we play in three days and this is good.

"We are a professional team, with professional players. It's important we start to win and finish the championship well.''

Arsenal had the better of the chances and hit the woodwork three times before Mikel Arteta's 87th-minute winner. The victory lifted Arsene Wenger's men up to third spot in the table, two points ahead of Spurs and five clear of Chelsea and Newcastle in fifth and sixth.

Arteta said: "I think we were the better team over the whole game, we had the most chances. We scored at the end and for us it's a massive game.

"It was so important, Chelsea won yesterday, Newcastle have been very consistent in the last few games, Tottenham are still in there and it's going to be a big fight from here to the end of the season, but we knew that today was one of the more difficult games for us.

"There was a lot to play for (for both teams). For them it was massive, because now it will be really tough for them to catch Man U and for us if we lost today we would have two teams two points behind us with six games to go. We are so happy.''

<a class="postlink" href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1046627/man-city%27s-roberto-mancini:-mario-balotelli-could-be-sold?campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=5901" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... et&cc=5901</a>

So that one word ''probably'' is what they're making a whole story out of? Transfers are more complicated than that I would've thought and the fact that a player who wants away and has even handed in transfer requests is still here tells me all I need to know. The same Mancini who said Tevez will never play for City again?

 

[brian the blue]

I've always defended Balotelli, not because of what he does off the pitch but because I know what he can do on it. Now this is the first time i've truely felt let down by him as I can't understand why he kept trying to stud people. It was almost as if he was trying to get sent off.

Now, what I can't understand for the life of me, if why Mancini played him wide left?! Not only does that mean he has to work up and down, it also means he has to tackle. Mario should have played as the out and out striker. Its blatantly obvious that he is no way near diciplined enough to play wide left, he was constantly out of position leaving us 2 V 1 against Clichy and as I said, it meant he had to tackle, which is something he simply cannot do. It should've been Aguero in the hole, with Nasri and Milner on the flanks and then Mario up top (in my opinion)

I know Mario has a lot to answer for after today, but the blame has to fall with Mancini for the way he's been using him. No way should he be playing him as a left midfielder with Aguero left stranded alone up front. Made absolutely no sense.

Such a shame really, Someone of Mario's potential could just completely go to waste, he'll end up back in Italy where I can't see him doing anything special and I know we'll have had potentially one of the worlds best players play for us and it'll have completely gone to waste.

 

[MCFCpassion]

Give the guy a break ffs, alright hes done some very stupid things on the pitch and today was a prime example but theres no doubt the quality he has and Mario has scored some very important goals for us this year, it seems as if everyone is trying to blame him when it was a awful team performance. At least Mario has been here all season and not been sulking when hes not playing unlike Tevez who fucked off for 5 months, slagging the town and Mancini off and made the whole club look like idiots yet the majority of people on here are welcoming Tevez back with open arms. I dont know if anyone has noticed but our form has gone down hill since Tevez has returned to the squad so maybe the blame should lye else where and not just Mario getting the blame.

 

[preston-blue]

Mario Liabilty.

 

[joezilla]

Balotelli is idiot. Looking at his past, childhood etc. it happens, some of guys with such history finish much worse than him. What made me mad many times here is people talking he is some fu'kin' legend and Messiah.

But Mancini is **** of the highest order. Blaming Mario now after the match like my dad was the one who stuck with him for years and spread stories about new Pele raising in front of our eyes, and not Mancini himself.

Blaming Mario after the game where anyone with half-functional brain could see what would happen after 15-20 minutes and yet kept him in the game until he finally got sent.

Complete woman of a man.

those were my exact thoughts. if he though that mario was unmanageable and a liability, like he implied after the game, he shouldn't have thrown mario into the fire and later blame mario for being mario.. it's entirely up to mancini to manage mario's qualities and flaws.

 

[preston-blue]

Give the guy a break ffs

Exactly how many breaks does he need?

 

[Freestyler]

Best thing to do is to send him to italy, off you go and stay away from the club.

 

[welsh_andy]

how many times has RM had a go at mario, yet still plays him. he has to go, hes a liability, but so sad to see such a talent go to waste because of his attitude, will miss mario, but time has come. even RM has to admit he fucked up buying mario, everyone said it was a risk, mario have be awesome if RM could have tamed him. shame

 

[svennis pennis]

Mancini is publicly making Mario a scapegoat. Shocking management. Keep it in house for fuck sake.