Super Mario: in search of mentorship.

Last Sunday (8/11/2009) after Inter’s 1-1 home draw against Roma coach José Mourinho was asked by journalists to give a verdict on Mario Balotelli’s performance. He replied:

“Close to zero. Little movement, few dangerous actions, I didn’t like it. The problem with him is that you never know what to expect, he can give a lot or he can give nothing.”

These words appear harsh, when we consider that Super Mario turned 19 only a few months back. They do, however, sum him up well; Balotelli is inconsistent.

In many respects he is much like Wayne Rooney was as a teenager, supremely talented but with a fiery, unpredictable and difficult temperament.

Rooney, in recent years, has managed to channel his temperament and put it to good use, he is still prone to the odd ill-tempered moment but this can only be expected. Becoming, in the process, one of the world’s best forwards. This can be put down to hard work on his part and, importantly, the mentorship of authoritarian Alex Ferguson.

It is hard to see, in the current Inter setup, who will be able to provide this mentor figure for Balotelli.

The first candidate for the job would be manager Mourinho. But this is a coach with a questionable disciplinary record himself.

In the little over a year that he has been in Italy the ‘Special One’ has had the honour of being sent off in three Serie A matches. His record in England for touchline misconduct was no better having called referee Alan Wiley a ‘Son of a whore’ during a 3-3 draw with Tottenham in the FA Cup.

Mourinho’s Chelsea side were also often subject to accusations of harassing and intimidating the referee, an offence for which they were eventually charged after a match away against West Brom in 2006.

The most famous of all Mourinho’s misdemeanours was his scathing attack on Swedish referee Anders Frisk in 2005. Mourinho claimed that Frisk had invited Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard into his dressing room during the half-time break of the first leg last-16 Champions League tie between the two teams, played at the Camp Nou.

Mourinho’s outburst was followed by death threats to Frisk’s family from fans, the referee taking early retirement and UEFA official Volfer Roth branding the Special One “the enemy of football”.

All things considered Mourinho may not be the right man to lecture an unruly teenage talent and guide him on matters of attitude and discipline.

Could Balotelli then hope for some guidance from higher up? Could multi-millionaire oil tycoon president Massimo Moratti prove to be the man to guide the boy?

Considering Moratti’s tack-record on dealing with Inter’s stars his credentials do not seem any more promising.

Christian Vieri during a recent television interview revealed what he and co-star Ronaldo were able to get away with whilst playing for Inter:

“It is true that we returned home at night at 5-6 in the morning, because we were out partying. But then I would sleep for two hours and go running on the pitch, whilst he [Ronaldo] lay on his bed eating brioche and drinking coffee. The problem is that the next evening, at midnight, he would arrive at my house and honk the horn of his car until I came downstairs and we went out again.”

More recently Moratti has also failed to curb the drinking and partying of another star striker, Adriano. This led to poor-form, disciplinary problems and ultimately to the rescission of the Brazilian’s contract.

Another ex-Inter striker, Alvaro Recoba, was a favourite of the Inter president. Moratti insisted that Recoba remained part of the squad despite the player’s lack of focus and the resulting lack of faith from managers. Recoba recently made this statement about his attitude whilst at Inter:

“I know that every player needs to train to improve, but in all honesty I don’t think that I ever wanted to get better.”

Balotelli risks being the latest in a long line of talented strikers that have not been brought under control at Moratti’s club.

There is, however, a third figure that may be able to help steer Super Mario Balotelli in the right direction. The man in question is captain Javier Zanetti. Zanetti, 36 has been playing for inter since 1995, collecting almost 500 appearances for the club and received the armband way back in 1998 after Giuseppe Bergomi retired from the game.

In these years he has become an Inter legend. A humble, hard-working, team player, Zanetti is famous for his sense of sportsmanship and professionalism. He is, in essence, the exact opposite of Balotelli.

There was a sign a few weeks ago, during Inter’s 5-3 home win against Palermo, that Zanetti has accepted his role in nurturing Balotelli.

Balotelli had been fouled in the box and was eager to take the resulting spot kick himself, despite the fact that Samuel Eto’o was the designated penalty taker. A stand off took place in the penalty area with Eto’o waiting to strike but with Balotelli refusing to step aside. Up stepped captain Zanetti, who calmly diffused the situation, taking Super Mario by the hand and leading him away.

The respect for his captain was obvious. As soon as Zanetti intervened Balotelli backed down, leaving Eto’o free to strike.

Zanetti must continue trying to help the problematic Balotelli adjust to life as a professional footballer, about whom he spoke these words in a recent Gazzetta interview:

“It is only with hard work that you emerge in football today and at eighteen years old you cannot allow yourself to act like a footballer that has already arrived.”

Wise words from a wise captain. We can only hope for the good of Italian football that some of the Inter captain’s professionalism rubs off on the talented but troubled youngster. Only then may we might be blessed with one of the finest footballing talents for years to come.

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