was that backheel disrespectful?

Mario balotelli gets called for all sorts.

Was that backheel disrespectful? I don't think so.

That it was fucking stupid is without question. But that's all it was, fucking stupid. If we had been winning 4-0, no problem.

What happened afterwards could be a worry. He argued with Bobby as he was yanked off and threw his water bottle angrily to the ground when sat on the bench, I don't believe he was on the bench for the 2nd half.

I think the throwing of the water bottle was he was angry with himself for being a dick.

Maybe it's good to have this pre-season as it is just one less dick thing to do in the season proper. This would have been made an issue for weeks by the twattish media and other fans.

We now have a month to put this behind us.

He claimed "he thought he was offside", but it's still no excuse for doing what he did. Dzeko should have cracked him.

He should have put the ball in the back of the net and made it 2-0......end of. If he'd have done this in a Prem game, we'd all be going absolutely mental.

I'm sick of people saying "he's only a kid" or "he'll learn from this", etc, etc (like Milner said in his post match interview). He's been a pro footballer long enough to know by now how to fuckin act on a football field. This lad really is a complete cock and seems to be more trouble than he's worth.

but i'd stick with him for the time being.

the worry at the back of my mind is that he will do something fucking stupid when it really matters.

Give him time.

Look at Joey Barton now. Such a pleasant human being even baconface is after him!

Yeah, it pains me to say this but i agree with you Dawg.


However, i'm actually hoping Tevez'll stay now and Aguero signs meaning he'll have less playing time to fuck up .

just watching the extended highlights on the OS as I didn't see most of the 1st half. Balotelli looked good again.

Cool penalty, nice link up with Silva (who should have scored), nice link up again with Silva when Balotelli did his backheel and a few other good touches.

We did look very good in the 1st half with Silva creating and we were quicker to pass the ball around. We could easily have gone in 3 or 4 up.

If Tevez does stick around until January, everyone will have to be on their toes because if you don't perform there is someone else to fill your shoes.

That's the kind of pressure we need.

to be honest, watching the first half he should be forgiven for thinking it was an exhibition match and non-competitive in any way..



we destroyed Galaxy with ease and ripped them open every time we went forward, so I don't blame Mario for having a piss around..

if he'd just wellied it into the back of the net people would have been on his case for "being disrespectful in smashing the ball into the net" etc..



second half we changed it all round and the yank commentators were bloomin annoying. I'd give them a slap with pleasure..

oh they really pissed me off. making mountains out of molehills. it's as if they were top top players with some of those comments.

Sorry but i totally disagree Moon.



This was a pre-season game, not an exhibition match/piss around.

you can be forgiven for being greedy or trying something elaborant when it comes off. when it doesn't, you should expect plenty of stick.

sometimes, keeping it simple works best.

He's a fuckin idiot.............end of

Better to get this stupidity out of the way pre-season and not a vital game in the Prem eh?

Watching the game on ESPN with the Yank commentators...!!!! they were going mental at how disrespectful it was etc!! sorry, but what the fuck do you know about a game you call soccer anyway? Yes it was a bit daft of Mario, he should have layed it off to Dzeko or smacked it in himself, but the commentators just went on and on at being disrespectful to LA Galaxy ( can you take any team seriously when their ground is called the Home Depot Centre?) to Man City to the game of football, sorry,,," soccer" They were even moaning about his penalty, saying you can't do that, you can't come to a full stop and then carry on,err... sorry but is you watch the reply he SLOWs not stops, numnuts...

Mancini was right to YANK him off, for his stupidity more than anything and to get it into his head that Roberto is the Boss.

But to criticise him for a bit of showboating to that extent, well, we can criticise him for missing and making a nob out of himself, but to ask him to not try to be flamboyant would be stifling his game too much, what I will say is that in the FA Cup Final he was fantastic, professional and played to a game plan, so he's already made great strides, he just needs to curb his arrogance a little.

