Super Mario - Heading In The Right Direction?

[King Kev]

I thought his work-rate and general attitude showed massive signs of improvement today.

He is still infuriating at times but seems to be sorting his head out.

Well done lad, keep it up.

[13021J]

Agree, although he did drift out of the game a bit in the second half. Looks much more threatening from a central position but has the pace, trickery and intelligence to drift in and threaten.

Mancini obviously backs him to the hilt so will be interesting to see him in the Tevez position against West Ham.

I find him exciting to watch. He could be The One.

[Fish111]

He strikes me as a young Drogba with his dramatics at times, very fustrating but that will get ironed out by the start of next season i hope. Great potential, holds the ball up, skillful, he can pass, head and score. Just seem high maintenance though, maybe more trouble than he's worth?? Time will tell i suppose but i love the fella already and he has the best manager in Bobby Manc to keep him in check.

[brite blu sky]

He is obviously capable of learning the lessons and taking on board the criticism. What was this game his 3rd full game in the prem? Looks promising to me, not as daft as we thought he might be. He nicked the ball back a couple of times today like he was pretending to be Tevez. Another 2 or 3 games and 2 or 3 sharp comments from Vieira and Mancini and he will be one of our best players.

[The Man In Blue]

If this kid realises his potential here at City, we will be fucking laughing.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Definitely showing great signs.Moves into some great positions, touch is improving and will always score goals

[Brad]

I thought he was brilliant today,went down a couple of times but got up alot faster than he has been recently, got into some great positions, and was unlucky not to score, if he keeps workin hard then I'm sure he can become one of the best strikers in the Prem league!

[Im_Spartacus]

I thought on a couple of occasions, and it was commented on by a fair few around me that it seemed like Tevez, Silva in particular were trying NOT to pass to him when he was clearly the best option having found himself some space.

[shawzy]

I thought on a couple of occasions, and it was commented on by a fair few around me that it seemed like Tevez, Silva in particular were trying NOT to pass to him when he was clearly the best option having found himself some space.

John i think your right there m8 and i reckon thats why Tevez was havin a sulk about being subbed cuz he wanted Mario off instead of him.
Thought Mario was very good today.I hope he settles in and stays with us..

[Swales4ever]

For sure no one have been better than Bob at managing him, since he still was quite a child.

Going to the right direction, Yes. Still loads of huge work to be done, though, to turn him in a composed man as a top striker have to be in order to be always deciding.
I wont be surprised if he will have another peculiar go within a couple of games. Since now the biggest issue of his carreer had been the inability to stay focused on his duties for more than a month...
Time will, let's see... definitely if the Club - I mean the whole Club, fans included - does succeed to make him feel home and deliver the final article, Bob's bet shall result in the greatest bargain in the City history.

[pieboy]

It was interesting to see De Jong having little chats with him throughout the match. At one point De Jong was telling Mario to cut out the back chat to the linesman near me. Mario will learn and I think we'll see him improve as the season goes on.

[Wonderwall]

I reckon Mario would have been sent off if the 1st half had 10 minutes time added on, as he was getting really wound up to the end of the 1st half. He is a liability and a ticking time bomb, there is no way he will go the rest of the season without being sent off again.

[s1ty m]

He reminds me of Thierry Henry in some way. He has a bit embarrassing in France 98, scored a couple, but looked unbelievably raw, with skills and pace overflowing, all legs like a calf. Mario has buckets of pace and skill and it is all raw, but like Henry, give him a season in the league and he will come through. Actually, to suggest that Henry 'came through' is a bit daft seeing as he is the best foreign player in the league, by a million miles. Mario could be our Henry. I drool.

[dazby]

I was chuckling to myself when Marriner was buying into his diving at the end. Those free kicks were priceless.

[Ted Hughes]

I thought he did as well as anyone could expect. Ok he could have scored but I think he did very little else wrong in the game. He was quiet in the 1st prt of the game but that was the fault of the other players not passing to him; he was making the runs & getting into great positions. I don't think it was deliberate that they ignored him, just that they're so used to having Tevez as the only attacking option that they automatically go towards him.

When they started to feed him 2nd half, I thought he was fantastic. We were shouting for them to just give him the ball because he looked like he was likely to do something special & unpredictable even when surrounded by players (like Rodney Marsh used to do).

[everyonehatesus]

The key to the lad being as big as some poeple believe he can be for me is the rest of the team. Boby can school him and put his arm around him through the week in training as much as he likes, but its during the game that he is most likely to need it.
With ND, PV and YYT helping him and talking to him to keeps his head sorted, he is getting the best possible help.
If it fails for him here he will only have himself to blame.

[13021J]

It was interesting to see De Jong having little chats with him throughout the match. At one point De Jong was telling Mario to cut out the back chat to the linesman near me. Mario will learn and I think we'll see him improve as the season goes on.

I saw this too - Nigel is a legend

[Lees Alter Ego]

Was a massive improvement indeed, just hope it continues.

The lad is class though, no doubt about it.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Reminds me of Robinho, can be as good as he wants to be? Although the wuestion is does he have the motivation? Robinho had the attributes to be the best player in the world but nowhere near the commitment. Lets hope Mario learns from that.

[Green & Blue]

I think hes going to terrorise premier league defences.

We all know hes a bit of a character but hes the hottest prospect in football at the moment.I'm convinced he really can be one of the best in the world.

His off the ball movement is effortless he just knows what space to move to , some players have to work and work on this but it seems natural for Mario.So much ability for a 20 year old hes very quick and has a ferocious shot.