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On 3rd January, 2013 the Independent reported that Mario Balotelli had been involved in a bust-up with City Manager, Roberto Mancini and questioned whether the striker had any future with City.
However on the 4th of January, Mancini came over and declared that the incident was just a routine one. He further said “I will give him another 100 chances if I think it’s possible he can change. I give him another chance, sure, because he is 22 and he can make a mistake.” Well, you may give him a 100 more chances, Mr. Mancini, but the question that many City fans are asking is, does he deserve them?
Most City fans would want Balotelli to be offloaded in the present window or in the summer. The reason why Mancini is still holding onto Balotelli is unclear to most people. Mancini still feels that he can tweak Balotelli’s attitude and make him a huge asset. There are also reports that it is Sheikh Mansour (the owner of Manchester City) who wants Balotelli at the club, as he considers Balotelli to be a “Poster Boy” for the club. But I doubt whether the Sheikh will want to associate such an example with his club. This, plus his action of dragging the club to a tribunal over non-payment of two week’s wages to him, could not have endeared him to the Sheikh. Even the “Special One”, Jose Mourinho, faced problems with him.
But the performances that Balotelli has offered till now have just been flashes of brilliance. He has never been a consistent performer, something that is the benchmark of truly good players. Be it the brace against Juventus in the Coppa Italia which made him grab national attention in Italy or scoring in the 83rd minute against AS Roma in the SuperCoppa Italia finals, his performance in the 2011 FA Cup final or his brace against Manchester United in the 6-1 Demolition Derby – all of these have just been “one day shows”.
Most people expected Balotelli to shine in the 2012-2013 season following his brilliant performances in the Euros, especially the one against Germany where he scored 2 goals in first 40 minutes. Many people had even said that Balotelli was the player to watch this season.
But his performances have generally been insipid this season, the most notable being the one against Manchester United where he started the match but was subbed off. Add to all this his constant attitude problems, his constant clashes in the training ground with Kolarov, Kompany, Micah Richards and now even Roberto Mancini, his mad antics, his very poor disciplinary record (he has earned 4 red cards in his career at Manchester City and missed 11 matches due to suspensions in 2011-2012 season), his making tackles that are unnecessary. So, the question to Mancini is, “Is Balotelli worth it?”
It is not as if Balotelli scores goals at will like say, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
All his initial confrontations with his teammates were downplayed by the club calling them just another “Mario Moment”, but his recent one with the very manager who has carefully nurtured him does not paint a good picture of Balotelli.
Well, Balotelli has visibly been forgiven by his manager. He should use this as an golden opportunity to give up his childish nature and work harder.
