On June 25, 2010, Massimiliano Allegri was appointed as the manager of Milan. As is the case with any manager of the club, expectations were high, as they should be. Allegri had inherited quite a line up with players like Clarence Seedorf, Rino Gattuso, Gianluca Zambrotta and many others. In his first season with Milan, there was immediate success with winning the Scudetto. However, from that point on, it was a downfall. As Allegri's tenure lengthened, his tactics and philosophy became more prominent and Milan's level of play started to drop. Luckily, with such a strong team with players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, Milan's play never became something too worrisome and they remained in the Scudetto race. Eventually, the glory soon ended. On the last game of the 2011-12 season vs Novara, Milan saw the exit of countless superstars and legends of the club. Players like Seedorf, Gattuso, Zambrotta, Van Bommel and Inzaghi were retiring or moving on and then came the sale of Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic to PSG. Suddenly, Milan was stripped of almost everything. It became an almost mediocre squad instantly. Milan's attack went from the Ballon d'Or worthy Ibrahimovic to an unproven, very young Stephan El Shaarawy. The midfield that once saw Seedorf, Gattuso and Van Bommel, now relied on Nocerino, Muntari and an aging Ambrosini. The best defender in the world in Thiago Silva was replaced by Christian Zapata. This drop in talent showed immediately the following season. Milan were in the bottom half of the table, staying out of the drop zone by the incredible scoring run of El Shaarawy. Allegri's job was on the line and fans were becoming restless. Some thought it was only a phase or a slump, but when it lasted all the way up into January, people started realize the severity of the situation. The bald-headed genius that is Galliani took action in the January transfer window and on January 29, 2013 the blockbuster move that shook Europe, Mario Balotelli was bought from Manchester City for a bargain of roughly 25 million euros. Balotelli made an instant impact, scoring in his debut vs Udinese with 2 goals, including the game-winning penalty in the 90th minute. The goals from Balotelli continued and the wins started piling up. By the end of the season, Milan had amassed the most points in the second half of the season and found themselves from as low as 15th to finishing 3rd for a Champions League playoff spot.
In the summer transfer window, Galliani made only one significant signing by bringing back Riccardo Kaka on a free transfer from Real Madrid. Christian Zapata was bought after his loan had ended and Alessandro Matri was bought from Juventus for 11 million euros. With Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy leading the attack, expectations were high for the squad. All looked promising after a 3-0 thrashing of PSV in the Champions League 2nd leg playoff. However, instantly, the season started off badly with a loss to Hellas Verona and things only got worse. With injuries continuously piling up, the dropped points also continued to pile up. It seemed like that after almost every loss, Allegri's job was up for speculation, but Galliani kept convincing Berlusconi to keep him. Finally, after a disastrous 4-3 loss to promotion side, Sassuolo, which saw 19 year old, Domenico Berardi score 4 goals, Max Allegri was finally relieved of his duties on January 13, 2014. Clarence Seedorf retired from playing football with Botafogo and was hired to become the new manager of AC Milan.
The beginning of a new era at Milan has started. Seedorf is taking over in the middle of the season, so Milanisti shouldn't expect too much change or improvement for the rest of this year. It will be interesting to see what moves Milan will make in the summer and how the squad reacts to the managerial change. Clarence is a man known for his leadership and his demand of respect. Under Allegri, the most noticeable problem with Milan was the lack of motivation and very dull style of play. Hopefully, Seedorf can fire the team up before matches and get them to start playing a more exciting style of football. Only time will tell, but the future is bright for Milan and good things are sure to start happening soon.
Note: I apologize in advance for my bias dislike towards Mino Raiola and if I come off biased towards Balotelli.
There's been a lot of talk about Mario Balotelli in recent weeks. First there was his suspension for screaming at the referee after the Napoli match, then he shoved a cameraman and to top it all off, his superstar agent, Mino Raiola, came out and said that a move to Chelsea is likely for Mario, considering the possibility of him rejoining Jose Mourinho from their time at Inter together. Of course, this sparked a massive uproar all over the place, as does anything that has to do with Mario Balotelli. Talking about transfer moves in October/November is ridiculous as it is, but to say that such a big name player could be leaving a club so soon to go back to a country he was desperate to get out of is not even worth mentioning.
