Could Balotelli Break Riva's Record?

What is with this Balotelli obsession? I dont understand it... He isnt even that good. These comparisons are hilarious.

The_ItalianFool wrote:What is with this Balotelli obsession? I dont understand it... He isnt even that good. These comparisons are hilarious.

In Italy, a youth like him is that good.

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:

The_ItalianFool wrote:What is with this Balotelli obsession? I dont understand it... He isnt even that good. These comparisons are hilarious.

In Italy, a youth like him is that good.

Just because we lack top class attacking quality in Italia right now and he is the best amongst what we have doesnt make him as good as our previous legends or current top players like ronaldo or messi.

Currently? Not. Most probably in the future he will be.

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:Currently? Not. Most probably in the future he will be.

Most probably? I'll settle at maybe.. final offer.

Speaking of Balotelli, I sent you those signatures on facebook

I think I am going to use one as well, I really like the turnout:



rest are on FB :dance:

The_ItalianFool wrote:

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:Currently? Not. Most probably in the future he will be.

Most probably? I'll settle at maybe.. final offer.

18 years old.



19 years old.



20 years old



21 years old

A nice goal once in awhile doesnt cut it for me. Consistency and results are the most important things in football.

I could compile a series of videos of stankovic's amazing goals, doesnt mean he is the next ronaldo

The_ItalianFool wrote:A nice goal once in awhile doesnt cut it for me. Consistency and results are the most important things in football.

Consistency? Once again. He is the best U20 player this past decade in Italy. FOR SCORING 20+ GOALS under that age in which he did, in two seasons. How much more consistent do you want him to get?

He has 6 goals in 8 apps with Man City...

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:

The_ItalianFool wrote:A nice goal once in awhile doesnt cut it for me. Consistency and results are the most important things in football.

Consistency? Once again. He is the best U20 player this past decade in Italy. FOR SCORING 20+ GOALS under that age in which he did, in two seasons. How much more consistent do you want him to get?

He has 6 goals in 8 apps with Man City...

Yeah, he did that when he was under 20.... then what?

Yeah, right now he is having a good period where he is scoring a lot of goals. If he can keep this up over one season then maybe well talk.

Yes under 20... and now he's 21... He turned this August... And that good Period is the answer to the question then what, in which was right after 20.

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:Yes under 20... and now he's 21... He turned this August... And that good Period is the answer to the question then what, in which was right after 20.

I cant find anymore reliable sources, but Wiki is generally accurate anyways.

Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2007 Lumezzan 2 (0)
2007–2010 Internazionale 59 (20)
2010- 2011 Manchester City 24 (11)
National team‡
2008–2010 Italy U21 16 (6)
2010– 6 (1)

So on inter for 3 years, he averaged 1 goal every 3 games. With the youth team it was just about the same, and even less for city.

Based on these stats, he hasnt been anything special. If you have other stats that are more reliable and want to add/correct, go for it.

If there are let's say 38 rounds in the EPL, at his 1 goal in 3 games ration he can expect to get to 12-14 goals?

Obviously if he can keep up 6 goals every 8 games that is a completely different case, but history shows otherwise.

Mind I ask you how many goals Del Piero and Baggio had under the age of 20?

That is a good point, but that doesnt really help your argument because then you could say any Italian player is the next "whoever."

The_ItalianFool wrote:That is a good point, but that doesnt really help your argument because then you could say any Italian player is the next "whoever."

No the point I'm trying to tell you is... Balotelli is showing at a young age what he can do. Like I said before... he's done it all. Records... within his performances:

1) Best Italian U20 player of this decade
2) Golden Player Award in the EPL(Best youth player)
3) Man of the Match in the FA Cup Final

In doing that, he's already played with Inter and Man City winning every title except for the International level.

Only 21 years old... Now imagine 4-5 from now what this man can do, what he will achieve.

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:

The_ItalianFool wrote:That is a good point, but that doesnt really help your argument because then you could say any Italian player is the next "whoever."

No the point I'm trying to tell you is... Balotelli is showing at a young age what he can do. Like I said before... he's done it all. Records... within his performances:

1) Best Italian U20 player of this decade
2) Golden Player Award in the EPL(Best youth player)
3) Man of the Match in the FA Cup Final

In doing that, he's already played with Inter and Man City winning every title except for the International level.

Only 21 years old... Now imagine 4-5 from now what this man can do, what he will achieve.

I guess it is simply a matter of faith in him, you seem to have a lot of faith in him. I dont doubt his skill, but I get the feeling he will not live up to his full potential aka alla Cassano

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:Mind I ask you how many goals Del Piero and Baggio had under the age of 20?

