“A zombie that destroys everything – and that’s Balotelli”

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Less than ten minutes have been played before FC Sion is 3-0 behind in the derby against Geneva and the coach is said to have fired at half-time. It’s easy to lose interest in the game, isn’t it? But you shouldn’t do that when you’re captain of a team deep in the relegation battle. And certainly not when it comes to Michel Pont (68), assistant of the Swiss national team from 2001 to 2014. After the listless performance of Mario Balotelli (32), Pont says on RTS: “Of course you could say that they are zombies ( in the team, ed.). But they are not zombies. It is a zombie that destroys everything – and that is Balotelli.”

Sweaters swapped and then swapped

What drives Pont crazy? The work ethic and body language of the captain of Zion. Balotelli proves to be lazy, throwing his hands up, complaining and arguing instead of motivating and getting his teammates carried away. “It is not possible to continue as a captain with a man who ruins the mood,” Pont said.

“Super Mario” has already been replaced at the break. As if he knew his working day was soon over, he exchanged jerseys and a few kind words with former Man City colleague Gaël Clichy after just 45 minutes. After his trip to the Milan derby in the semi-final of the Champions League this week, another indication that the relegation battle with Sion is not at the top of Balotelli’s priority list?

“It almost looks like it,” says SRF expert Kay Voser in his halftime analysis. “I don’t like his body language at all. He is the captain of this team and should be a role model, but just brushes him off all the time. That automatically infects the others as well.”

Pont is now ‘tired’ of the eccentric striker. “You can’t ridicule an institution like FC Sion. Personally, I can’t stand it anymore with this Balotelli.” If it’s up to Pont, Balotelli is likely to be out of the squad next week, let alone captain.

Whether the new coach, if David Bettoni (51) is really fired, sees it that way, will become clear next week. Then Sion gets Master YB and – with or without Balotelli – is urgently dependent on points.

Source : Blick