Mino Raiola
If you are not aware of who Mino Raiola is exactly, he is a very well-known agent, known for being the agent of some of the biggest names in football like Mario Balotelli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Paul Pogba, Marek Hamsik and many others. He has a very big mouth (much like his waistline) and tends to cause a lot of controversy. Mino always tries to get as much money out of a club as possible, making negotiations between club and player drag out longer than necessary. This money-searching gene that he contains is probably the cause for this sudden rumor of Balotelli heading to Chelsea. Raiola was quoted as saying that Mario won't stay at Milan forever and if things don't change soon, his superstar client may want out. Considering it's Mino Raiola, this is most likely and simply a message to Galliani and Berlusconi to give Mario a pay raise, which would then mean more money for himself. This comes to no surprise as Raiola has had similar instances with his other clients, especially with Ibrahimovic. This is what makes Raiola so popular among players though, he gets them more money.
Mario Balotelli
If you follow me on Twitter, you probably(should) know that I am a massive Balotelli fan. I've been watching him since 2010 and became an instant fan of him when I was watching his debut for Italy. The thought of Mario leaving Milan makes me cringe, but even I have to admit that he's not going to stay forever. However, I absolutely do not believe he will be leaving any time soon, especially back to England. His turbulent time at Manchester City and the British media drove Mario out and brought him to the club he supported as a child and loves so much. In my opinion, since his move to AC Milan, I would consider Mario's time fairly successful for the most part. However, he still has to prove himself as an elite player in the world. He is almost the sole reason why Milan is in the Champions League this year at all. If Milan stays in its current state as it is right now, I can only expect Mario to stay for another 2-3 years. He is too great of a player to stay around a mediocre squad for too long. If Milan does turn around and become what it is known for, then I can expect Mario to stay for possibly another 7 or 8 years or even for the rest of his career. What I expect to happen is for Mario to probably stay for about another 5 or so years and at that point, a move could be very likely for him. Despite this, I only see a very select group of teams that he would go to, two of those teams would be Barcelona and Real Madrid. My reason for these two teams is that Mario had a tryout with Barca when he was 15 years old, but didn't make the team due to their interest in someone a little older than he was, Messi. Mario also has a good relationship with Neymar which could lead to some luring from the Brazilian. The possibility of Barca having Balotelli, Messi and Neymar in attack is very real and very intriguing. Real Madrid is another likely destination as Mario was a bit of a Madridista as kid, watching players like Zidane and Ronaldo in the prime of their careers. The third team I can see Mario joining is Bayern, simply because they have so much money and because I see absolutely no chance of him going back to England. This is all just wide speculation and in the end, it's really up to Mario what he wants to do.
Galliani and Berlusconi are going to have to make some changes in order to make Balotelli want to stay. Mario likes to be the main man on a team, but he's going to need some help in order for himself and the club to be successful. Hopefully, the ship turns around, Mario becomes what we all know he can be, the media backs off and Milan has yet another legend to remember forever.
Everybody knows Mario Balotelli is talented and has massive potential. Whether you like him, love him, hate him or despise him, nobody can deny that he is a great player. However, just how good is he now and how good can he become?
If you read my blog regularly, you'll have noticed I posted(lipumafootball.blogspot.com) a list of who I believe are the top 20 players in the world, not too long ago. On that list, I had Mario at number 7, just below Gareth Bale and just above Edinson Cavani. Some people might say I'm absolutely crazy for putting him that high, some might agree with me and some people might even say he's higher than that. I thoroughly believe Mario is a top 10 player in the world and would even argue he is a top 5. However, you could argue he's not top 10 or 15 or even 20. According, to EA Sports, he's not even top 50, which is going too far, in my opinion. The world of football is so gifted and so talented and competitive that ranking players is just pointless. What Mario is for a fact, is a phenomenal player who, at the age of just 23, has accomplished more than players in their 30s. He won the Treble with Inter when he was only 19, he won the Premier League at 22 and was a runner-up in the Euros also at 22 years old. In each of those titles, he played a vital role in his team's success. Now, he could even win the World Cup before he's even 24 years old. Talk about a resume. Besides players like Pirlo, De Rossi and Buffon, it's not hard to argue that Mario Balotelli is the best Italian player and looks like he will be for a long time. He is on pace to becoming one of the best players the world has ever seen and when he says winning the Ballon d'Or is one of his goals, you can't blame him for going for it. Messi and Ronaldo may be way beyond Mario's level, but Mario is - believe it or not - still considered a "young, developing talent". He's an incredible, 25 for 25 on penalties due to his unflappable confidence and his slight pause just before he strikes to the ball. Mario's thought of as a typical, Italian number 9, who just stands in the box and finishes. But Mario is so much more than that. He has incredible creativity and finesse to his game. From his iconic "scorpion pass", to his backheels, his reverse-footed chips across the field to a flying winger, his "Ronaldo-like" free kicks or his blasts from 15 yards outside the box into the upper corner. Many people also don't know that Mario has loads of pace. See him run full speed in a straight line and he'd be able to keep up with Jesus Navas, no problem. As if there wasn't anything else to add, there is. He is an extremely versatile forward, as he can play as a lone target man or on the left or right wing. He can either way wait as far up as possible for a midfielder to give him a long, deep ball to chase, like what Montolivo did versus Germany in the Euros and it created one of the most famous goals(and celebrations) we have seen; or, Mario can drop back into the midfield and help build up the play, much like what Messi does. Mario Balotelli can do it all. He is almost an identical copy of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in how well-rounded of a forward he is. Seemingly enough, Mario can become even better than Ibrahimovic, and, in a way, he has already accomplished more than Zlatan has in his career. Mario Balotelli has all the tools to become, I'm going to say it, the best player in the world. Even beyond Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic or Bale. Messi can't go up for headers, Ronaldo can only play on the left wing, Ibra can do it all, but is possible to be better than and Bale has proven he can carry a team, but only has one season of true greatness under his belt and hasn't won anything yet. The only thing holding Mario back is the rage being held inside him and is released when defenders tackle him in a dirty way or when he can't finish chances. Imagine a Mario Balotelli with the calmness of Andrea Pirlo. There is no doubt that would be the most lethal striker in the world, but it's all up to Mario himself to make it happen.
There is no doubt that Messi and Ronaldo are the two best players in the world and by no means am I saying Mario Balotelli is better than either of them, but Mario absolutely has the qualities to his game to be better than them. At the age of 23, Mario is still 2-4 years from his prime and if he is this good now, the thought of him only getting better is ridiculous and makes you wonder just how much talent can be fit into one person. Goals, wins, trophies and most importantly, time, will tell what Mario will become. From now to the end, it will be pure entertainment. On the pitch and off of it. It will always be him.
It was one of the biggest blockbuster moves Milan had made in a long time. It was a move Milan desperately needed in the middle of what was considered a horrid season by Milan standards. There were fans at the airport waiting for Mario's arrival, screaming, cheering, waving red & black in the night sky. It was like the white knight had arrived to save us. All the attention, all the pressure of the most successful club in the world was now solely on Mario Balotelli and he absolutely embraced it. The signing of him not only reenergized Milan and Milanisti alike, but it reenergized Mario as well. He was finally playing for his favorite club not too far from his family in hometown Brescia. It was a dream debut for him. Mario's first match for Milan was against Udinese at the San Siro. Stephan El Shaarawy came down the right-hand side and tried to put the ball in the box, but it was deflected by some defenders and eventually found it's way to Mario's left foot. Mario smashed it in to score his for goal for Milan and give Milan the 1-0. Then in injury time Mario stepped up to take a PK in a 1-1 game, unsurprisingly, he scored and Milan won the match 2-1 all thanks to Mario Balotelli. Mario went on to score a goal in practically every single game for Milan for the rest of the season and push them into 3rd place in Serie A, to qualify them for the Champions League.
You can just tell Mario is at home in Milan. He's very happy and comfortable, playing great and not getting in the media for the wrong reasons like he did in Manchester. Mario has always been a love/hate kind of guy and while he was at Manchester, it was pretty clear he was mostly hated. However, since his move to Milan, his popularity has gone up even more and has won many fans over. Mario is the heart of Milan now. He's also the face of the Azzurri. His move to Milan has not just directly helped the club or himself, but has taken massive attention and pressure off the entire squad, especially Stephan El Shaarawy. In the first half of the 2012/13 season, Stephan was the only Milan player performing and all focus was on him. Mario's arrival in January completely changed that. He loves attention and handles pressure as if there isn't any pressure at all. Mario is a completely different person now, mentally. He is relaxed and can focus his attention completely on playing football. After an extremely successful half season with Milan, Mario continued his run of form into the Confederations Cup in Brazil. He helped Italy take third place after a lose to Spain in the semi-final and a win over Uruguay in the third place match. He is establishing himself a one of the best in the world and why he can help Italy win it's 5th or even 6th World Cup.