When Aguero comes, and see's how professional and clinical he is, I'm sure he'll change his game, or he'll either spend the season on the bench or be shipped out, But he has to learn, Mancini is the Boss, don't diss him in public, and don't chuck your toys out when millions of people are watching, not only do you make yourself look like a nob, but it reflexts bad on City.

mancini has put this to bed already (externally) which is excellent management. he just said that yanking him off after 30 minutes was enough punishment and if you aren't serious you will be sitting on the bench with me.

If it would have gone in everyone on here & in the media would be raving over it, & I dont think for one minute he would do something like that in a "proper" match although he is an oddball.



It's a bit like that lad who back heeled a pen in last week (which I loved) then got hammered for it, why????????



Dont know if he's as good as people are making him out to be but he's different, & the game needs that IMO.

I'm sorry guys - but I tend to disagree with the majority.

I watched it last night on ESPN - saw several replays, rewound it this morning and watched it again - and there was a definite 'whistle'. Balotelli then paused momentarily (look at his sudden change in posture - from through on goal to a sudden drop of the shoulders), then did what we see countless times throughout a PL season whereby the attacker tries something they wouldn't normally do - be it a trick, a chip etc over/at the keeper.

I personally don't think for one minute that he attempted that as a genuine bit of skill to fool the keeper. Why would he? He was on his right foot with only the keeper to beat.

How many times have we seen players receive yellow cards for continuing to shoot etc after the whistle had blown? RVP?

I know you should play to a whistle - but we see lot's of forwards pulling out of shots when they hear the whistle - Balotelli did this IMO but threw in a trick at the end.

For gods sake - I personally think Mancini completely over-reacted and made the whole situation 10x worse. A verbal dressing down in front of 27,000 fans would have been sufficient - enough for Balotelli to explain he heard a whistle.

Now i'm not usually one for sticking up for his antics - but on this occasion i think his reputation has gone before him - and maybe that is his own fault.

As for those fucking Yank commentators! If I could have laid my hands on them, I swear i would have ripped their heads off. Complete dick-wads of the highest order - who know fuck-all about football or the players in our starting 11! At one point they called Adam Johnson - Milner (who wasn't on the fucking pitch!)

Thought Silva and Balotelli were a class apart in that first 30 minutes - let's hope Balotelli has explained himself, apologised to keep the peace and let's hope it doesn't detract from him trying unusual things in the future - as otherwise, what's the point!

Man of the match in the cup final, played well at Wembly against United (hence the disrespectful thing has surfaced in the RED tops) , and backheels in a meaningless friendly ....mmm balanced as to if we should keep him.



He got a rollocking very publicly, called unprofessional by Mancini, got his team mates on his case..... that should be that, line drawn and dont do it again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhOvY-gMgv0&NR=1

Look - watch it. You here a whistle, his body language completely changes - AND ASK YOURSELVES.......does he even make an attempt to look at where the ball goes? No, he keeps his head down, thinking he had been flagged off.

Just wish it would have gone in - then we would have had the ESPN idiots saying " It's a goal from the end zone, the ball hits the back of the onion bag, scored by Yaya Toure of Manchester"

they wouldn't have said yaya toure as he is the wrong colour

? wrong colour - do explain Topdawg.

they know fuck all and would have even got that wrong

Asked what Balotelli had said to him, he replied: “It was in Italian. In
English I would find it difficult to give you the translation. But
Mario is streetwise, he knows he was not offside.”

Hmm - even Beckham said that by the look of his body language - he thought he was offside.

On the extended highlights on the OS, he puts his hand to his mouth, gesturing a whistle. He must've thought he heard a whistle go, hence the daftness. Probably the reason why Bobby has brushed it under the carpet.

I've heard people blow whistles at matches, it's fucking irritating and if I ever catch someone with one, I'll insert it into their lungs...

It was stupid, but not as bad as the Arsenal penalty against us a few years back... was it Pires and the cheating twat Henry? They tried to pass it into the net and fucked it up when they were only 1-0 up. I soooooo wished we'd have nicked a point that day just to see Wenger's face afterwards