“It is completely my own fault if I haven’t won the Ballon d’Or yet. In this sport you need to sacrifice a lot, and when I was young I grew up without the norms many kids have. Even if I have a nice house or nice cars, sometimes I just want to live a normal life. I want to become the best player in the world and score a lot of goals.”
Can’t find much to quibble with there. Mario can be his own worst enemy at times, but the above indicates he recognizes there is much work to be done.
Quote via Matteo Bonnetti
Devang, do you know what humility means? His not winning the Ballon d’Or has little do with him and a lot to do with Messi. The fact the he thinks it does is really arrogant.
His emphasis on individual awards also negates the humility angle. How about: ‘It is completely my own fault (even though it actually isn’t) that Man City didn’t make it out of the first round of the CL for two seasons in a row even though we spent almost a billion pounds.” Team first!
I can’t understand what Mario’s saying in that quote. One sentence has nothing to do with the next. I’m not blaming him; I have no expectations of coherence from a) a non-native English speaker writing in English (they get a pass) or (b) a footballer
I look at it a different way. He is acknowledging he hasn’t put everything he has into being the best. The greats, like Messi,, have. Talent wise I don’t think it’s insane to suggest he is in a special class.
I’m with you Devang. The guy has all the skill to be such a menacing force on the pitch. Size, strength, power, speed, skill, vision, a knack for scoring goals. But he lacks the work ethic and poise, and his emotion which drives him can also work against him at times. No reason he shouldn’t be in the running for Player of the Year every year. Hopefully this is a turning point for him, but I fear he is always going to be toeing that line between greatness and insanity, which those moments of insanity overshadowing the moments of greatness.