Mario Balotelli

[TheHowieLama]

Nothing to lose I suppose. 

 

Agreed - he can't get his bib on, maybe he can spell it.

[scudger99]

The daft cunt apparently took his Staffies to training.  Predictably the call of nature overtook them and they dropped lumps of Zlatan everywhere.  Completely in keeping with his efforts on the pitch for us.

[Torvald Utne]

He'll score ten goals by the end of the season

[Babb'sBurstNad]

He'll eat ten crayons by the end of the season

I agree.

[moof]

He'll score ten goals by the end of the season

Waiting for the punchline...

[JoeyJones65]

He'll score ten goals by the end of the season

[Harry Squatter]

Waiting for the punchline...

On Fifa2015

[Jairzinho]

On Fifa2015

 

He can't be arsed to make a decent run on Fifa.

[Dr Nowt]

Major shame he will be staying til the end of the season.

 

Unnecessary sideshow when we have a season to salvage.

[Section_31]

I reckon if you hit him over the head hard enough he'd wake up thinking he was a fish.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

The last roll of the dice is playing him with Sturridge, in the hope that a better striker will influence his play. We've nothing to lose.

 

I'd get mad at him, but I'm not sure he's all there. It's like getting mad at a dog that thinks it's a person.

 

[Dr Nowt]

The last roll of the dice is playing him with Sturridge, in the hope that a better striker will influence his play. We've nothing to lose.

 

I'd get mad at him, but I'm not sure he's all there. It's like getting mad at a dog that thinks it's a person.

 

 

That's one of the things which worries me mate, and why I think Dave's recent article about removing the temptation to use him was so apt.  How many tries do we give it, once we've invested what we'd have to in making the overall change a front two requires? 

 

After the most barren of starts to the season we've found a formation which works, really works, and with Sturridge at it's head will be improved further, as we saw at the weekend.  Without him we've seen clearly how Balotelli doesn't work on his own or with any of our other forward options, while Sterling up top in the current set-up works better than anything else without Sturridge has all season, and Ibe is likely to be a much better fit for it than Balotelli should neither of those two be available.

 

So we could rejig the whole team and risk our rare spell of defensive solidity to incorporate the ultimate busted flush, only potentially working like a rucksack on the back of someone who can carry his own weight.  But to go back to my first point, once we've invested in that change, given we all know deep down it won't work straight away, and there would be calls to persevere and ride it out from the "You can't expect them to just click straight away, he hasn't been given a proper chance with Sturridge yet" mob, how many tries do we give it? During that time the remains of this season are just being poured down the sink.

 

He is what he is, I can't be bothered wasting any negative emotion on him really.  He's obviously riddled with issues and undiagnosed problems, and I hope he gets them resolved in some way in a general sense as there appears to be no malice in him, but we're not a charity or a rehab facility, and just cannot afford to keep taking the hit in the meanwhile if we want to be in any way competitive.

[Tony Moanero]

He's shit, let him rot in the ressies.

[cloggypop]

Balotelli up front with Sturridge means dropping either Sterling or Coutinho so it's a no from me.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

That's one of the things which worries me mate, and why I think Dave's recent article about removing the temptation to use him was so apt.  How many tries do we give it, once we've invested what we'd have to in making the overall change a front two requires? 

 

After the most barren of starts to the season we've found a formation which works, really works, and with Sturridge at it's head will be improved further, as we saw at the weekend.  Without him we've seen clearly how Balotelli doesn't work on his own or with any of our other forward options, while Sterling up top in the current set-up works better than anything else without Sturridge has all season, and Ibe is likely to be a much better fit for it than Balotelli should neither of those two be available.

 

So we could rejig the whole team and risk our rare spell of defensive solidity to incorporate the ultimate busted flush, only potentially working like a rucksack on the back of someone who can carry his own weight.  But to go back to my first point, once we've invested in that change, given we all know deep down it won't work straight away, and there would be calls to persevere and ride it out from the "You can't expect them to just click straight away, he hasn't been given a proper chance with Sturridge yet" mob, how many tries do we give it? During that time the remains of this season are just being poured down the sink.

 

He is what he is, I can't be bothered wasting any negative emotion on him really.  He's obviously riddled with issues and undiagnosed problems, and I hope he gets them resolved in some way in a general sense as there appears to be no malice in him, but we're not a charity or a rehab facility, and just cannot afford to keep taking the hit in the meanwhile if we want to be in any way competitive.

 

I can't really disagree with any of that, it all makes perfect sense, and I think the exchange between Dave and his dad summed it up perfectly - optimism versus realism.

 

I wouldn't want to see him start, with wholesale changes made to accommodate him. But if we were several goals to the good, and one of the AM was flagging late on, I'd like to see what he'd do next to Sturridge: 3-4-2-1 becoming 3-4-1-2. If it proved that the lack of an extra pressing body high up left the wingbacks exposed and we conceded then that would definitely seal his fate.

 

There was a good piece written before we signed him though (might have been Marcotti) which stated he can't be used as the furthest forward on his own; it was what turned Milan fans against him. He hasn't the brain to cope with it and he just freezes. His best form came on the left or as a pair, but he needs to take his pointer from a mobile player near him, dictating his movement. I may be mad, but I could swear he looked considerably less shit against Ludogorets at home when Borini came on, but it's a combination we don't seem to have tried much. Admittedly because they've both been a bit shit and no one wanted to double down.

