cartoon capers worth hassle for Manchester City
There was a time when it would have been a badge of shame for Italian football to let their best young striker be sent to a finishing school in England. But then the Italian game never has known quite how to cope with the explosive cultural, political and sporting phenomenon that is Mario Balotelli.
So now it appears after being worn down by the years of controversy, they are perfectly content to pass on their problem child to another league where, if you believed in all the advance hot-headed notices, the Premier League can soon enjoy the cartoon sights of ‘Super Mario’ fighting with his team-mates, descending into petulance and simulation, disrespecting the shirt, shirking training and generally being a pain in the neck and impossible to handle.
The popular belief is that not even Jose Mourinho’s magic touch was able to tame Balotelli. Indeed, as a last resort to try to get him onside, the Portuguese tried an exasperated public rant at Inter, protesting: “Nothing has changed. Neither the way Balotelli works nor his attitude. His effort in training is 25 per cent; if it was at 50 per cent he would be one of the best players in the world.
“I don’t like the atmosphere he is bringing to the team and the way he works during the week. It’s not the right attitude for a young player. He lacks concentration and motivation. He must change.”
Yet here is the thing. Just like Roberto Mancini before him, Mourinho never gave up on Balotelli. He kept trying (and half-succeeding), right to the end of his reign, to discipline, cajole and encourage him. Why? Because both coaches worked closely enough with him to catch a glimpse in embryonic form of one of the best footballers in the world.
Balotelli does not have an attitude problem, reckons Mancini. He has a youth problem. He does not even emerge from his teens until next month.
“When you are young, you make mistakes. That is true of all of us. I do not think Mario is a hard player to work with. I think he is a fantastic player,” he says. “And why do you think he is talked about so much? Because it’s hard not to talk about a great player.”
That is why Mancini wants him. Yes, he may bring baggage. Yes, he can be an awkward so-and-so. And, no, he has only shown his true ability at Inter in fits and starts. But, heck, what a player!
Watching him dazzle for Inter in their title-clinching game at Siena last season was to be swept up by his thrilling talent; great movement, power on the break and strength at holding up the ball, the mind particularly still pictures a glorious acrobatic volley which smashed against the bar.
This was a huge game and he seemed energised by the responsibility of being given a start by Mourinho. And for those who lambast him as being selfish, he resembled the perfect team player too.
That is why his record for ‘assists’ is as impressive as his goalscoring, even though he netted at a rate of more than a goal every two games last season.
How he could not have made the cut for Italy’s grey, decrepit World Cup squad is a scandal, really. Marcello Lippi did not trust in him and so the Azzurri’s tepid downfall serves him right. Maybe that has been Italy’s problem from the start with Balotelli; the country has, as yet, not learned to trust someone whose like they’d never seen before.
For Balotelli has been, if anything, too different for them. Maybe Italy would have liked their first homegrown black superstar footballer to be a model of restraint and dignity in the face of being one of the most racially abused footballers in Europe.
But ‘Super Mario’ would not play the stoic victim; he hit back at the racists, then fed their poisonous barbs by some of his undeniably childish and ill-advised actions, like chucking down his Inter shirt in disgust when taunted by fans and wearing the colours of AC Milan on a television show.
But then for more than three years in Italy, the kid has found himself the subject of a national debate which stretches far beyond football, and Mancini himself has had sympathy with how difficult life must have been for a boy expected to be a smiling role model in the teeth of thousands screaming “Balotelli must die” at him.
So why wouldn’t a new start in England feel like a release? Here, even if justifying a huge price tag at Manchester City will bring its own pressure, Balotelli will begin not as a national cause celebre or an abused hate figure but as just another young black footballer.
And if he proves as good as his talent demands, what price England falling for him before Italy does?
How Italy’s wild child winds up friend and foe
» Jan 2010 Fined £7,000 by Italian league for offering sarcastic applause at Chievo fans’ racial abuse.
» March Wears AC Milan shirt on a television show. Makes public apology to manager Jose Mourinho
» April Apologises again after offensive gesture to fans after victory over Barcelona at San Siro and flare-up with team-mate Marco Materazzi in the tunnel
» May Agent claims that wheel nuts on Balotelli’s car were deliberately loosened
» May Claims Francesco Totti racially abused him in Coppa Italia final. Totti, sent off for kicking Balotelli, denies it and says Balotelli taunted him with: “Yo, granddad! You are finished!”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -City.html
