Mario Balotelli has new life in him after moving to Milan. Will he produce something special against the Oranje?
Balotelli was a joyful sight on his AC Milan debut. He struck twice to see Milan overcome Udinese. The three points which came about due to the 2-1 victory helped propel Milan to fourth place in Serie A. Balotelli is already having a huge impact in his time at Milan due to the minimization of off-the-pitch distractions. In England, he had to deal with the press at all times.
Balotelli struggled due to the aforementioned issues regularly in England. He was kept out of the team due to problems which were not necessarily related to his performances on the pitch. Balotelli had problems with his manager Roberto Mancini. He is definitely not the easiest player to manage; however, the constant hassling in Manchester did not help him at all.
While his transfer to Italy has already helped Milan greatly and will perhaps continue to help the club, it might have been made with an eye on the national team. Cesare Prandelli noticed that the chemistry between Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy had a chance to develop when he played the two together against France in a friendly last year. Italy went on to lose that match by a goal.
This relationship could be one for the future. A move to Milan has allowed Balotelli to link up with Shaarawy once again. Also, in Milan, Balotelli will be playing more regularly perhaps than he was at City in England. Prandelli needs one of his most talented players to be playing regularly for his club side.
Now that Balotelli has shown what he can do at Milan, he can remind everyone what he is capable of on the international stage. Netherlands is definitely a daunting opponent, especially under Louis Van Gaal. Balotelli absolutely tore Germany to shreds at the Euros. He will want to show that he can do the same to a Netherlands defence which can be breached.
Balotelli so far has featured 16 times for the national side he always wanted to represent. He has scored five goals, three of which came at the Euros. He will try to add to that tally when he lines up with his Italian colleagues against the Dutch on Wednesday.
Balotelli struggled due to the aforementioned issues regularly in England. He was kept out of the team due to problems which were not necessarily related to his performances on the pitch. Balotelli had problems with his manager Roberto Mancini. He is definitely not the easiest player to manage; however, the constant hassling in Manchester did not help him at all.
While his transfer to Italy has already helped Milan greatly and will perhaps continue to help the club, it might have been made with an eye on the national team. Cesare Prandelli noticed that the chemistry between Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy had a chance to develop when he played the two together against France in a friendly last year. Italy went on to lose that match by a goal.
This relationship could be one for the future. A move to Milan has allowed Balotelli to link up with Shaarawy once again. Also, in Milan, Balotelli will be playing more regularly perhaps than he was at City in England. Prandelli needs one of his most talented players to be playing regularly for his club side.
Now that Balotelli has shown what he can do at Milan, he can remind everyone what he is capable of on the international stage. Netherlands is definitely a daunting opponent, especially under Louis Van Gaal. Balotelli absolutely tore Germany to shreds at the Euros. He will want to show that he can do the same to a Netherlands defence which can be breached.
Balotelli so far has featured 16 times for the national side he always wanted to represent. He has scored five goals, three of which came at the Euros. He will try to add to that tally when he lines up with his Italian colleagues against the Dutch on Wednesday.
