El Shaarawy: Balotelli's temper is penalising Milan

The Italian admits his side are often made to
suffer from his compatriot's outbursts but
insists they can surpass last season's third-
placed finish despite their poor start
Stephan El Shaarawy has urged Mario Balotelli
to curb his temper or risk damaging AC Milan's
chances this season.
The striker was issued a three-match ban after
he angrily confronted officials following the
Rossoneri's 2-1 defeat to Napoli, forcing him
to sit out Tuesday's 3-3 draw with Bologna as
well as forthcoming games against Sampdoria
and Juventus.
El Shaarawy has revealed his compatriot
apologised to team-mates immediately after his
outburst, but has urged the former
Manchester City man to control his actions
better in future or risk derailing Milan's
season.
"He knows it was wrong and he apologised to
us after the game. He made a mistake. It's an
aspect of his character he knows he must
improve because it penalises us," El Shaarawy
told La Gazzetta dello Sport .
Milan struck twice in the dying minutes to take
a share of the spoils from their trip to Bologna
earlier this week, but already find themselves
10 points adrift of Serie A leaders Roma having
accrued just five points from five games.
El Shaarawy insists he is not concerned by his
side's inauspicious start to the 2013-14
campaign and maintains their target is to
improve on last season's third-placed finish.
"Last season we reached third place, which was
a great achievement. The goal is to do better
than a year ago, that's obvious," he continued.
"I'll be honest: this false start doesn't scare
me.
"I'm satisfied with what I've produced so far.
I've scored, I've set up others. Personally, I
can't complain. I feel an integral part of this
project."