Why Balotelli should leave Man City

Modified Apr 10, 2012 17:31 IST

So it has been another eventful week in the premier league, full of surprising results. But one thing that will NEVER change will be Mario Balotelli making headlines, all for the wrong reasons of course. In the recent match against Arsenal, which Man City needed to win to keep their title hopes alive, Mario did not make things any better by receiving a red, after two bookable offences, both on Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna. Even the Man City coach Roberto Mancini, who is usually calm and composed, has had his nerves shredded by the antics of this freakish Italian boy. He took an expensive gamble (literally!) by signing Mario from Inter Milan for a whopping 25 million, a ludicrous fee for a young temperamental 20-year old who manages to frustrate everybody who has had the privilege to meet him, and plays well when he is in the mood (once in a blue moon).

Now into his second season at Man City, Balotelli has whipped up so much controversy over his two-year stay in England so as to find himself in danger of being axed from the squad. Comparisons with Eric Cantona’s eccentricities are baseless, as the Frenchman at least performed well on the pitch to atone for his temper. So, after enduring his foray into the EPL for two seasons, I have had enough of this guy and desperately want him to leave Man City, although departing from England altogether would also be sweet.

1. ATTITUDE

First and foremost, I hate his attitude towards everything, from ‘oh-Im-so-bored’ goal celebrations, to not giving two hoots to the manager’s order, to his lax and casual style on the pitch. It blindfolds my eyes and prevents me from watching the genius at play. It frustrates me to think that if he could only channel his talent into the right perspective, he could very well become one of the greatest footballers of all time. But instead, he is venting out his feelings at every opportunity possible, creating a bad atmosphere within the team, and generating bad publicity for his cub and EPL as a whole.

2. DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR

This is a direct consequence of Balotelli’s attitude. His frequent bust-ups with team-mates have been a major embarrassment for City. During the match against Sunderland, in front of 40,000 spectators, he fought with his team-mate Kolarov over taking a free-kick. For a team who is aspiring to win the Premier League, these incidents blight the atmosphere within the dressing-room and pave the way for disasters. There is also the well-documented incident, where he set his own house on fire by bursting fire-crackers in his bathroom. Recently , the explosive Italian gatecrashed the new Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni’s inaugural press conference. Clearly the sign of a player who will do what he wants, without any slight thought about the possible consequences it may create.

3. CAN BE THE REASON BEHIND MANCINI’S SACKING

I feel extremely sorry for Roberto Mancini. He has had so much to endure over the past months. With his team falling out of the race for the Premier League, the last thing he needed was someone disrupting the already shambolic atmosphere within the club. Mancini’s inability to handle “Super Mario” could be the only blotch in his managerial tenure, one that could potentially decide his future at the club. He has often been accused of treating Balotelli more leniently than others, and the desperate manner in which he tries to defend his side’s disharmony and frequent training-ground spats, along with Balotelli’s latest controversy shows that he has conceded defeat in nurturing a fine talent, one who would have made it to the heady heights of becoming a football legend if he would have let his talent do the talking instead.