mario balotelli

frederic38

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frederic38

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i don't really know what happened to the "freakishly gifted" balotelli, he's not even in the team now, he was not even on the bench against real madrid and in the next premier league match he won't be on the bench either
also dzeko scored against real madrid
so balotelli could leave manchester city soon
manchester city would have paid 28 million euros (most expansive 20 years old player ever) for 19 useless goals in 3 years?
it starts looking like one of the biggest flops ever
 

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after the champions league match where balotelli stole the ball to aguero to score a penalty kick, aguero had a nice revenge today:

Sergio Aguero justified Roberto Mancini's decision to haul off Mario Balotelli as the Manchester City striker came on to score the crucial goal in his side's 3-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.

Argentina star Aguero was introduced by City boss Mancini as a 55th minute replacement for Balotelli, much to the disapproval of the controversial Italian, who took an age to saunter off the field and headed straight down the tunnel, rather than taking his position next to Mancini on the City bench.

However, within five minutes, Aguero had scored for City, adding to an early goal from Aleksandar Kolarov, and leaving the outcome of the contest at Eastlands in no doubt.

balotelli still hasn't scored in premiere league this season, i don't see him staying at manchester city much longer
 

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here's alan shearer comparing balotelli with aguero in the latest match:

[video=dailymotion;xu8ton]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xu8ton_balotelli_sport[/video]

i remember that he already said this about balotelli during the 2012 euro champs:

"Balotelli hasn't achieved anything in his career yet."
 
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Matra2

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Excellent analysis from Shearer. Balotelli is not a smart player. He's entirely instinctual. He can't "read" the game.
 

frederic38

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Excellent analysis from Shearer. Balotelli is not a smart player. He's entirely instinctual. He can't "read" the game.

the video was sent to me by john who posted on this forum, but unfortunately he can't post them right now
i'll post a few other videos he sent me like this one
 

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the video was sent to me by john who posted on this forum, but unfortunately he can't post them right now
i'll post a few other videos he sent me like this one


good analysis. You really get to see what is happening.
 

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Listen, Balotelli, you are not worth the trouble any more

There comes a point at which Mario Balotelli becomes more trouble than he is worth. And inch by inch, he would appear to be getting there.

Substituted against Sunderland on Saturday, Balotelli marched straight down the tunnel, ignoring his manager Roberto Mancini and his team-mates, who were holding a slender 1-0 lead at the time.

His presence on the touchline would have made no difference to the outcome but it would have demonstrated solidarity, a sense that all at the club were in it together, in what has been a difficult season so far.


article-2214240-15640618000005DC-822_634x363.jpg
Why always him? Mario Balotelli is causing problems the Manchester City manager could do without

Yet Balotelli left without a backward glance, departed from the ground soon after the final whistle and headed back to Italy for international duty. No doubt he had a plane to catch. As did Mancini, this being a break in the Premier League programme.

Maybe Balotelli is also a quick dresser. Billy Bonds, lion-hearted captain of West Ham United, used to be heading south through the Blackwall Tunnel when most of his team-mates were still lathering up the Head and Shoulders. It did not mean he wasn’t committed.

[h=3]More from Martin Samuel...[/h]




Yet Bonds would not have deserted his club in a show of petulance on being substituted. He would not have done anything that would have placed even an ounce of extra pressure on his manager on what was, otherwise, a very good day.

Manchester City were anxious to point out that Mancini has put up with far worse than this from Balotelli without it being the last straw. But why should he have to put up with anything at all?

How long does he have to offer excuses and mitigations, or see achievements overshadowed because Balotelli wants to operate beyond the strictures of the team ethic?

There are some at City who would have dealt with the problem in the summer. It is not the first occasion Mancini has been forced to treat Balotelli as a special case.

The Mansour family are not in the habit of over-ruling the manager on team matters, but one wonders whether there will come a time when Mancini tires of being the lone speaker in Balotelli’s defence.

He can be a quite brilliant footballer, too, we know that.

During last week’s Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund, there seemed to be some dispute between Balotelli and Sergio Aguero over who would take City’s late-awarded penalty. Move away from the ball, Sergio. Balotelli is the best penalty taker in the country, arguably the world. The moment he stepped up, the stadium was confident that City would salvage a point.