 

I know I'm grasping at infinitesimally small straws here, but as bad as he and Lambert have been, I think the pair of them have been somewhat mired by our early form, where the formation and team selection didn't do them any favours either, and they're now just looking like horses waiting for the knacker man to arrive. If it's at all possible, without sacrificing our current stability, I'd like to see if Sturridge could bring either back from the dead and make them look half useful during what will hopefully be a cup-run heavy fixture schedule.

 

* Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I said similar things about Joe Cole though. *

[Redder Lurtz]

"...if we were several goals to the good..."

 

Steady on.

[Boss]

I really couldn't think of anything worse than throwing Balotelli on right now. Our shots per game ratio has shot up, our chance creation stats the same. Everyone looks like they are working for each other, our pressing on the front foot is back, the defence looks solid.

 

Do people remember what we were like with Balotelli in the team? no pressing, no ability to counter attack, virtually no shots on target all game. Even the mythical Spurs game were he was supposed to have played well, he missed an open goal, fluffed two headers 5 yards out and scored zero goals. 

[dennis tooth]

Would rather see lambert and sturridge before mario gets a look in at least rickie has a rate of 1 in 3 rather than 1 in 12 thereby has earned consideration mario has offered nothing at all to deserve a shout.

[JermainePennant]

He will get a chance in the remainder of the season whether some fans like it or not.

 

He shouldn't be thrown straight in to the starting line up but bring him on as a sub when Sturridge plays and let's see how he does with a bit of space.

 

He looked better against Chelsea playing deeper even though a lot didn't acknowledge it, let him build his confidence coming on as a sub and he will improve.

 

Sturridge laid a lot of goals on a plate for Suarez and his presence on the pitch helped Suarez, Balotelli will benefit as well and if given a fair chance and is not written off after any game where he doesn't score he will improve and be useful for the squad.

[Dr Nowt]

I can't really disagree with any of that, it all makes perfect sense, and I think the exchange between Dave and his dad summed it up perfectly - optimism versus realism.

 

I wouldn't want to see him start, with wholesale changes made to accommodate him. But if we were several goals to the good, and one of the AM was flagging late on, I'd like to see what he'd do next to Sturridge: 3-4-2-1 becoming 3-4-1-2. If it proved that the lack of an extra pressing body high up left the wingbacks exposed and we conceded then that would definitely seal his fate.

 

There was a good piece written before we signed him though (might have been Marcotti) which stated he can't be used as the furthest forward on his own; it was what turned Milan fans against him. He hasn't the brain to cope with it and he just freezes. His best form came on the left or as a pair, but he needs to take his pointer from a mobile player near him, dictating his movement. I may be mad, but I could swear he looked considerably less shit against Ludogorets at home when Borini came on, but it's a combination we don't seem to have tried much. Admittedly because they've both been a bit shit and no one wanted to double down.

 

I know I'm grasping at infinitesimally small straws here, but as bad as he and Lambert have been, I think the pair of them have been somewhat mired by our early form, where the formation and team selection didn't do them any favours either, and they're now just looking like horses waiting for the knacker man to arrive. If it's at all possible, without sacrificing our current stability, I'd like to see if Sturridge could bring either back from the dead and make them look half useful during what will hopefully be a cup-run heavy fixture schedule.

 

* Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I said similar things about Joe Cole though. *

 

I loved your presentation and I like you a lot BBN, but your product is an ashtray on a motorbike, and, for that reason...

 

[dennis tooth]

He will get a chance in the remainder of the season whether some fans like it or not.

 

He shouldn't be thrown straight in to the starting line up but bring him on as a sub when Sturridge plays and let's see how he does with a bit of space.

 

He looked better against Chelsea playing deeper even though a lot didn't acknowledge it, let him build his confidence coming on as a sub and he will improve.

 

Sturridge laid a lot of goals on a plate for Suarez and his presence on the pitch helped Suarez, Balotelli will benefit as well and if given a fair chance and is not written off after any game where he doesn't score he will improve and be useful for the squad.

Hes not improved hes got a bit worse everyday since we signed him. Both borini and lambert are deservingly competing for sub bench seats along with ibe where do you see him getting a look in?

Given ste g is now sat there plus defenders central and wig back options and a sub gk.

Then who do you bring off in a competitive game for mario? Coutinho? Raheem?

 

Have you thought about getting proffesional help? Call the good saMariotons

[JermainePennant]

Hes not improved hes got a bit worse everyday since we signed him. Both borini and lambert are deservingly competing for sub bench seats along with ibe where do you see him getting a look in?

Given ste g is now sat there plus defenders central and wig back options and a sub gk.

Then who do you bring off in a competitive game for mario? Coutinho? Raheem?

 

Have you thought about getting proffesional help? Call the good saMariotons

Borini and Lambert are not good enough, Balotelli has shown he can get goals and it might be helpful putting him in the position he got those goals.

 

He could be brought on when we are winning or when the ams are not performing, if he improves then he can start thinking about starting if not then there are no excuses for him and he'll be sold in the summer.

[Tony Moanero]

Lambert > Balotelli

 

I hope Rickie grabs a few more goals before he is moved on. The winner in the Europa League Final would be nice.

[Dr Nowt]

[Tony Moanero]

Is that shit supposed to be funny?