Mario

kevthegaff

Have to say like the circus he generates, 2 goals last night. Can he fulfill his potential?

ThunbergsAreGo

No he is not and never was that good

Saipanne

kevthegaff wrote: »

Have to say like the circus he generates, 2 goals last night. Can he fulfill his potential?

The French league is his level.

Ken Shamrock

If he got his life and attitude together and then focused on football with some passion he could be a very good player. For the most part he's just been a waste of talent.

GLaDOS

His goalscoring record previous to his Liverpool move was pretty decent. 28 goals in 86 for Inter, 30 goals in 80 for City and 30 in 54 for Milan demonstrates that when he puts his mind to it he can be damned effective (If not rather erratic). For whatever reasons, the Liverpool move was a disaster and a return to Milan failed to see him regain any sort of form.

At 26 you already have to regard him as a "What could have been" kinda player. Had to talent to be a world class striker imo, but seemingly lacked the attitude and application. Now he still has time to turn his career trajectory around but whether you can rely on him to put in the work to achieve it is another matter.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

A waster.

fuzzydunlop85

Heard on second captains there in an interview after the game he said he had 'raised his work ethic from 10 per cent to 80 per cent' and reckons he still win the Ballon D''or! What a waste of talent.

Turtyturd

Should've been a plumber.

Mr.Nice Guy

He was very good indeed against Marseille and this was despite not having had much game time. The guy clearly has talent; you'd have to be dense not to see it. His issue has always been his mindset.

If he applies himself as he did yesterday for the entire season then he can be a force to be reckoned with - but whether the appetite will be there by the time we get to November, December, January etc., I have my doubts.

But he has started off very well.

fuzzydunlop85

fuzzydunlop85 wrote: »

Heard on second captains there in an interview after the game he said he had 'raised his work ethic from 10 per cent to 80 per cent' and reckons he still win the Ballon D''or! What a waste of talent.

He should only get 80% wages so. What an absolute tossp0t.

He probably won't have to try as hard in the French league so that in itself will suit him.

To be fair, many of us potter away without overly straining ourselves workwise, most of us do enough to get away with it though. He was found out badly at Liverpool after being given plenty of games.

He could easily get 20 goals in France if he plays most of the games without having to really put too many shifts in..... he's more talented than that but he'll never realise his full potential. He's not as good as he thinks he is but he's a very decent striker.

Augeo

Augeo wrote: »

He probably won't have to try as hard in the French league so that in itself will suit him.

To be fair, many of us potter away without overly straining ourselves workwise, most of us do enough to get away with it though. He was found out badly at Liverpool after being given plenty of games.

He could easily get 20 goals in France if he plays most of the games without having to really put too many shifts in..... he's more talented than that but he'll never realise his full potential. He's not as good as he thinks he is but he's a very decent striker.

Many of us would love to play football for a living and that's before the fact that footballers earn shedloads. I was never fortunate enough to be in a job myself where productivity wasnt measured by the millisecond. Like the saying goes when you find something you love you never have to work a day in your life

Gbear

Augeo wrote: »

To be fair, many of us potter away without overly straining ourselves workwise, most of us do enough to get away with it though. He was found out badly at Liverpool after being given plenty of games.

The difference in quality of life between your average Western European and Balotelli vs some third world person and us is far smaller.

Like you say, at least some of the time you potter away at your desk, look at boards, or whatever else to avoid doing real work, when there's people who would literally kill to have your life.
We all take things for granted.

Most of being a successful person isn't talent, unless you count work ethic as talent (which you could to be fair).
Balotelli is a bit eccentric but his "lazyness" isn't really a moral issue.
In that respect he's probably the same as most people. He just looks bad in comparison to the absolute freaks of drive and energy that surround him.

He was just such a phenomenal athlete and so talented and put just enough effort in that he managed to get to a place where he was put into the public eye.

When the match is on you can get frustrated at players and that's in the heat of the moment and fair enough, but the people who post bile about the likes of Balotelli are just being childish.

He is a bit of a loon as well, but in terms of what he does on the pitch I don't see the problem.
If he's not delivering he gets sold and that's that. Same as anyone else.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Gbear wrote: »

The difference in quality of life between your average Western European and Balotelli vs some third world person and us is far smaller.

Like you say, at least some of the time you potter away at your desk, look at boards, or whatever else to avoid doing real work, when there's people who would literally kill to have your life.
We all take things for granted.

