Our resident footballer, Mitch Day, gives 100% every game, whether it’s at Manresa or on the world stage of beach football. So, when he got his first live look at Mario Balotelli, he was surprised to see an unhappy man.
Living in Spain and not having Gol TV is, like living in England and never watching Match of the Day. Unfortunately that’s me at the moment, but I’m not paying the TV bill in this house and to be honest there is nothing better than jumping on the train every Saturday, heading to Barcelona’s Las Ramblas and watching a few Premier League matches in a bar with a few passionate football-loving tourists. Well, actually many things are better; watching football in England is one.
So there I was last weekend watching Manchester City beating Scott Parker 3-1 and all I could think to myself was these few things:
- Scott Parker is one fine footballer and I hope West Ham United can turn their season around
- Yaya Toure looks like a drunk flamingo when he runs
- Mario Balotelli appears to be the unhappiest person alive
- Carlos Tevez is trying to look less happy than Mario Balotelli
There were other observations: Please can James Milner and Adam Johnson play a few more minutes so our national team improves? Is David Silva legally a midget? Where on earth is Shaun Wright-Phillips? Ignoring one, two and the forever battling Carlos Tevez, it’s the third which I can’t get away from.
This isn’t a judgement on Balotelli as a person because he may just not like the Manchester accent or Yaya’s running style, but he is an excellent young footballer, playing in one of the ‘best’ leagues in the world and is getting paid enough money to buy a small school with a full faculty every single week. These are the material things in which society seems to have deemed ‘valuable’ in life. Well this, TFT readers, is not what is truly important - not to English football fans anyway.
Something that became more apparent to me recently was how passionate we English football fans are. We live and breathe the beautiful game and, when it comes to our team, we will do anything for them - sing, fight, divorce, cry - literally anything! Look at how we felt when FIFA gave Russia the 2018 World Cup. I can tell you all now, here in Spain Gerard Pique holding up five fingers against Real Madrid was much bigger news when they didn’t get it, and they beat us by two rounds in the voting.
When Yaya banged in City’s first goal at Upton park last week I was drawn to Balotelli on the edge of the six yard box. He didn’t celebrate, he didn’t even smile. I was already thinking, wow that is one moody teenager, but after that and a few more halfhearted attempts at being involved he was subbed, only to walk straight to the dressing room without giving his new best friends a high five.
What about clapping the paying travelling fans? I can only imagine he was so nervous they only had a one-nil lead at the time that he couldn’t bear to watch. That or he was late for his appointment to get the City badge tattooed on his inner thigh!
Jokes aside, I’m sure he didn’t grow up dreaming of playing for Manchester City and from his body language it looks like he still doesn’t dream about playing for them. But they pay him to score, to win, to work, to care. Or am I wrong? Can players play for a club and genuinely not need to care about it, its history and its fans? The people who live and breath for that club would sacrifice their wives for the talent to sweat for that team, yet £150,000 a week doesn’t work for others.
It baffles me as a player. I obviously never imagined playing for CE Manresa and I have no idea whether I’ll finish my career here, but I still leave everything on the pitch after ninety minutes every week. Yes, they pay me (semi-pro wages), but at the end of the day, as a man, as a football fan, I care because it’s football.
I might not ever be more than a conference level player, so that’s where I want to leave my mark and stand out. Not only that, fans travel all over Catalonia every weekend to watch me fannying about and being average, and I think they deserve some hard work seeing as they’ve supported this team since they were born and a few of them have something to do with my wages.
On top of that, I have friends on the bench who would love to be in my place and I train with them all week. I promise I cheer when they score! Quite apart from all that, I got myself here so surely I deserve a bit of effort?
I’m going to guess that everyone who reads this has played the game, loves a team and/or loves the game. It would be good to know your thoughts - not just on Balotelli, as he certainly isn’t the only apparent unmotivated player in todays game and I understand that he maybe just isn’t happy with many things (if I was a young ‘star’ who was subject to constant racial abuse I’d hate the world a little as well) - but on the state of money, egos and passion in today’s game…or the lack of the latter.
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Tags: Manchester City, Mario Balotelli
God I hate articles like this. Passion, 100%, effort, pride, determination etc etc. Bollocks to all that how about talented footballers playing good intelligent football?
I pay £400 a year to watch Burnley every other week: do I pay that to see Dean Marney and Martin Paterson run about a lot giving 100%? NO. I pay that to see Jack Cork spread the ball around with his eyes closed, Chris Eagles take players on and Jay Rodriguez’ intricate link play.
English football is in the state it’s in because of this attitude. You take the proverbial out of Silva, he’s a million times the player Shaun Wright-Phillips is and a much more talented player than Milner. This is a country that ruins exceptional players like Joe Cole and overhypes atheletes like Gerrard.
Sorry for the rant and I hope I haven’t caused any offence but this really riles me. The Premier League is NOT ‘the best league in the world TM Sky Sports’; our football is on the whole, horrible to watch. Give me any top flight team in Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal or Holland to watch over the Premier League bar Arsenal, Chelsea, United and Spurs any day.
Mikey…have a re-read and calm down. You seem to have missed the point! I understand what you’re ranting about, I haven’t questioned anyone who actually does play decent entertaining football have I? Also, have a think! When did I mention that David Silva is less of a player than SWP? That was sarcasm directed at his height, nothing more. To me SWP is crap and I’m being completely honest when I ask ‘Where on earth is SWP?’ I have no idea…I didn’t say I cared, I just don’t know! David Silva is class. I haven’t taken the proverbial out of anyone! Why do you think I ‘try’ to play football in Spain? I’m also escaping that ‘attitude’ you seem to think I have! Over here the football is about intelligent football not just the best athletes. I also HATE that attitude, I grew up battling it…but thanks for the bad judgment!
My main point is…if your Burnley lads, Cork, Eagles and Rodriquez mooched about like they would rather be in an old peoples home than playing the good football you pay to see them play, then they just pissed off when subbed without an apparent thought for anyone but themselves, would you still rant about them in the same way? Or, even better…Burnley sign Balotelli (just an example) and because the club pays him so much he takes Eagles place in the team, then he acts like a spoilt little bitch for seventy minutes and walks off. How do you feel? How does Eagles feel? How would all the Burnley fans and players feel?
I’m really sorry, from your comment it sounds like I’ve totally misjudged you. It’s just that I see the words English, passion and football in a sentence together and immediately see red! Good luck with your career out there; I’ll watch out for your articles in future and hopefully not fly off the handle next time!
Mikey, no worries & I appreciate the apology. Like I said I understood where you were coming from, just was a bit off topic. Many thanks on the well wishes. Check out one of my old posts ‘How the spaniards do it’…I think you’ll like it!