Roberto Baggio, the greatest Italian footballer ever, scored exactly ONE goal in Serie A before the age of 20 and 7 goals total by age 21.

Mario Balotelli scored 20 goals before the age of 20 and 26 goals by the age of 21.

Balotelli has scored more goals before the age of 20 than many Italian legends including Baggio, Del Piero, Totti and Riva.

Enough said...

Balotelli has done more in his young career and before the age of 21 than any other Italian player since Gianni Rivera. He has the potential to be just as good as Rivera.

Mario Balotelli is the greatest Italian youth product since Roberto Baggio. If he can live up to his potential and not let his attitude and personality get in the way, he could become one of the greatest Italian players ever...

juve_gigi wrote:

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:Mind I ask you how many goals Del Piero and Baggio had under the age of 20?

Roberto Baggio, the greatest Italian footballer ever, scored exactly ONE goal in Serie A before the age of 20 and 7 goals total by age 21.

Mario Balotelli scored 20 goals before the age of 20 and 26 goals by the age of 21.

Balotelli has scored more goals before the age of 20 than many Italian legends including Baggio, Del Piero, Totti and Riva.

Enough said...

Balotelli has done more in his young career and before the age of 21 than any other Italian player since Gianni Rivera. He has the potential to be just as good as Rivera.

Mario Balotelli is the greatest Italian youth product since Roberto Baggio. If he can live up to his potential and not let his attitude and personality get in the way, he could become one of the greatest Italian players ever...

The way you shaped this post it makes it seem like you are implying Balotelli scored 20 goals in Serie A in his first season, when he didnt if im not mistaken.

Aquafresca scored 21 goals before the age of 20 also.

The_ItalianFool wrote:

juve_gigi wrote:

Camurrìa.Sto.Stronzo wrote:Mind I ask you how many goals Del Piero and Baggio had under the age of 20?

Roberto Baggio, the greatest Italian footballer ever, scored exactly ONE goal in Serie A before the age of 20 and 7 goals total by age 21.

Mario Balotelli scored 20 goals before the age of 20 and 26 goals by the age of 21.

Balotelli has scored more goals before the age of 20 than many Italian legends including Baggio, Del Piero, Totti and Riva.

Enough said...

Balotelli has done more in his young career and before the age of 21 than any other Italian player since Gianni Rivera. He has the potential to be just as good as Rivera.

Mario Balotelli is the greatest Italian youth product since Roberto Baggio. If he can live up to his potential and not let his attitude and personality get in the way, he could become one of the greatest Italian players ever...

The way you shaped this post it makes it seem like you are implying Balotelli scored 20 goals in Serie A in his first season, when he didnt if im not mistaken.

Aquafresca scored 21 goals before the age of 20 also.

No, not at all, I was simply implying Balotelli scored 20 goals before the age of 20, not all in one year. It took him 3 years to do it, but still he did it. Baggio, Del Piero, Totti and Gigi Riva never did it. Not even close actually.

As for Aquafresca, nope sorry, not in Serie A he didn't, good try though:

"Aquafresca made eight Serie A appearances in 2005–06 season. As part of the co-ownership deal, Acquafresca remained in Treviso for the 2006–07 Serie B season and scored 11 goals in 35 appearances."

Pato has scored 41 goals in his first 3 season's with Milan does that mean he has more potential than Balo, Del Piero and Totti ?

Rossoneri Ninja wrote:Pato has scored 41 goals in his first 3 season's with Milan does that mean he has more potential than Balo, Del Piero and Totti ?

Well we are technically talking about Italian players here, but since you brought up Pato, yes he scored 24 goals before the age of 20, so he does qualify. However, Pato was for all intents and purposes a full time player with Milan those 2 years, whereas Balotelli was a sub for Inter, so Pato played alot more minutes than Balotelli did before the age of 20.

And you know what, if it wasn't for the injuries, Paro would certainly be considered a world class player today and one of the top strikers in the world, would he not?? So your argument, although valid to some degree, is pretty much irrelevant because a healthy Pato is indeed a world class player...

Well we are technically talking about Italian players here, but since you brought up Pato, yes he scored 24 goals before the age of 20, so he does qualify. However, Pato was for all intents and purposes a full time player with Milan those 2 years, whereas Balotelli was a sub for Inter, so Pato played alot more minutes than Balotelli did before the age of 20.

A good point you make Gigi. However you could use this against Balo as well when comparing him to Baggio, Totti and Del Piero. How much exposure a talent gets early in his career is very much influenced by the conditions/situation he finds himself in.

