Now in his third season in England, Mario is one of a rare breed recognised immediately by his first name, and widely appreciated outside of footballing circles. His mushrooming media persona is at odds with his often patchy on-field performances. As we all know, Mario’s on-field exploits are barely half the story.
A little over a year ago, Roberto Mancini appeared in two minds over whether to call on Balotelli for Man City’s titanic trip to Old Trafford. On the eve of the game, the news broke that the striker had been rendered homeless, a friend’s errant firework igniting his bathroom. Mancini’s pet project, for which he had risked disdain from all quarters, was spending pre-game embroiled in a firework fiasco. The manager’s mind was made up. He was definitely starting.
Twenty minutes into the game, in a moment of clarity only his manager and mentor could foresee, Balotelli surgically sliced the ball inside David de Gea’s far post. Mario turned, pouted, and revealed his now infamous “Why Always Me?” t-shirt. An aggressive statement against press intrusion, but one he had answered himself in five seconds of petulance and precision.
The indelible association between the combustible striker and the comparatively humble firework was a journalist’s dream - and as the months rolled by from Mario’s defining moment, sparks continued to fly on and off the pitch. To dismiss Mario as an irresponsible hot head on the field, while tempting, is to ignore that somewhere in that tumultuous cranium there is an icy pocket of crystal clear composure.
It was Balotelli who tucked away a last second winning penalty against Spurs, exhibiting the psychological steel that sees him still yet to fail from the spot. It was Balotelli who played that vital, inch perfect through ball to Sergio Aguero, from a seated position. The Argentinean, everything Mario is not in terms of persona and performance levels, took a touch and finished off City’s title winning play.
Of course, it was also Balotelli who delivered a masterclass in self destruction at the Emirates, as City had seemed to throw the title away. Deserving of two red cards during the game, he hampered his side to the degree that it felt as if they were playing with nine men. Afterwards, Mancini intimated that his career at City was over. Several times in his Premier League career however, when placed in the shadows, Mario has found a way to catch fire once more.
An adopted child raised in the industrial city of Brescia, Balotelli has become a pass master at overcoming adversity. During his City career, he has risen from the bench innumerable times to salvage his reputation. Last season, an instinctive finish against Everton rekindled a stuttering title charge, and forced Carlos Tevez out to fourth choice striker. Three days later, City travelled to Munich, and Balotelli’s shortcomings were placed in a more sympathetic perspective. Six months prior, he had defied an exasperated fanbase with an outstanding, disciplined display in the FA Cup final. This summer, he proved the undoing of a thoroughbred German side, as he swept Italy into the Euro 2012 final. As his second goal rippled Manuel Neuer’s net, Mario once again removed his shirt for that flexed non-celebration. The world appeared to lie sprawling at his feet.
Away from the field, the young striker’s status borders on the mythical. Balotelli’s extra-curricular antics have become the stuff of legend – culminating in a bizarre Football Focus interview, where a clearly smitten Noel Gallagher coquettishly checked their veracity with the man himself. Mario offered brisk retorts in broken English to tales of a toilet stop in a sixth form, a mass petrol giveaway, and dressing up as Santa to hand out fifties – followed by an acceptance that a couple of the yarns were true.
It says much for the safe, stodgy characters that inhabit the domestic game that Mario has already become something of a folk hero. The Italian has featured on the cover of Time magazine, wandered into Italian chat shows and broken into women’s prisons. He has his own fan chant detailing his exploits which will soon rival Bohemian Rhapsody in scale. Or so we all thought.
Mario Balotelli has been quiet this season - one week, he wasn’t even discussed on Match of the Day. Relative off field calm has combined with a more workaday approach on the pitch, as ineffective as it is uninspiring. Mario has adopted a disciplined, yet distant approach on the field, and has scored just once this season – goals have become so scarce, he’s even started celebrating them. The Italian has been transformed from an unmanageable maverick to the new Dirk Kuyt.
We all assumed that Mario could be incredible, if his temperament could only be tempered. What nobody has suggested, publicly at least, is that his is a brilliance that can’t be bottled - a diamond that can’t sparkle without the rough edges. Mario is keeping his head down, staying out of trouble, playing the percentages. He quickly tumbled from go-to guy to fourth choice striker. As of right now, he’s not even that highly favoured.
After a surprise selection for this season’s first Derby, and a listless 45 minute shift, he was left marooned in Manchester as City travelled to the North East. Never shy of publicly admonishing his charges, Mancini has nevertheless been remarkably blunt in his assessment of Balotelli’s form. Quotes in the last seven days have suggested that the newly becalmed Balotelli is barely fit for purpose. Mancini’s pet project suddenly appears to be terminally out of favour.
New strikers could be on the way in January - and the Italian seems the obvious choice to depart. Mancini may still hold out hope that Mario’s impending fatherhood will bring forth that much needed maturity. Yet his insistence that Mario must grow up to succeed seems at odds with his frequent, and fruitful, indulgence of the striker’s dark side. Perhaps privately, Mancini knows what nobody wants to admit - that once you strip away the bullshit, bravado and bad behaviour, there’s not much left behind. That maybe Mario needs to misbehave, on and off the pitch, like a bird needs to fly.
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