THE contrast could not be more spectacular. Mario Balotelli has done more in the last six weeks at Marseille than he did in the whole first half of the season at Nice, just down the road from his new home.
Between August and January, he was literally a burden. Only 10 league matches played, no goals, one assist, around six kilos overweight pretty much through the whole five months, multiple arguments with his manager Patrick Vieira, dropped from the squad a few times and a feeling of complete waste, both for him and for Nice. In this period of time he took 34 shots in total and only seven were on target (20%).
The Italian superstar had been immense for l’OGCN in the previous two seasons under Lucien Favre: 15 goals in 23 matches in his first Ligue 1 campaign, 18 in 28 in the second one.
With the Swiss, it was a totally different Balotelli: committed, responsible, even quite disciplined and with the right attitude. He carried Nice to a third and an eighth-place finish, and finally looked like he had turned a corner as a player. He looked mature and focused. Alas! He wanted to leave last summer. No one came in for him (although l’OM were already interested then) so in the end he decided to stay against his will. That was the start of the problems. He never got back to the right level of fitness to have an impact on a team which needed him so badly. He was poor and frustrated. Vieira gave up trying to make him change because the former Arsenal midfielder realised pretty quickly that there was nothing he could do.
Towards the end of January, he was only too happy to finally make his move to Marseille. At 28, he wanted a new adventure. He would have liked to go back to Italy but his wages (around 500 000 euros before tax a month) were an issue for the clubs interested (Bologna, Parma, Sassuolo). Not for Marseille, convinced that he was the striker they needed and the perfect player to relaunch their season. So far, they can only be happy.
Mario, who is super again, has revitalised the team. He is leading by example on and off the pitch. He has scored four goals in six Ligue 1 matches in his new colours, one every 66 minutes! Compared to Nice, 41% of his shots are on target! The transformation is mind blowing. How could Mario Balotelli be so bad at Nice and so good at Marseille?
His body language and his attitude are totally different. He knows how important the next few months are after such a bad start of the season. At Nice, he was not happy, and he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He feels the total opposite at the Stade Vélodrome. Maybe he believed that he belonged at a much bigger club and, no offence to Nice, Marseille certainly are. It is an institution and a city made for him. Football and l’OM are everything to the Marseillais. He will respond well to the passion from the fans. It will remind him of Italy. They will love him like a son and he will repay them with goals and victories.
The internet was broken with this one…
…And we've got it from every angle. There's only ☝️ @FinallyMario, and he's an Olympien pic.twitter.com/AmX19lLs5d
— Olympique Marseille (@OM_English) March 4, 2019
In Rudi Garcia, Mario now has a manager who is building his team around him. The 4-4-2 formation currently used by the French coach is tailored to Balotelli and to suit his qualities. He has in Florian Thauvin, the perfect teammate to service him, and their relationship is already burgeoning. The impact of the former Manchester City striker on Marseille has been great so far. They are fourth in the table, five points behind Lyon in third place, which is a Champions League spot for next season. They were seventh before his first start against Reims. More importantly, they feel very strong with him in the team.
A sign that Mario is happy again? His goal celebration against St Etienne with an assist from Thauvin. Balotelli got his mobile phone from one of the stewards and posted a live video on social media!
He will have certainly prepared something else for Marseille’s league game this weekend. Funnily enough, they host Nice on Sunday at the Stade Vélodrome. Balotelli against his former club. That should be tasty.
A £10 bet on Balotelli to score first vs Nice returns £36.50
