The Shopping List—aka We've got flipping great wadges of cash: Page 187 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

The Shopping List—aka We've got flipping great wadges of cash

lorddulaarsenal

He's too much of a risk. I'd rather dzeko

Captain

y va marquer wrote:
He can't handle pressure or the expectation that he needs to deliver consistently on the pitch.

What makes you say that?

asajoseph

I don't think he'd come here, I don't think he's as good as all that, and I don't think he's anywhere near ready to grow up. He's batshit mental, sometimes in an endearing way and sometimes in a what the fuck are you thinking way. No way I want him anywhere near our dressing room.

y va marquer

Captain wrote:
y va marquer wrote:
He can't handle pressure or the expectation that he needs to deliver consistently on the pitch.

What makes you say that?

I thought his performance on Sunday showed this.
The whole team, bar Kompany, buckled but he was destructive under pressure.

Captain

y va marquer wrote:
Captain wrote:
What makes you say that?

I thought his performance on Sunday showed this.
The whole team, bar Kompany, buckled but he was destructive under pressure.

I would disagree; he didn't go missing like Aguero and Nasri for instance. Okay, he lost the head a bit but he was still going from start to finish (well, red card time anyway).

But Sunday aside, Balotelli has scored many game breaking goals this season, including high pressure penalties. Just last week he ignited City's comeback against Sunderland.

Klaus

I think most of the hate against Balotelli is a result of the character that people have created in their minds. There's this media caricature of him that people love to hate. He's rude, ignorant and stupid - which puts him at odds with about ninety percent of all players that Bolton, United and Stoke have employed for the last decade. I wouldn't put it past Kevin Davies to tackle Song like Balotelli did. The difference is that Davies is 34 and enjoys some kind of hateful respect for being a hardman. Balotelli is 21 and widely concemned for his worst qualities. He doesn't get much credit for his good sides either though. He's more or less carried City's attack for the last two-three months while the rest of the team has disintegrated. Yet after acting like a complete idiot in one game he's used as an example of everything that is wrong with City.

y va marquer

Captain wrote:
y va marquer wrote:
I thought his performance on Sunday showed this.
The whole team, bar Kompany, buckled but he was destructive under pressure.

I would disagree; he didn't go missing like Aguero and Nasri for instance. Okay, he lost the head a bit but he was still going from start to finish (well, red card time anyway).

But Sunday aside, Balotelli has scored many game breaking goals this season, including high pressure penalties. Just last week he ignited City's comeback against Sunderland.

True, he has scored important goals under pressure but I really think he's more of a destructive than positive force in that team.
He's not fully on board with the others, he's not reliable.

y va marquer

Klaus wrote:
I think most of the hate against Balotelli is a result of the character that people have created in their minds. There's this media caricature of him that people love to hate. He's rude, ignorant and stupid - which puts him at odds with about ninety percent of all players that Bolton, United and Stoke have employed for the last decade. I wouldn't put it past Kevin Davies to tackle Song like Balotelli did. The difference is that Davies is 34 and enjoys some kind of hateful respect for being a hardman. Balotelli is 21 and widely concemned for his worst qualities. He doesn't get much credit for his good sides either though. He's more or less carried City's attack for the last two-three months while the rest of the team has disintegrated. Yet after acting like a complete idiot in one game he's used as an example of everything that is wrong with City.

I don't hate Balotelli at all - I genuinely think he's lost his way and that the world of football at City is making matters worse.

Timbob

Ultimately he's just not a team player. Can be seen in his overall play, not just the incendiary one-off incidents. And, imo, he's not quite good enough to carry. He's potentially a world class centre forward if he makes the absolute most of his talent, but as he is he's a handful but no a genius.

lorddulaarsenal

I neither dislike or like him. Purely on what he brings to the pitch I'd rather tevez, aguero and maybe even a fired up adebayor

lorddulaarsenal

Timbo wrote:
Ultimately he's just not a team player. Can be seen in his overall play, not just the incendiary one-off incidents. And, imo, he's not quite good enough to carry. He's potentially a world class centre forward if he makes the absolute most of his talent, but as he is he's a handful but no a genius.

Certainly not a genius. He's a big man with top class technique. Not in Henry's league

Captain

He is a genius, right in the top bracket of young attacking talent worldwide. There's barely a single attacking player in his age group as good as him in the league.

Klaus

His on-field behaviour reminds me a little bit of Vieira in his early days. Same temperament. I suppose people have forgotten what he was like mentally because of all the success he brought to Arsenal but he's still got a record amount of red cards in Premier League for a reason. He was sent off more times than fucktards like Vinnie Jones and Roy Keane.

Vieira never burnt his house down off the field though and he managed to put on a bib without help. Balotelli is always surrounded by gifs and headlines and most of them don't really focus on what he brings on the field.

lorddulaarsenal

Think genius is too strong a word to describe him. Messi was and still is a genius

Timbob

He has no work rate, divides dressing rooms, brings undue negative attention to himself and the clubs he works for and exacerbates managers. For all that I would want a player that rips teams to shreds on a regular basis. Balotelli is a very good talent, but he isn't an unstoppable force, even in top form.

Claudius

Reminds me a lot of Rooney 7 years ago. He'd go around crashing into people and telling referees to fuck off. Old red nose sorted him out for the most part. As, Y Va says, he's lost his way and it doesn't help being at a mad house like Citeh. His captain, while an amazing player, is a young man with no big medals. Meanwhile, the guy who should be captain is off playing golf in Argentina as the team collapses.

He needs a stable environment and a coach who will set boundaries. At first Mancini acted like Mario's antics were cute, now he's tearing his hair out. That's the wrong approach. Wenger would need to be firm though. Our record on troublemakers like Bendtner, Pennant and Bentley is not encouraging.

YounGunner

Ballotelli is probably the most clinical finisher in the league. If he put his mind to it he has the potential to be another C. Ronaldo but he lacks the focus and the maturity to fulfill his potential. When he's having a bad game he completely loses it and that's pretty much his biggest problem

Klaus

Claudius wrote:
Our record on troublemakers like Bendtner, Pennant and Bentley is not encouraging.

The problem with those guys was that they were shit, not that they couldn't behave.

Burnwinter

Burnwinter wrote:
Wilshere to play a full season
Productive goalscorer with natural touch to come off the bench instead of Chamakh (Podolski, maybe)
Santos level RB

John Carter wrote:
agree with the first two. not worried by the third point there. swap it for a nousy utility man

Way I see it we're sorted in midfield and central defence and can't expect a big wide player to be signed (nice as it'd be). We obviously need someone else who lives to score.

Being generous and assuming Gibbs stays uninjured, losing Sagna to a long term knock is probably one of the steepest drops to which we're exposed. Jenko's just an encouraging prospect, not a reliable performer. Send him out on loan and bring someone in ...

Timbob

YounGunner wrote:
Ballotelli is probably the most clinical finisher in the league.

His finishing is the one aspect of his game that i agree is generally top notch and consistent.

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