Trying to explain what Mario Balotelli is like to somebody, is like trying to explain how babies are made to a 5 year old. They'll laugh, they'll cringe and eventually become confused. Not even Mario himself can explain his personality. "If I tried to explain my personality to you, we'd be here for 2 days", he once said to an interviewer while at Manchester City. With his big personality, the clothes, the cars, the girls, jewelry and most importantly, the footballing skills, Mario Balotelli has become one of the biggest icons in not just Italy, but the world. However, a lot of people don't know much about him and that creates a lot of misconceptions.
~Who He Was
Mario Barwuah was born into a poor Ghanaian family in Palermo, Sicily. Nearly dying from an intestine disease at the age of three and not being able to afford the medical bills, his parents sent Mario to a foster family in Brescia, a town not too far away from Milan. The Balotelli family. Thanks to the Balotelli's, Mario's life was saved and within a matter of weeks, he started playing football for the first time in his life. By the age of six, Mario would go everyday after school to a football field and play for hours and hours each day with either friends or by himself. He would try to mimic players on the Azzurri at the time and try to be just like them. Mario took this very seriously and truly wanted to get better each day. On days when he wasn't able to play, Mario said he would cry for the rest of the day and not eat dinner. The Balotelli's saw that Mario had talent and decided to let him start playing competitively for a small club team in Brescia. At the age of 16, Mario got his first crack at professional football with Serie C1 side, Lummezzane. Coaches instantly saw the potential Mario had, but Mario was only able to make 2 appearences with the senior team. Despite barely making it with the senior team at Lummezzane, Inter knew Mario was something to look out for and when he was 18, Inter signed him to a 3 year contract. This is where Mario Balotelli really started to shine and become the player many coaches knew he could be. Two years before he was even old enough to drink in the United States, Mario played a vital role in Inter winning the Treble in 2010 by winning the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and the Champions League. Newly equipped with big money, Manchester City bought Mario from Inter for 21.8 million euros. Mario said that the only reason he went to City was because of Roberto Mancini. Despite having a manager he felt comfortable with, Mario's career started to spiral out of control. The British media started to see this and were instantly all over party boy Mario. There are hundreds of rumors of things Mario did while in England, but he has said most of them are false and made up. From lighting fireworks in his bathroom to getting in a physical argument with Mancini, Mario's time in Manchester was mostly in turmoil. However, despite these incidents, Mario performed well and continued to give Italians hope that he can be a great player for the Azzurri. In 2012, on one of the most ridiculous days in football, Mario fell down to poke the ball to teammate, Sergio Aguero, who scored the goal that would win Manchester City their first Premier League title in 44 years. The run of good fortune continued for Mario with the Azzurri. In the Euros, Mario was one of the most clinical and phenomenal players for not just Italy, but in the entire tournament as well. Italy was put in the same group as defending World and European champions Spain, alongside Croatia and Ireland. Italy and Spain were clear favorites to get out of the group stage, but the world was watching with intent eyes on which would win the group. It was Mario's first major international tournament and it was the perfect opportunity to show just how good he was. He did that and more. Mario scored a spectacular over-the-head goal against Ireland to secure Italy's spot in the quarter-finals against England. Versus England, Mario did what he did best and scored a PK against, then teammate, Joe Hart, to help Italy into the semi-final against international giants, Germany. Germany were the favorites in this match and heavily eyed on to win the tournament. However, everyone knew it would be a very good match as Italy showed they were back to their usual ways and also how Italian teams tend to have the Germans number. It was the case that night as Mario single-handedly took the Germans down with two incredible goals. His iconic flexing of the muscles celebration came from his absolute rocket into the upper 90 to put Italy up 2-0 and seal the game up to jump into the Final against Spain. Italy went on to lose by a big scoreline of 4-0 to Spain in the Final, but Italians were extremely happy with not only the team's performance, but also with what Mario Balotelli showed he can do. Unfortunately, even with his great performances with the national team, Mario saw little time with City the following season. This led to wide speculation as if Mario might be sold and after his incident with Mancini at the training ground, it was clear: Mario had to go. On January 29, 2013, Adriano Galliani pulled the trigger and brought Mario to AC Milan for 25 million euros.