Unfortunately, there is no slot in football for a place kicker. Balotelli cannot remain on the sidelines ready to be called to action in those moments that define a game.

Not that this is all he offers; more that the rest of it comes with a maintenance bill attached. There is always a price to pay for Balotelli’s involvement: but the cost is beginning to outweigh the benefit.

Balotelli has scored five goals in his last 16 appearances for Manchester City. Not all of them have been starts, but compare this to the 16 matches before: eight goals. And to the start of last season: five goals in seven.


article-2214240-1560C230000005DC-282_634x439.jpg
Storming off: Balotelli was substituted and headed straight for the dressing room during City's win

Balotelli’s powers are waning; but his capacity for distraction, his nuisance value, is not.

His first season was difficult. Understandably so. A young man in a new country and a new league, Mancini was his father figure and his nurturing nature was admirable.

And scoring so prolifically last season — between September 21, 2011 and December 12, 2011 his record was 11 goals in 14 matches — the time spent indulging Balotelli seemed very much relative to worth. Not any more.

article-2214240-15619C33000005DC-272_306x423.jpg
I'm outta here: Balotelli made for Italy

For one goal every three appearances in the strongest roster in the Premier League, Balotelli should be devoting time to keeping Mancini happy, not the other way around.

The ECB dropped Kevin Pietersen from the squad and quickly discovered his value was greater than imagined. They were right to make a stand but there is more than a hint of pragmatism in his return.

Had England retained the World Twenty20 crown, for instance, or convincingly defeated South Africa in the final summer Test, would his rehabilitation have been as necessary?
Similarly, Cristiano Ronaldo. At more than a goal a game for Real Madrid, he is worth the time the club must spend nursing his ego.

Yet if Mancini once placed Balotelli in the same category, the strength of his feeling may soon dissolve. There is a transfer window looming in January and there will again be voices within the organisation counselling to make Balotelli part of it.

Eventually Mancini might be minded to take their advice.

If a quick getaway is what that the player desires, how long must City stand in his way?


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ar...lotelli-youre-worth-hassle.html#ixzz28lMWr5VQ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 

frederic38

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you can see in the article that they are close to calling him "overrated"
italian coach prandelli said that he was not sure wether he had to call balotelli in the national team or not
eventually he called him, alongside the arab el sharaawy and the black ogbonna

italy will play 2 very important matches against armenia and denmark, and they can't afford to lose
these will be 2 crucial matches for balotelli
we know that balotelli won't be distracted by the pressure (this pressure would have bothered a lot of white players, but not him, because blacks have this "insouciance" - not sure how to translate it: http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/insouciance ) but armenia and especially denmark are difficult teams
 

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i saw that balotelli is on the shortlist of the 2012 ballon d'or
the list right now has 53 players on it, it will be narrowed to 23 players
we'll see if balotelli will be amongst the best 23

ofcourse, he's in the list because of the 2012 euro champs where italy reached the final
6 italians are amongst the 53:

Ballon d'Or — 6 Italy players are up for the award. Buffon, Pirlo, De Rossi, Marchisio, Di Natale and Balotelli. Thanks to Euro 2012.

http://english.gazzetta.it/Football...rning-point-for-the-future-912877660941.shtml
 

Matra2

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After the first Italian goal against Denmark Balotelli was lying on the ground claiming to be hurt. When he got up he looked like he was angry. After the second goal the camera caught 4 or 5 happy Italian players celebrating and Balotelli standing away from them not smiling. For Balotelli whether it is Italy or Manchester City everything is about him, not the team.
 

Matra2

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i saw balotelli's goal: nothing special

and was him offside?
the danish defenders seemed to think so

I haven't seen it yet as I was watching (all white) Northern Ireland almost beat Portugal. (I don't know what's going on with Portugal these days but they don't look like the FIFA #3 team).
 

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Balotelli must follow Dzeko's example & prove he can be trusted by Manchester City

The big Bosnian has climbed up from the bottom of the City striker pecking order following a series of key goals this season




137814hp2.jpg


By Wayne Veysey at Hawthorns

At a club of such wealth and ambition, the jersey of a Manchester City striker must be a curious one to wear.
Goals are no guarantee of playing minutes and you are always an off-key 45 minutes away from a long spell on the sub’s bench.

All the while, your employers are casting covetous glances at A-list replacements, reflected in ever-present speculation about a possible change of club.

