If anyone told you things have been different for Mario Balotelli at Nice, they were lying. Yet, his statistics haven’t been terrible. After 14 Ligue 1 games played, the Italian has scored nine goals. As it’s often the case with the 26-year-old though, it is seldom ever an issue of stats and almost always more an attitude problem.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH3u0PpXsww[/youtube]
There’s nothing shameful about his offensive output this season, especially when considering he’d scored just twice in 36 league matches over the preceding two seasons. By that metric, he’s been on fire at the Cote d’Azur club. That’s the issue with metrics though, it’s important to pick the relevant one when gauging Balotelli’s actual performances.
It all started wonderfully, with a couple of important braces in a 3-2 victory over Marseille and a 4-0 derby win over Monaco on match-days four and six respectively. Except that during that time, he remained the same nonchalant Balotelli who didn’t run, defend or played for the collective. His coach Lucien Favre mostly put up with it given that the striker managed to get on the scoresheet, and likely also because he was the club’s big summer signing.
As the Ligue 1 title comes to a head, with Nice currently second in the table and behind Monaco, the goals have dried up. The forward’s last strike was in the 3-1 win over Guingamp back in January 29. Injuries have continued to hinder his ability to feature consistently, but his recent accumulation of red cards have highlighted attitude issues.
Following a late introduction on 82 minutes during Nice’s 1-0 win over Saint-Etienne on match-day 24, Balotelli was absent from the team sheet for the following game. The club announced that the Italian had a fever, with many supporters and media postulating it was more a diplomatic excuse rather than an actual medical issue.
Observers were right to doubt, especially following teammate Valentin Eysseric’s pre-match comments ahead of their game away to Rennes, when he bemoaned the striker’s lack of effort and his tendency to sulk.
“Maybe Balotelli has to work more for the collective and help us out,” the Nice man told the assembled press. “When things aren’t going his way, his head goes down and it’s very difficult to talk to him.”
Harsh words perhaps, but there was no animosity in Eysseric’s words, something he clarified in his post-match comments when questioned about Super Mario’s attitude.
“What I said was sincere,” he admitted to BeIn Sport after the draw to Rennes. “I see him in training every day and he’s a great player. Honestly I think he’s better than us [Nice]. It’s really a shame because he could really make a big contribution.
“But the coach wants a lot of effort from every single player and doesn’t accept any slacking off. That’s what we’ve seen with Balotelli [regarding his absence from the team sheet].”
The fact is that Eysseric isn’t wrong. If Balotelli had really knuckled down, there is no way he would today be playing in Ligue 1. Yet, Eysseric and all others should not be surprised either. This is the same old Balotelli seen at Inter, Manchester City, Liverpool and AC Milan.
Since last weekend’s 68th-minute red card against Lorient, when he reportedly insulted the referee and which earned him a one out of 10 in L’Equipe’s player ratings, his agent Mino Raiola has come up with a solution to keep his client out of trouble.
“We are going to cut off his tongue,” he joked to RMC. “To play football, you don’t need your tongue, so we are going to cut it out.”
It is likely best to remove our own tongues when it comes to Balotelli, and stop suggesting that each new club can become an opportunity at a renaissance. In fact that is very much the problem. It is pointless to expect the Italian to relaunch a career that has never truly taken off.
The temptation was great upon his arrival in France though, away from the media spotlight, the only star in a squad of youngsters, and a playing for a team nicknamed Les Aiglons. In the end however, Nice’s new eaglet flailed and flapped about, failing to take flight.
