Gary Neville: If Mario Balotelli was a genius he would still be at Manchester City. He's unprofessional
Plenty of people have been using the word maverick to describe Mario Balotelli after he left Manchester City to join AC Milan. It is a word that does capture his sense of individualism, his desire to stand out from the crowd. But to describe someone as a maverick, whether it’s an artist, a rock star or a footballer, suggests to me that there is also a hint of genius about them.
But the reality is that when Balotelli left last week, there was no hysteria or anguish that the Premier League was losing one of the game’s great players, not even from Manchester City fans.
For some people there was a sense of disappointment he had gone and that we wouldn’t see his story reach a happy conclusion in England. But from what I’ve read from comments on the local newspaper’s website, most are fairly pragmatic about his departure. Many say he had become more trouble than he was worth.
Headed in different directions: Manchester City sold the unpredictable Mario Balotelli to AC Milan after an undulating two-and-a-half-year spell with the clubBecause Balotelli wasn’t a maverick, he was an unprofessional footballer. Fighting with your team-mates and manager, getting sent off in crucial games, going out the night before a match and causing a disturbance the evening before a big game are all examples of that. Of course, he has talent. But if he was touched with genius, he would still be at Manchester City.
There’s no doubt he had his moments, some of them excellent. But at Manchester City they weren’t delivered consistently enough. You always have to weigh it up with characters such as Balotelli: is the negativity worth it because of what he’s giving the team? And Manchester City have come to the conclusion it’s not.
I have always said you do have to show some tolerance towards young people who make their mistakes in public, particularly today, when everything is recorded on social media and there’s no private place.
So maybe we shouldn’t give up on him just yet. His displays at Euro 2012 were excellent. Everyone cites the semi-final against Germany, where his instinctive finishing won the game. But I was more impressed with how he played against England. He surprised me with a selfless, disciplined performance in which he constantly ran the channels and held the ball up for team-mates. It wasn’t as eye-catching but it was excellent and I wondered if we’d see a different Balotelli this season.
World beater: Balotelli was in unstoppable form against Germany in Euro 2012, dovetailing brilliantly with Andrea Pirlo in the 2-0 semi-final victoryIt wasn’t to be. Perhaps it took being surrounded by his compatriots and in an intensive training camp to bring the best out of him. And perhaps AC Milan, with the emphasis on training camps away from home, sometimes for two days before a match, will suit him better if there is an issue regarding concentration and focusing. But if he’s looking to be on the same level as Sergio Aguero, Robin van Persie, Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, then this is his last chance. All of those players will have made mistakes in their career but at some point the penny dropped. I don’t think he’s at that level but people I know talk about him as though he could be one day.
He has now worked for two of the best, most disciplined managers in football in Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini, and both have concluded he is not worth the trouble. And I wonder whether there is a position for characters such as Balotelli at the top level of sport any more. I’m not sure there is. You can have a strong personality but if you can’t combine that with a disciplined approach to your life off the pitch and your attitude towards the team on it, then in the modern game you will quickly fall away from the elite.
Tempestuous relationship: Jose Mourinho labelled Balotelli as 'unmanageable' and warned Manchester City not to sign him
It is a change that has been coming over the past decades. Where once we indulged mavericks in the English game — the likes of George Best and Paul Gascoigne — and warmed to them because they were a little like us in their failings, now there is less room for that. Now we can regularly watch the best players in the world. Ten years ago, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane were the benchmark, showing enormous individualism on the pitch while leading conventional, disciplined lives off the pitch. Today, Messi and Ronaldo would be in the same mould.
Messi is controlled off the pitch but also in how he tracks back and presses for his team on the pitch. If you combine the genius of Best with the professionalism of Sir Bobby Charlton, you’ve got Messi. Ronaldo has a more glamorous image but he is the ultimate pro on the training pitch and when he has to do a job for his team.
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Balotelli is unlikely to get to that level, so you have to wonder how many clubs will continue to indulge him. Popular culture has become big business and more corporate. Once you weren’t a rock star unless you smashed up your guitars and were fuelled by drugs — and probably were burnt out in a few years. Now there are bands such as U2 and Coldplay that are more aware of the commercial world and the professionalism expected by a paying public and sponsors and which, ultimately, will allow you to have a long career rather than a few years of fame.
Likewise, the idea of the footballer who can go out, drink champagne, crash his car and have a few fights is becoming a thing of the past. The businessmen and corporations involved in football now — the likes of Qatar Investment Authority, which owns Paris Saint-Germain, or Sheik Mansour at Manchester City — are not going to invest millions of pounds to see their brands tainted by unpredictable individuals.
If the cap fits: Balotelli is unlikely to reach the levels of a Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane or a FigoThe movement is much more towards disciplined athleticism and an attitude that matches up to the wages you are paid and the ticket prices the public are being asked to spend. People who are asked to pay £62 to watch a match are much less tolerant of inconsistency and will demand much more from you. These days I can think of only one sportsman who transcends that. Usain Bolt openly admits he doesn’t enjoy training, that he doesn’t work as hard as some of his competitors and that he likes to go out.
Even after his 100m win in the Olympics, Bolt was pictured in the small hours of the morning with the female Swedish handball team, even though he had the 200m heats a day later. Because his talent is so obvious, he can get away with that. But it is results that protect him more than his charisma.
Part of me enjoyed the eccentricity of Balotelli but sadly those types are fading. There’s not much room in football for people on the fringes who break the rules. Elite performance demands much more conformity. Footballers are likely to be in the mould of a driven and disciplined Olympic athlete these days. The reality is that Balotelli chose the wrong era to be different.
More... One last blast: Mario moans about the food, the traffic and the weather in Manchester, but admits he will miss the best league in the world and the fans Missing me already? Balotelli dances with fans in the streets of Milan… but policeman is taken to hospital after flares are thrown
