1-7-2025
Mario Balotelli has criticised coach Patrick Vieira for not giving him enough time at Genoa.
Balotelli whose contract with Genoa has expired said Vieira who was his former teammate at Inter Milan, Manchester City and also coached him at OGC Nice in the French Ligue 1, never gave him a chance to prove himself. Vieira and Balotelli reunited last season after he was appointed coach of the Italian Serie A side.
“When he arrived, he called and asked how I was, about the team, it seemed like he had good intentions, but then he put me on for only a few minutes the first couple of games,” Balotelli told Centrocampo podcast, via Tuttomercatoweb.
“So, I went to him, asking if there were problems. I wasn’t asking to play 90 minutes, but he was using me for 2 or 4 minutes at a time. Then he took me to Lecce, and I stayed on the bench, against Milan there was a free kick at the 86th minute and he didn’t call me.
“He assured there were no problems but preferred to put on players who run. Look it’s natural Andrea Pinamonti starts, he works hard for the defence, but it’s not right that I play 2 minutes. I am sure that I can solve some games. I think the problem was that he just didn’t like me, it wasn’t about football.
“I felt really let down, in every respect. And yet when we played together, I never had any problems with Vieira. I played regularly at Nice, occasionally he’d take me off and say I needed to run more, but I scored a load of goals, why change everything now?
“He couldn’t accept this, I would give him advice, and he could’ve listened instead of telling me to get lost. It’s just the desire to be a protagonist in my view, he wants to be at the centre of attention. I can see no other reason. Or I just get on his nerves.”