Most of being a successful person isn't talent, unless you count work ethic as talent (which you could to be fair).
Balotelli is a bit eccentric but his "lazyness" isn't really a moral issue.
In that respect he's probably the same as most people. He just looks bad in comparison to the absolute freaks of drive and energy that surround him.

He was just such a phenomenal athlete and so talented and put just enough effort in that he managed to get to a place where he was put into the public eye.

When the match is on you can get frustrated at players and that's in the heat of the moment and fair enough, but the people who post bile about the likes of Balotelli are just being childish.

He is a bit of a loon as well, but in terms of what he does on the pitch I don't see the problem.
If he's not delivering he gets sold and that's that. Same as anyone else.

I suspect talent has a much bigger role to play than hard work it's just that it doesn't suit the narrative that sportspeople want to put out there about how great they are and it was all them and not any luck involved.

Balotelli is a prime example of this a player who doesn't bother his arse and has a terrible attitude but can survive on his talent enough to play at a pretty high level.

People have a knack for certain things in life and because of this they work harder at it because the hard work isn't actually hard work and is enjoyable and therefore because of the work they put in not being so much of an ordeal as it would be for a less talented person they can get better at what they do much easier.

I was good at history and geography at school and so when I studied them for my leaving cert it was enjoyable and didn't feel like as much hard work and therefore I studied them more often and got much better results than all my other subject, I would suspect that the same principle applies to sport.

People won't work as hard at something if it becomes too difficult to get some pay off from the hard work.

Gbear

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I was good at history and geography at school and so when I studied them for my leaving cert it was enjoyable and didn't feel like as much hard work and therefore I studied them more often and got much better results than all my other subject, I would suspect that the same principle applies to sport.

People won't work as hard at something if it becomes too difficult to get some pay off from the hard work.

Unless you're in the top 0.01% of historians or geographers in the world I don't think this really works.

The principle might apply up to a point.
It might be true of that lad who you thought was amazing at football at school and got a trial with Wolves or something.

Going from that level to the few thousands of professional footballers of any serious quality is a colossal difference.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Gbear wrote: »

Unless you're in the top 0.01% of historians or geographers in the world I don't think this really works.

The principle might apply up to a point.
It might be true of that lad who you thought was amazing at football at school and got a trial with Wolves or something.

Going from that level to the few thousands of professional footballers of any serious quality is a colossal difference.

You need the talent to get to anywhere close to succeeding in any sport is the point I'm making.

I genuinely don't buy the idea that players get to the top because of all the hard work they put , the get there because of the talent they possess and then all the hard work they put in.Obviously you'll get nowhere without hard work but you won't get anywhere without the talent and in in built love for a sport either.

Paully D

Never the same since 'Let Me Love You'.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Many of us would love to play football for a living and that's before the fact that footballers earn shedloads. I was never fortunate enough to be in a job myself where productivity wasnt measured by the millisecond. Like the saying goes when you find something you love you never have to work a day in your life

Some people couldn't perform in that kind of environment, horses for courses etc etc etc.

I reckon Mario likes to potter away and do whatever, life at LFC mightn't have suited him as being mid 20s training etc might have been more of an effort than when he was at Man City for example.


I reckon at Nice he'll be tolerated for want of a better word, Rodgers played him in loads of games and than more or less gave up on him. Nice will just play him whenever he himself reckons he's fit and he'll quite likely score plenty.

He's not after finding his level but he's at a level where he might not be found out

LuckyLloyd

Kevin Kilbane played at the same level as Balotelli more or less (Balotelli has been on better teams that won competitions Kilbane played in). The upper echelons of the professional game is a mix of great athletes; players who close an athletic deficit through excellent mental / technical ability; players who have maximised their ability and players who have failed to be all they could be. And everything in between.

Balotelli is a phenomenal talent who hasn't had many phenomenal games the last couple of years. He's only 26. There will eventually be a situation where he likes the environment; is molly coddled just right; and is able to get away with the odd game off without being eviscerated for it. Maybe Nice is that situation? If he ended up running the show at the business end of the Champions League / International Competition before his career is out I wouldn't be surprised. Nor would I be surprised if he busts out of the game before he's 30. Who knows.

kevthegaff

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote:

I genuinely don't buy the idea that players get to the top because of all the hard work they put , the get there because of the talent they possess and then all the hard work they put in.Obviously you'll get nowhere without hard work but you won't get anywhere without the talent and in in built love for a sport either.