In the case of Pato vs Balo situations , how much of role did his ( Balo ) character and behavior play into him being demoted as a sub player. Pato did indeed become a full time player only because he applied himself to the task better and the fact that he has never stopped working on improving and the results show that.

And you know what, if it wasn't for the injuries, Paro would certainly be considered a world class player today and one of the top strikers in the world, would he not?? So your argument, although valid to some degree, is pretty much irrelevant because a healthy Pato is indeed a world class player...

I would not claim him to be WC player even if he was healthy, he still has much to prove.

Rossoneri Ninja wrote:

Well we are technically talking about Italian players here, but since you brought up Pato, yes he scored 24 goals before the age of 20, so he does qualify. However, Pato was for all intents and purposes a full time player with Milan those 2 years, whereas Balotelli was a sub for Inter, so Pato played alot more minutes than Balotelli did before the age of 20.

A good point you make Gigi. However you could use this against Balo as well when comparing him to Baggio, Totti and Del Piero. How much exposure a talent gets early in his career is very much influenced by the conditions/situation he finds himself in.

In the case of Pato vs Balo situations , how much of role did his ( Balo ) character and behavior play into him being demoted as a sub player. Pato did indeed become a full time player only because he applied himself to the task better and the fact that he has never stopped working on improving and the results show that.

And you know what, if it wasn't for the injuries, Paro would certainly be considered a world class player today and one of the top strikers in the world, would he not?? So your argument, although valid to some degree, is pretty much irrelevant because a healthy Pato is indeed a world class player...

I would not claim him to be WC player even if he was healthy, he still has much to prove.

I've noticed that players seem to be branded "world class" too loosely on here. For example people claiming Rossi is world class. Pato certainly has the potential to be world class in the future. Same goes to Balotelli who I think has immense potential, but it is too soon to start branding him the new "whoever". The kid just started to turn things around and by the looks of it is becoming a critical squad player. It's to early for the comparisons however the talent is certainly there.

http://raeesm.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/defining-world-class-in-a-football-sense/

Just a read on how world class players are defined in the writers opinion, an opinion in which I agree with 100%. Players are labeled world class to easily on here without realizing how good and consistent one must be in order to be considered at that level.

I've noticed that players seem to be branded "world class" too loosely on here. For example people claiming Rossi is world class. Pato certainly has the potential to be world class in the future. Same goes to Balotelli who I think has immense potential, but it is too soon to start branding him the new "whoever". The kid just started to turn things around and by the looks of it is becoming a critical squad player. It's to early for the comparisons however the talent is certainly there.

http://raeesm.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/defining-world-class-in-a-football-sense/

Just a read on how world class players are defined in the writers opinion, an opinion in which I agree with 100%. Players are labeled world class to easily on here without realizing how good and consistent one must be in order to be considered at that level.

Lol i actually read that piece myself a few months ago.

I agree with your opinion , WC is a title that has to be earned over many WC season's. Its not an insult to say when a player isn't yet WC. For me it means that a said player has reached a lvl beyond that of his current peers and continue to play at the same or higher standard set by his predecessors for seasons onward.

Like many here i've been following Balo for years now, and its very hard not to see the huge Potential, as Gigi has said he is the total package, he reminds me more of R 9 , a supreme talent with god given physique, the only disparity between them is R9 was much more aggressive and driven, which made his talent stand out more.

Rossoneri Ninja wrote:

Well we are technically talking about Italian players here, but since you brought up Pato, yes he scored 24 goals before the age of 20, so he does qualify. However, Pato was for all intents and purposes a full time player with Milan those 2 years, whereas Balotelli was a sub for Inter, so Pato played alot more minutes than Balotelli did before the age of 20.

A good point you make Gigi. However you could use this against Balo as well when comparing him to Baggio, Totti and Del Piero. How much exposure a talent gets early in his career is very much influenced by the conditions/situation he finds himself in.

In the case of Pato vs Balo situations , how much of role did his ( Balo ) character and behavior play into him being demoted as a sub player. Pato did indeed become a full time player only because he applied himself to the task better and the fact that he has never stopped working on improving and the results show that.

And you know what, if it wasn't for the injuries, Paro would certainly be considered a world class player today and one of the top strikers in the world, would he not?? So your argument, although valid to some degree, is pretty much irrelevant because a healthy Pato is indeed a world class player...

I would not claim him to be WC player even if he was healthy, he still has much to prove.

spot on. based on pure talent to say Balotelli is nothing short of Italy's most skilled attacker is a fair statement, but that does not translate onto paper if the consistency and results do not.