By common consent, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli began a tricky afternoon at the Hawthorns at third and fourth in a City striker pecking order led by the brilliant Argentine, Sergio Aguero.

By coming off the substitute’s bench and rescuing victory from the jaws of defeat for a team that had been playing with 10 men since the 23rd minute, Dzeko did not just win three points for his side with two late goals. He may have turned around a City career that has flickered since his £27 million move from Wolfsburg in January 2011 without quite catching fire.

In isolation, his statistics this season are persuasive. In 280 minutes of Premier League action, the Bosnian has now scored five goals, averaging a highly credible strike every 56 minutes. Add a noteworthy Champions League opener against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and he has scored six times in total.

It is even more impressive if you examine the circumstances of Dzeko’s goals.

His first goal of the season was a 72nd minute equaliser in the 3-2 win over Southampton, giving City the momentum to go on and win. Against QPR, he put City 2-1 up with a 62nd minute header in a game they went on to win 3-1. Dzeko then scored the winner in the 2-1 win over Fulham. By plundering two goals in just 11 minutes on the pitch at West Brom, the 26-year-old turned the match on its head.

It is quite a trend. Of Dzeko’s six goals, five have turned the result in his team’s favour. It might have been a full house but for Cristiano Ronaldo’s late brilliance at the Bernabeu. Astonishingly, five have come after being summoned from the substitute’s bench.

Yet Dzeko is surely deserving of more than super-sub status. It is not surprising that he has scored only one goal after starting (against QPR), given that he has begun only three of City’s 11 matches this season.

For good measure, he has scored another five for Bosnia in World Cup qualifiers, to give him 11 in total for club and country.

It is some run, which was reflected in the post-match comments of David Platt. "Edin Dzeko has been in superb form,†said Roberto Mancini’s right-hand man. “He is a top player and should be disappointed not to be in the team."

Quite. Dzeko has proved that he deserves the trust of his manager and a more regular run in one of the hardest starting XIs in Europe for a forward to get into.

By contrast, Balotelli continues to frustrate the City coaching staff with his indifference, meltdowns and occasional brilliance.

It was not that he was awful against West Brom. He was not. But neither was there evidence that he is learning what is required to be a regular Premier League match-winner.

Spending the opening half on the left flank, Balotelli looked lively early on, but got booked in the 19th minute for lashing out with his arm after a West Brom challenge. From then, he skated on a disciplinary tight-rope, growing in frustration by the minute.

When the whistle blew to bring a feisty opening period to a close, and with the crowd increasingly getting on his back, Balotelli marched up to referee Mark Clattenburg and his assistants to complain about their overzealousness, before being sensibly escorted away by Joe Hart.

Mancini chose not to haul him off at the break. “Mario was causing them problems,†Platt explained. “When he came in at half-time he was cool. We were confident there would be no loss of head."

Indeed, there was not. In a re-jigged 4-3-1-1 formation, Balotelli was deployed in the second half in the spearhead role in which he is far more comfortable, with Carlos Tevez operating in a deeper position.

The Italian had some joy, getting behind the hosts’ defence on two occasions. But, after mis-hitting an excellent volley opportunity from the edge of the six-yard box, Balotelli was inevitably hooked shortly after the hour mark, with Aguero taking his place.

After lighting up Euro 2012 with his semi-final performance for Italy, he has reverted back to type for his club.

Ten matches have yielded just two goals, the second being the ultra-cool last-minute penalty to rescue a point against Borussia Dortmund. (note by me: the other was in manchester city's defeat in cup, a tap-in)

For a player of such considerable gifts :)yuck:) , this is an underwhelming output. Even more so, when placed in the context of Dzeko’s match-turning displays.

It is time for Balotelli to look up to his 6ft 4in striking rival and take a leaf out of his book.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896...follow-dzekos-example-prove-he-can-be-trusted
 

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But to do so, they will have to sell several players in order to raise the money required first to make an offer for the striker and secondly to afford his hefty wage demands.