Shane long, ???

Giggsy11

Balotelli is the most overrated footballer, he is not even a special talent just a physically strong player who stood out when he was young as he was physically ready at just 17.

People talk about his Euro 12 performance but apart from the game against Germany he was average.

Dirty Dingus McGee

kevthegaff wrote: »

Shane long, ???

A player with a lot of talent.

The fact that he has excelled in 2 completely different sports tells you he must have some natural flair for sport.


Anyway It's fairly hard to get a definitive answer to the talent vs hard work debate but I'd say talent is more beneficial than sheer hard work and as was alluded to in the first page the ability to work really hard at something and not get discouraged is probably a talent itself.

LuckyLloyd

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Balotelli is the most overrated footballer, he is not even a special talent just a physically strong player who stood out when he was young as he was physically ready at just 17.

People talk about his Euro 12 performance but apart from the game against Germany he was average.

Sorry, but those two things happen to be mutually exclusive. He couldn't have had that game against Germany in a major International semi final if he wasn't a supremely talented player.

klose

Himself and cassano have squandered their talents, the Italian national team could have done so much better had both applied themselves better, obviously there are differences in how both squandered their talent.
I think Balo just never great up, he's still childish and I imagine most people here know someone like that. Will he kick on? I highly doubt it I imagine he will notch up a few goals but simply because he is playing Ligue 1 it's hard to imagine him getting a shot at another big club from here on out.

Giggsy11

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Sorry, but those two things happen to be mutually exclusive. He couldn't have had that game against Germany in a major International semi final if he wasn't a supremely talented player.

Not really. There are many average players who played very good games at highest level against tougher opponents, doesn't make them all supreme talented players.

Harry Palmr

If he has a decent season Balo will be touted for a move to PSG next summer you watch.

the whole year inn

Nah hes class

klose

klose wrote: »

Himself and cassano have squandered their talents, the Italian national team could have done so much better had both applied themselves better, obviously there are differences in how both squandered their talent.
I think Balo just never great up, he's still childish and I imagine most people here know someone like that. Will he kick on? I highly doubt it I imagine he will notch up a few goals but simply because he is playing Ligue 1 it's hard to imagine him getting a shot at another big club from here on out.

Cassano is 34 and had a career most would dream of... and some fine women too.

kevthegaff

Another 2 last night, strange he was dropped from squad due to fitness and recalled last night

GLaDOS

kevthegaff wrote: »

Another 2 last night, strange he was dropped from squad due to fitness and recalled last night

Probably wanted to go go-karting or something :pac:

GLaDOS

An 86th minute winner, followed by 2 yellow cards in quick succession for Mario tonight.

Standard really.

Mr.Nice Guy

GLaDOS wrote: »

An 86th minute winner, followed by 2 yellow cards in quick succession for Mario tonight.

Standard really.

In fairness his second yellow card was a joke.

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/782626157090988032

GLaDOS

There is literally nothing in that alright!

noodler

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Sorry, but those two things happen to be mutually exclusive. He couldn't have had that game against Germany in a major International semi final if he wasn't a supremely talented player.

That's bollox.

He is a waste.

His talent is.completely over exaggerated.

noodler

noodler wrote: »

.......

His talent is.completely over exaggerated.

103 goals in 273 club appearances in Serie A, PL and La Liga (I'm excluding 2 Serie C1 games) & 13 goals in 33 appearances for Italy.

Most of that achieved without being totally professional, he's seriously talented but is a waster/spacer to go with it.

noodler

Augeo wrote: »

103 goals in 273 club appearances in Serie A, PL and La Liga (I'm excluding 2 Serie C1 games) & 13 goals in 33 appearances for Italy.

Most of that achieved without being totally professional, he's seriously talented but is a waster/spacer to go with it.

Goals for city when they were killing teams 4 and 5 nil, massively exaggerated goal stats at MIlan because of all the penos and freekicks. Utter, utter sh1te at Liverpool.

Definitely one of the more overrated players of this gen IMO. The assumptions made about how could he "could have been" are endless and its difficult to see anyone making such an argument for a player in a similar position.

noodler

noodler wrote: »

Goals for city when they were killing teams 4 and 5 nil, massively exaggerated goal stats at MIlan because of all the penos and freekicks. Utter, utter sh1te at Liverpool. ............

The free kicks in particular don't exaggerate the stat imo, you have to beat a wall and the keeper.

