MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Dec 26, 2010 (AFP) - Roberto Mancini has warned Mario Balotelli that he must do his talking on the pitch after claiming his moody demeanour is doing him more harm than good at Manchester City.
Balotelli, who cost Manchester City 24 million pounds in the summer, has never been far away from courting controversy.
The Italian striker this week dismissed Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere as "Jack who?" in assessing the man who finished runner-up as Europe's best young player.
That appraisal came within hours of Balotelli even claiming he is about to make as big an impact on the game as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has achieved.
Now the Manchester City manager has stepped in and told his striker to forget his own hype and concentrate on matters on the pitch, starting against at Newcastle on Boxing Day.
And Mancini - who expects the Italian to be fit despite going off injured during last Monday's defeat by Everton - feels his first move should be to adopt a lighter approach by playing with a smile, rather than a scowl, on his face.
"He must improve in this situation," said Mancini. "You need to smile to play football, that is the best thing you can do.
"It is good when a player has confidence in himself.
"Mario Balotelli has everything you need to be one of the best players in the world.
"But he must improve and he must show it. Only if you play well in every game can you say these things. It depends on him.
"The Premier League is so different from the Italian league. Mario must understand. If he thinks what he says he must show it in every game.
"But he’s happy. He is in a fantastic team playing in probably the best league in the world.
"He is special because he has great attributes to play football but you have to put with that your heart, your strength on the pitch.
"If not, I know plenty of players, talented like Mario, who didn’t play football for a top team.
"He has to prove he has the character to play at the top level."
Mancini is poised to recall Nigel de Jong at St James’ Park after he missed the surprise 2-1 defeat to Everton on Monday night through suspension.
But it promises to be a tough afternoon for the Dutch midfielder, who came under fire following the challenge that broke Hatem Ben Arfa’s leg, on his first return to Tyneside.
Mancini added: "This can happen in a football match. I’m sorry for Ben Arfa and I hope he comes back.
"Nigel was obviously not happy that Ben Arfa had been so seriously injured. That is a normal reaction. But it has not affected his game.
"There are a lot of players in the world who tackle like Nigel. In England, in particular, there are many players like Nigel. I think he was just very unlucky."
Opposite number Alan Pardew expects his Newcastle side to get a glimpse in their next couple of fixtures of the benchmark they need to aim for as they bid to snap an eight-match winless streak against City, before travelling to Tottenham Hotspur 48 hours later.
The North-East club were top-six regulars a decade ago under former manager Sir Bobby Robson, but are rebuilding after their return to he top flight this season.
They currently sit in the top 10 after an encouraging first half to the campaign, and Pardew said: "One day here, I'd like to be competing with that top group of teams. At the moment, we can't because we haven't got a squad with anything like the depth that they have. That will probably be highlighted when we go to Tottenham.
"If I lose three or four players, the contrast between our bench and Spurs' will be stark. But we have an honest set of players here, and I think that's probably why we've had such a good first half to the season. There's an honesty and a spirit and a fair bit of quality in the team."