Corriere dello Sport has reported that three players have been identified by club bosses as among those who can make way for Balotelli.

when i read that i had to check the date of the article, because they already sold so many players!
now they are going to sell pato to buy balotelli?
serie A hits an all time low

 

frederic38

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another match whithout goal for balotelli, he hasn't scored so far for manchester city in premiere league
yet, he started the match against west ham
manchester city did 0-0 against the promoted team

here's a big miss by balotelli in that match and the coach's reaction:

1351966106769.gif


City's best first-half chance saw Mario Balotelli miss from point-blank range.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20107328

he was alone in front of the goal:

766x575.jpg
 
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another match whithout goal for balotelli, he hasn't scored so far for manchester city in premiere league
yet, he started the match against west ham
manchester city did 0-0 against the promoted team

here's a big miss by balotelli in that match and the coach's reaction:

1351966106769.gif




http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20107328

he was alone in front of the goal:

766x575.jpg

Man!You beat me to this!This made me so happy!:whoo:

Also earlier in the first half the ball once went between Balo's legs when he was in the six yard box!:high5:And the commentator didn't even criticise him!:jaw:
See this too.

I saw the whole game yesterday and did you notice what an ungrateful swine Balotelli is??
When Mancini took him off Balotelli had a go at him,and both began swearing at each other.Balotelli continued cursing Mancini for the next minute or so.
 

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regarding balotelli's nomination for the ballon d'or:

Balotelli can boast of being on the 23-man shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or but his nomination has come under some scrutiny and rightly so. With a mere 17-goal haul for City last season and only a few good moments at the European Championships, it’s baffling that the Italian finds himself among such elite company. The decision is increasingly contentious when you consider the players who were excluded. Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus and Edinson Cavani were far more prolific than the City forward while his teammates Joe Hart and David Silva were also overlooked despite recording the most clean sheets and assists in the league respectively.

http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2...h-the-trouble-for-mancini?source=breakingnews
 

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Someone else is finally questioning it. Who votes on the nominations-journalists?

good question
i had to look it up, and the nominations are made by journalists from france-football, and the FIFA Football Committee
there is no mention of a vote, they just say that they compile a list: http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/playeroftheyear/index.html
so it's not voted

otherwise, i heard on a french radio show a discussion about the ballon d'or with experts, and they all agreed about balotelli and benzema not deserving to be in the list
here are a few other people agreeing with us:

[h=2]Balotelli the Ballon d'Or contender – on what grounds?[/h] Perhaps the good people at Fifa and France Football might be decent enough to explain on what grounds Mario Balotelli made it on to the 23-man Ballon d'Or shortlist to be recognised as the best footballer on the planet.
Presumably it has to be his two goals for Italy against Germany in the Euro 2012 semi-final. It cannot have been how he did in the final, and surely it has little to do with his performances as Manchester City's third or fourth-choice striker. The lasting memory of Balotell in 2012 is still that April day at Arsenal when he was a red card waiting to happen and Roberto Mancini virtually disowned him. Balotelli has started 12 league games, been suspended for seven and a substitute for the rest.
Which hardly puts him in the Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo category. Or even the next rung down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/nov/03/stick-up-men-in-middle

Andrew Thompson on Twitter: "How is Balotelli on the short list for the Ballon d'Or? Too inconsistent and grabs the wrong headlines."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/mobile/20120109

Balotelli may be an irresistible character, but he doesn’t do his job properly. The return on City’s investment has been poor even if, by some bizarre logic, he has been included in the 23-man shortlist for this year’s Ballon D’Or, football’s most important personal accolade.
Frankly, that is a nonsense, an insult to those overlooked, such as City colleague Joe Hart, Chelsea’s Juan Mata and Dortmund’s Mario Götze. Those three have been fundamental figures at their clubs. Balotelli has been an irritant.
Of course, he is extravagantly talented – but that adjective gives the game away. Balotelli is a triumph of style over substance. His performance at West Ham at the weekend – a missed chance, a flamboyant, futile overhead kick and a pathetic burst of petulance – was his career in microcosm.
Even Mancini, who seems a little too satisfied with the security of his new five-year contract, appears to be losing patience. Unsurprising, really, because the manager’s failure to exploit his status as Balotelli’s father figure highlights an all-too typical failure to inspire.
Balotelli’s job is not to play the court jester, the man-child or the idiot savant. It is to score goals. Why Always Him? If you look at the record books, it rarely is.

http://www.lifesapitch.co.uk/opinions/its-high-time-mario-balotelli-did-his-job-properly/
 