Penalties don't go in automatically, converting most of the penalties he has taken is a show of talent in itself.

He played his part in City killing teams.

LuckyLloyd

noodler wrote: »

That's bollox.

He is a waste.

His talent is.completely over exaggerated.

The stats speak for themselves and - as accurately noted - holding free kicks against him is... :pac:

GLaDOS

Free kicks are practically a gimmie sure

noodler

Jesus Christ, talk about obessessing around the point.

Fine, ignore the free kicks.

Point stands.

An expensive peno taker that walks around the pitch doing next to fcuk all and causes problems for his club off the pitch.

Using the Germany game as some sort of proof is pretty silly IMO. Fairly clear at this stage, more than four years later, that that was an outlier.

Guy:Incognito

Augeo wrote: »

103 goals in 273 club appearances in Serie A, PL and La Liga (I'm excluding 2 Serie C1 games) & 13 goals in 33 appearances for Italy.

Most of that achieved without being totally professional, he's seriously talented but is a waster/spacer to go with it.

A goal every 2.7 games or so isnt going to get him that Ballon D'or he thinks hes worth anytime soon.

ERG89

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

A goal every 2.7 games or so isnt going to get him that Ballon D'or he thinks hes worth anytime soon.

An imaginary career in La Liga may help though. Especially if you can pretend he was there instead of flopping in Liverpool & on loan at Milan.
He was good the first 6 months for Milan. Then he declined so much Milan were delighted to offload him for what they bought him for.
He's doing well in Ligue 1 but nobody wants a static, inconsistent forward now. Except Mark Hughes :pac:

Burial.

noodler wrote: »

Jesus Christ, talk about obessessing around the point.

Fine, ignore the free kicks.

Point stands.

An expensive peno taker that walks around the pitch doing next to fcuk all and causes problems for his club off the pitch.

Using the Germany game as some sort of proof is pretty silly IMO. Fairly clear at this stage, more than four years later, that that was an outlier.

Using the expensive peno taker as some sort of proof is pretty silly IMO.

SuperTortoise

I never really got the hype over him and always thought he was vastly overated.
Take away the off field stuff that keeps him in the headlines and all that is left is a very average footballer.

POKERKING

He only had one assist ever for city.....in the 93:20 against qpr for city to win the league, for that alone he is a legend...

rob316

The same suspects still using the Germany game to somehow prove he is a supremely talented player. Talent is important but desire to be the best is as and he doesn't showcase any of this.
He's playing well for Nice right now but he'll get bored soon.

Utter failure of a footballer. He has a large trophy haul but has contributed little to those.

He'll never be a great player. His attitude is too poor.

No club is ever too upset to see him leave

Mr.Nice Guy

Balotelli has the best goals to minutes ratio in Europe's top 5 leagues combined currently. Not bad for a player many on here don't rate. I wish Ireland had a player that bad. :pac:

In other news his red card is to be rescinded at a disciplinary hearing on Thursday after the referee admitted he made a mistake. That's good to hear and means he will be available for Nice's big home game against Lyon on the 14th.

Burial.

Have to laugh at people claiming he's a complete failure yet he has a premier league medal, a champions league medal and 3 serie a medals, something a lot of players would bite their hand and foot off for and who's to say he won't add to that. That's not mentioning things like winning the FA Cup. In addition he's one of the most well known players on the planet and has a shed load of money, all while seemingly not giving a f*ck and having a fantastic life outside the game. And he's only 26. Must be one of the most successful failures in the history of civilisation.

People not accepting he's exceptionally talented is the thing that gets me.

But it's generally accepted he's a waster/not diligent/not focussed/not professional.

So he's achieved all he has & scored all those goals based on ??? Not hard work, not professionalism, not diligence............. exceptional talent seems to be the only option IMO.

Corholio

Burial. wrote: »

Have to laugh at people claiming he's a complete failure yet he has a premier league medal, a champions league medal and 3 serie a medals, something a lot of players would bite their hand and foot off for and who's to say he won't add to that. That's not mentioning things like winning the FA Cup. In addition he's one of the most well known players on the planet and has a shed load of money, all while seemingly not giving a f*ck and having a fantastic life outside the game. And he's only 26. Must be one of the most successful failures in the history of civilisation.

Wouldn't call him a complete failure but the line of thought has to be considered especially when he's 26, approaching his prime, and he's playing for Nice. Of course he's a talented player but talent is like this 'invisible' entity for fans to talk about unless you actually show it enough.