Azzurri could rue the continued omission of Mario Balotelli

Date: 10th November 2016 at 10:49pm
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Once tipped as Italy’s No.9 for years to come, the 26-year-old now looks as though he might never reestablish himself as a regular in the Azzurri setup.

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Six goals in six matches in any of the major European leagues should be enough to make any national coach sit up and take notice, however, despite a stellar start to life in Ligue 1 with Nice, Mario Balotelli looks no closer to a return to the international fold with Italy.

Ignored by Antonio Conte for the 2016 European Championship campaign after a solitary early call-up, the motto that everyone starts with a clean slate is clearly not one that new coach Giampiero Ventura subscribes too.

Understandably looking to get off to a flying start as Italy boss, the 68-year-old has highlighted concerns beyond the ex-AC Milan striker’s on the pitch form to welcoming him back with open arms.

“It is not due to technical reasons that Balotelli isn’t in the national team,” Ventura told his press conference. “He has great skills. Nobody is debating his technical abilities. It is a thousand other factors.

“He has been back in form for two months now, but you cannot think that in two months somebody has changed who they are.”

Given the 26-year-old’s ‘long’ list of previous misdemeanours for club and country, it is not an unreasonable reaction to be cautious with reintroducing a personality like Balotelli back to the international setup, but the severity of his comments raise questions as to whether he will ever get a chance under the veteran coach.

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Three yellow cards in those six matches – more than any other Nice player – do suggest there are still disciplinary issues to resolve on the pitch, but the outside influences have softened, according to agent Mino Raiola.

“Balotelli chose, unconsciously or consciously, not to put football at the centre of his life,” Raiola told the Financial Times.

“So there were always bordering incidents (indicated as falling in love) that influenced his performance.”

While his exclusion can therefore be justified and appear mainly to harm the ex-Inter youngster, the Azzurri could also be shooting themselves in the foot by not taking an active role in Balotelli’s apparent, if latest, resurrection.

Their upcoming games represent an extremely winnable qualifier against Liechtenstein on November 12 and prestigious friendly against world champions Germany three days later.

Therefore, the pressure of being the main man, whether with the Azzurri or Milan and Liverpool recently, that at times looked too much for Mario and credited as contributing to his failures would be virtually non-existent. Particularly as the Serie A performances of Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti would see them shoulder much of the goalscoring burden, and probably see him miss out on the matchday squad at the Rheinpark Stadion.

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This would have allowed Balotelli a low key reintroduction into the group, bring a bit of international experience – 13 goals in 33 caps – and see a far more deserving recipient of the call-up than some.

Rossoneri striker Gianluca Lapadula and Eder of city rivals Inter have just a single Serie A goal each so far this term, while Simone Zaza’s move off the peninsula to West Ham United is proving even less fruitful.

Italy certainly do not need the ‘old’ Balotelli back, but it is worth remembering that arguably his best performance in an Azzurri shirt came against the Nationalmannschaft in the Euro 2012 semi-final and would have provided an excellent incentive had he been included.

Unfortunately, it does sound as though Ventura, and maybe senior internationals in his ear, will not be quick to forget the frontman’s past and it will take some time for the former Manchester City striker to regain their trust.

However, alienating someone with a clearly stubborn disposition for too long could prove disastrous long-term, were he to decide that he doesn’t actually need them as much as they may one day need him.

 

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