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good question
i had to look it up, and the nominations are made by journalists from france-football, and the FIFA Football Committee
there is no mention of a vote, they just say that they compile a list: http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/playeroftheyear/index.html
so it's not voted

Here is a link which reveals the current membership of the FIFA Football Committee:

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/bodies/standingcommittees/committee=1882038.html

The winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or is determined by votes cast by:

(a) Current national team coaches

(b) Current national team captains

(c) International football journalists selected by France Football magazine

For example, here is the complete list of votes submitted for last year's edition (2011):

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/classic/awards/01/56/60/53/awards_men_player_countries.pdf

By the way, with this thread already well into its fifth page I'm surprised that so much time and energy is being devoted to the discussion of "Balotelli". It would simply suffice to say that Balotelli is a heinously overhyped, laughably under-talented and criminally overpaid black ponce whose crass comportment epitomises everything that is wrong with "modern" football... :icon_wink:
 

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By the way, with this thread already well into its fifth page I'm surprised that so much time and energy is being devoted to the discussion of "Balotelli". It would simply suffice to say that Balotelli is a heinously overhyped, laughably under-talented and criminally overpaid black ponce whose crass comportment epitomises everything that is wrong with "modern" football... :icon_wink:

balotelli is one of the most important thing going on from a racial point of view right now so i think that we have to talk about him
the fact that he's considered amongst the best 23 players in the world at 22 years old says it all
we also all remember the 2012 euro champs
he's also ruining the second best european team of all times (italy)

he's similar to benzema, the kind of overrated players of which the media will never say the truth
only here the truth is said about balotelli
 
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Well,I thought about starting the thread I spoke about earlier,but I'll post it here since this thread is dedicated exclusively to this hardly human thing: http://www.football365.com/news/21554/8262113/Mancini-Balotelli-Can-Be-Like-Messi-Ronaldo What a joke!Do read the comments.... P.S.-My PC is having major issues(Blue screen of death),so my browser can only run in safe mode and hence I cannot use any Formatting tools and smilies in my posts.
 

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balotelli is one of the most important thing going on from a racial point of view right now so i think that we have to talk about him
the fact that he's considered amongst the best 23 players in the world at 22 years old says it all
we also all remember the 2012 euro champs
he's also ruining the second best european team of all times (italy)

he's similar to benzema, the kind of overrated players of which the media will never say the truth
only here the truth is said about balotelli

Frederic -

Yes, yes, I know that Balotelli is a special case thanks to his (cough) "Italian nationality", that his misses and sundry gaffes are good for a chuckle, and that he deserves all the lambasting he can get (plus a good, steel-capped kicking...). That's why I added a wnking emoticon :)icon_wink:) at the end of my post.

I predict that Balotelli is not going to have much of an impact at Manchester City because of his sub-par performances, his petulance and the hard fact that his penchant for yellow and red cards makes him a liability.

The media delights in portraying him as some sort of controversial, volatile, eccentric, yet lovable genius but - despite the contrived plaudits - he basically doesn't possess the football ability to outweigh his "problematic" personality.

Put it this way: a technically limited black striker like Emile Heskey could hang around at top club and international level because of his skin colour and because he was a rather selfless team player who didn't rock the boat. He'd do his job as a no-frills taget man, holding up the ball and - on rare occasions - even scoring a goal.

Balotelli, on the other hand, is billed as a skillful mega-star, yet in addition to woefully lacking the tools to deliver the anticipated goods he lacks the Heskey-style positive, team-oriented attitude. A huge ego and its associated arrogance will only be tolerated if the player can consistently achieve results on the field. Balotelli cannot. If Heskey, for example, had displayed Balotelli's prima donna bull****, he would never have been handed so many England caps nor played so many games for Liverpool.

So far this season, Balotelli has played in nine of City's Premier League matches - but he has only started five and hasn't scored a single goal. His astronomical salary means that if City give him the flick it's highly unlikely he'll be offered an "acceptable" contract by a "smaller" (i.e. less cashed up) club either in England or on the Continent - besides, Balotelli's overweening pride wouldn't allow him to play for less money at a "non-contending" club. Instead, some other Arab-bankrolled, nouveau riche club (or even an established "big name" club whose manager and owner lack judgement) might take him on, where the same problems shall arise but amidst rapidly mounting pressure to succeed. Of course, the more pressure this clown is placed under, the quicker his demise shall be... :biggrin:
 
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