Call him what you will; Mario Balotelli is an enigma.
The controversial Italian is a precocious young man who, through his own intriguing antics, does not do his considerable talent justice.
Roberto Mancini – the increasingly maligned Manchester City supremo – has recently come out and criticised a player who has previously enjoyed the backing of an almost paternal manager; however even the his loyalty is wearing thin.
Balotelli is a curious individual. Clearly intelligent but deeply misguided. Frustratingly, such characters have an ability to hide behind their talent. In fact, talent and misguidedness tend to be encouraged in media circles; the tag of ‘flawed genius’ being a popular and almost sexy one.
Yet Balotelli is no genius. He’s good and, at 21, has time to get better but he’s dangerously close to becoming a lost cause; certainly at an increasingly disharmonious City.
Yet Mancini can shoulder little of the blame for Balotelli’s descent in to chaotic obscurity. Quite the opposite.
The former Inter boss is an accomplished manager. A good manager. Whether the seemingly fractious nature of the Eastlands squad and apparent egos that inhabit it becomes detrimental to Mancini’s regime moving forward is still to be determined; but the acquisition and subsequent faith put in Balotelli is to his credit.
The game is littered with mavericks. Some come off; some don’t. Eric Cantona was nurtured by Sir Alex and Man United, whilst the difficult Paolo Di Canio flurished under the man management of Harry Redknapp. Then there’s the players whose trials, tribulations and talent are inextricably linked. George Best and Paul Gascoigne to name but two.
The aforementioned four are examples of the pros and cons of persisting with players who are, without the benefit of hindsight, gambles that only the most talented of managers can pull off.
Cantona, the player who inexplicably dived in to the crowd at Selhurst Park and disgraced himself and faced the consequences, Di Canio, the man who pushed a referee to the floor during his Sheffield Wednesday days having seen red – evidently in every sense of the word – Best, a genius whose demise coincided with a string of off-field alcohol-fuelled misdemeanours and Gascoigne who battled demons throughout a distinguished if nevertheless unfulfilled playing career.
Yet for every negative there were an abundance of positives. Balotelli has unfortunately courted the former on too many occasions during the early stages of his career.
For every quirky intervention at an Inter Milan press conference and Santa-esque Christmas giveaway; there are precious few memorable moments on the pitch and that is something Mancini will have to address and reverse pronto.
His footballing and personal education, though, are in the formative stages and he has time to develop. Whether that is in Manchester, only time will tell.
Unfortunately, without the benefit of hindsight, the the Balotelli experiment has not paid off for Mancini or Manchester City. The unpredictable striker appears to be running out of chances and a move back to his native Italy in the summer, probably to one of the Milan clubs, would come as no real surprise.
But the point is, whether his current manager and mentor’s position is deemed untenable by the City hierarchy as they go ruthlessly in search of a return on their considerable investment, the Balotelli affair should not be a factor.
The game needs the likes of Balotelli. Sometimes such gambles will pay off, sometimes they won’t. But in the pressure cook environment of Manchester City and the wider Barclays Premier League in general and given the cut-throat nature of top flight management, it’s a gamble Mancini should be praised for; irrespective of the results.
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