For 85 minutes or so of Friday’s game at the San Siro, Bologna looked more than worthy of a point. Their compactness had frustrated AC Milan and, though the Rossoneri would probably feel they should have won the game, it was petering out to a 0-0 draw that suited the visitors.
It was around then that the ball fell to Mario Balotelli who was loitering somewhere near the Swiss border. He proceeded up the field a little bit, then unleashed an exocet missile that broke everything; it broke the deadlock, it broke Bolgona’s hearts and it nearly broke the net in the goal.
It was the kind of goal that can only be scored by a special kind of player – the kind that Bologna would probably sell to Guangzhou Evergrande should the chance arise. That was what most struck me about Balotelli’s goal. Only a certain kind of player has the necessary skill, technique, daring and confidence to strike a ball so well from that sort of distance and the few that do should be cherished. Why always me? Because nobody else can.
Bologna were workmanlike, they toiled, they ran channels, they blocked, they harried and they pressed, but they did things that are explicable and trainable. In the end, the magic dust and the sparkle was absent and, with Diamanti in China now, it will not return any time soon.
That said, it was perilously close to not appearing for Balotelli on Friday evening and Bologna’s lead over the relegation zone was cut to two by Catania’s thrilling win over Lazio on Sunday; the Rossoblu now head the pack of five with a point between them all.
The Felsinei faithful may miss the impact of Diamanti, the quality of his crossing and ball-playing and the fact he, too, can strike at goal with accuracy and venom from thirty yards. That he had done so seldom this season is partly why the Serie A table holds Bologna in sixteenth, rather than higher. That his absence takes away the option of hoping something unexpected might happen is inarguable.
Towards the end of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the eponymous hero’s group are forced to stand on their own two feet by their magical leader Dumbledore and, though the things their actions seem routine at the time – distracting attention by throwing stones, for example – it goes to demonstrate that a lot of little things done correctly can more than compensate for a flourishing gesture; learning to succeed on their own through necessity, but also by displaying the knowledge and training that allows them to do so.
That is where Davide Ballardini comes in. He is not training a group of young children – his charges are rather more robust; but the principle is the same. The team had lost their way a little before his arrival, but he has instilled a style of play that allows the Rossoblu representatives to make something like the best of their not inconsiderable talents.
They play unspectacular football and, certainly away from home, are based around containment of the opposition rather than an attacking approach. Rolando Bianchi again caught the eye on Friday; holding up the ball and winning freekicks and throw-ins to break up the rhythm of a Rossoneri who looked anything but flowing.
However, the really hard yards were done by the midfielders, by Krhin; whose header almost gave Bologna a surprise lead before half time. By Cristodopoulos, whose surges forward were always purposeful if often fruitless and, until he left the field injured; by Diego Perez looking like the personification of sleeves being rolled up (until he left the field).
Saturday evening brings a fresh set of challenges for Ballardini’s men in the shape of a re-invigorated Roma. The Giallorossi are a side based on the swiftness of their counter-attacking – the ability of their midfield to pick out flying forwards can be lethal. Against a Bologna who are unlikely to commit too many men forward, it will be interesting to see if they can pick the necessary locks to undo the home side.
The transfer window remains fastened shut across Europe but it seems that mine are not the only eyes that have appreciated the improvement in Bianchi. In China, where we know all too well they can still buy players, Shanghai Shenhua are said to be interested in the former Torino man. Shenhua are the same side that Didier Drogba endured such a torrid time with when he went to the Chinese Super League, so my advice would be to steer clear.
Bianchi may not sprinkle the same dust that Diamanti did, but as we saw when Hermione Granger punched Draco Malfoy; even at Hogwart’s, sometimes the most effective way to get your point across is without waving a wand.