In shocking news this morning, at least for me, Kevin Prince Boateng was sold in just a matter of a couple hours to Bundesliga club, Schalke 04. Prince was expected to be sold at some point in the summer and rumours were flying around of what might happen to him. Eventually, the rumors died down and talks of his sale disappeared and he went on to smash in 2 goals against PSV in the Champions League preliminaries to put Milan into the group stage. Two days later, he's not even on the team anymore. Kevin was always a good player for Milan, but he was world class two seasons ago when he had Ibrahimovic leading the attack. When he's used the right way, in the right formation, Boateng can be an absolute deadly threat to any defense. It was a great move for him to make, as Germany is his home and he's always expressed his desire to go back to what he calls "the best league in the world." This move now leaves Milan with some decisions to make. Kaka has said he wants out of Madrid immediately and would love to come back to Milan, while Honda has been set to join Milan for what seems like years now. For me, I would want Milan to get Kaka now and then get Honda for free in January. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it'll work out that way. Kaka has extremely high wages, which Milan just simply can't afford and for the level of Kaka's play, he doesn't really deserve. Kaka is also not willing to lower his wages very much, not because of greed, but so he can still fund his charity in Brazil. It seems like a return is more likely not to happen, as Galliani has now started to really push to sign Honda right away. There's only a couple days left in the transfer window so it should all be clear very soon. In the end, it was nice Big Bang Boateng could leave on a good note.
The first half of the 2012-13 season couldn't have gone any better for Stephan. He scored 15 goals before the break and was Milan's savior in multiple matches. He gained the nickname "il Faraone", the Pharaoh. It was looking like the break out year that everyone was expecting. However, the second half of the season was the exact opposite. With the purchase of Mario Balotelli in January, everyone thought the goal scoring would continue. It did, but only for one person, Mario Balotelli. Stephan went match after match of not scoring a goal. Many people believed it was Balotelli who was causing this massive fall from grace for Stephan. They couldn't have been more wrong. Despite not scoring, he played very well with Mario which many people did not realize. He created many scoring opportunities for Mario and other teammates. He was fantastic in both legs against Barcelona(without Mario), but still did not score. It was simply a coincidence that Stephan stopped scoring right when Balotelli joined the team.
It is reasonable to conclude though, that Stephan still had a drop in form. This continued into the national team at the Confederations Cup. Prandelli wouldn't start him and when Stephan did start, he was near nonexistent. Then came Prandelli's shocking comments about Stephan. He said Stephan "needs to show more character". This is the last thing someone would expect to come out of someone's mouth about El Shaarawy. He presents himself as pure class and everything Milan represents. It was becoming an extremely strange situation. Then it got even weirder, the rumours of an El Shaarawy sale were coming up. Teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid and PSG all apparently sent Milan formal transfer offers. After the Confederations Cup, Galliani spoke with Stephan to determine the future of the young star. El Shaarawy said that he wants to stay at Milan at all costs and could not see himself playing anywhere else. This was very comforting news for Milanisti. It was decided that Stephan would not be sold.
Recently, in the preason with Milan, Stephan played extremely well and you can tell he was mentally ready. Before, he was mentally exhausted and his confidence was completely diminished. Now, he's playing with a lot more energy and confidence and even scoring goals to prove it. Milan has yet to see him and Balotelli play together while both are in form. Mario Balotelli is the perfect striker partner for Stephan. Mario was bought to not only score goals, but also take pressure of off Stephan. Before, Stephan was in the spot light and had all the attention on him. Playing for Milan, with all that media attention at such a young age is extremely difficult. Balotelli loves the spotlight. He wants everybody to be watching him and he's used to it. This is exactly what Stephan needs. Balotelli almost never has a bad game and is as reliable of a forward as they come. This allows El Shaarawy to completely focus on his game and be productive. Mario is somebody Stephan can look to not only on the field, but off of it as well.
Mario may appear as arrogant or cocky on the field, but everyone says he's a very genuine and kind person and you can tell it in his interviews. He plays loud, but he's soft spoken and cares about his teammates and also extremely confident. He enjoys the media always looking to him and Stephan can feed off of that. He can take some of Mario's confidence and friendship and use it to his advantage on the field. Mario also has more experience than Stephan and can teach him how to handle things in certain situations. Since they are so close in age, they can also be extremely close friends and that can translate to their chemistry on the pitch.
We have yet to see both Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy play together while both of them are in form. If both of them are scoring goals at their usual rate, it could be not only one of most potent offenses in Serie A, but also in Europe.
