Wednesday 30 January 2013

Ciao Mario (Mad, marvellous or both? Part 2)

The news that Mario Balotelli is signing for Ac Milan brings to an end an eventful 2 1/2 years at City for the Italian.  And because of Martin Tylers brilliant commentary there will always be"Manchester City are still alive here Balotelli...AgueroOOOOO!"

There have been many highs from his brilliant performance in the Fa Cup Final which rightly lead to him being Man of the match.  He was excellent as United were beaten 1-6 at Old Trafford.  His nerve to slot home a last minute penalty against Tottenham a feat he repeated against Dortmund in this seasons Champions League. As well as that pass on when falling to the ground helping clinch the title. Some comedy as well from his infamous hat through to his Bentley having a Camoflague paint job and of course that fireworks incident.

There have been the lows as well from getting stupidly sent off a few times too his off the field antics which the press simply lapped up.  As I said in the first Mad, marvellous or both? It did seem a lot of pressure on young shoulders as story after story was printed about him.  It didn't affect him during the European Championships as he was instrumental in Italy's performance almost on his own putting Germany to the sword.

At club level things weren't going so well as a virus put him out for a while not long after scoring his first league goal of the season he had been in and out of the side. He'd not long returned when the news of the Milan deal broke.  He certainly split opinions with pundits and more and more it appeared with the City faithful.  Personally I wanted to see the best of him but had grown tired of the media circus whilst good it got the name of the club out there it was always twisted slightly.

Perhaps the best example was the training ground bust up with Roberto Mancini.  Mancini admitted HE over reacted and went for Mario after a poor tackle yet the media used it as yet another example of "Mad Mario" Perhaps also he was a distraction to the other players as well as stats show City's win percentage to be higher when Balotelli was missing, few though could doubt his quality and playing for the team he grew up supporting hopefully he will have more Germany type performances showing Roberto Mancini was right to stick by him.  The english media will certainly be at a loss without him Sky even sent a reporter to Milan to report on his arrival.  But one thing they cannot argue with is many players will go their entire careers and not have the success Mario has had at 22.

Despite growing tired of the circus I have to say he is one of the best players i've seen when he's in the mood.  He is definitely mad and yes can be marvellous good luck in Milan Mario!