5 Reasons Manchester City's Collapse Is Not Mario Balotelli's Fault

So he throws darts at kids, fights over free kicks on the pitch and gets the occasional red card. Despite all his high profile mistakes this season, Mario Balotelli is not the main reason Manchester City's season has gone down the drain.

Roberto Mancini has taken the opportunity to scapegoat his mercurial striker as a means of saving his own job, but here are five reasons the manager is wrong.

David Silva Has Gone Missing

Through the first half of the season, David Silva was rightly being touted as a possible Player of The Year candidate. The Spanish magician was the most creative player on the field week after week.

But then something happened. Whether through injury or fatigue, Silva has gone missing in recent weeks for Manchester City.

As Silva has gone, so has the team. It's no coincidence that Silva's least influential stretch of the season is the same period that has seen Roberto Mancini's side give the title away to Manchester United.

City's Samir Nasri Isn't Arsenal's Samir Nasri

After netting 16 goals across all competitions for Arsenal last year, City fans can be forgiven for expecting a bit more than the paltry scoring totals (five goals) Samir Nasri has put up for them this season.

He may be popping off to Arsenal fans on Twitter after the weekend's game, but he couldn't manage to put his stamp on a game that his former employers dominated.

By now, City supporters must have started to notice the Frenchman's pattern of talking bigger than he plays.

Sergio Aguero Has Faded

Sergio Aguero only has one goal from open play in the last three months. Sure, he missed a couple games with his "stupid" injury, but that's still not good enough for a lead striker. By contrast, the Argentinian had nine goals in the first three months of the season.

As if to put an exclamation on the point, Aguero's return to action against Arsenal at the weekend was as anonymous a performance as he's put in all season. By the time he was withdrawn, most viewers had long since forgotten he was on the field in the first place.

Roberto Mancini

It takes a different kind of manager to coddle a player all season long and then react with shock when it blows up in your face.

In short, if Balotelli is a problem at City, Roberto Mancini needs to find a solution. It is instructive to look across Manchester to Sir Alex Ferguson's handling of Wayne Rooney for a more effective approach to dealing with petulant players.

But just as City are not yet United, it appears Mancini (despite all his trophies) is not yet Ferguson. Maybe one day, but not just yet.

Carlos Tevez Is the Real Devil Here

Carlos Tevez fueled Manchester City last season. But the flap caused by his refusal to play in a September Champions League match threatened to derail their 2011-12 campaign.

Instead, the Tevez cancer was excised, and City went right on winning. Then Roberto Mancini began making noises about bringing the Argentinian player back into the team. That's when City truly began throwing the league title away.

Since Tevez' return flight touched down in Manchester just after Valentine's Day, City have won just three of seven matches and gone from two points clear at the top of the table to eight points behind.