Allegri: Balotelli must improve mentally

The Milan coach believes that the 23-year-old
forward can form a prolific partnership with
new signing Alessandro Matri provided his
attitude remains right
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri says that
star striker Mario Balotelli must "improve
from a mental point of view" to become a
regular match-winner for the Rossoneri .
The Italy international has been a big hit at San
Siro since arriving from Manchester City in
January, with the forward's goals having played
a key role in securing a place in this season's
Champions League.
The enigmatic 23-year-old cut a frustrated
figure during the midweek win over Celtic,
having been forced wide in order to
accommodate new signing Alessandro Matri up
front, but Allegri feels that both Balotelli and
the strike partnership will come good as long
as the Palermo native maintains the right
attitude.
"Balotelli sacrificed himself a lot for the team
in the last game with Matri," the Rossoneri
boss told reporters on Saturday.
"It’s his first year that he’s always on the
starting line-up and he has to improve from a
mental point of view as now he’s the main
player we have and he has to show on the
pitch every three days that he’s the best.
“Matri runs hard up front and Balotelli finds
more space because of that. The longer the
game goes on, the more the teams will stretch
and that makes it easier to Mario to find space.
"The understanding between the two is good
and it’ll get better with time. We shouldn’t
forget that it was the first game that they
played together."
Allegri was speaking on the eve of Sunday's
mouth-watering match-up with Napoli at San
Siro. Marek Hamsik is arguably the
Partenopei's principal threat but Allegri insists
that he is no longer disappointed that the
Rossoneri failed in their pursuit of the
Slovakian attacker last summer.
“Hamsik is not a regret," he stated. "He’s a
player with great quality and can still improve
a lot.
"I liked him even when he was playing for
Brescia. He’s an international level player with
technique, strength and even has a great
character.”
Milan's meeting with Napoli at the Giuseppe
Meazza is scheduled to get under way at
20:45CET.