Ooooh I can see some mind games coming into play before the Liverpool game here.
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 46
- Goals
- 28
- Assists
- 9
- Yellow cards
- 8
- Status
Rested / mind games
feck mind games, make me worried that something happen with Ibra. whatever, as long as we win the match.
Has he not just been away on a mid season break?
Well, feck.
He was on the bench against Reading, so no.
When?
Really hope it's a precautionary rest. Can't afford to lose him for the scouser game.
Think he's just been rested as he seemed pretty exhausted at the West Ham game and we should have enough to win without him today.
Was he!? I have not been paying attention!
Only misses out due to illness, thank feck no injury.
He's out due to illness as per United's Twitter account.
Zlatan doesn't get sick, his cells allow bacteria and viruses inside to kill them for sport.
Not ideal really with a game in a few days. Hopefully just a bit of a cold
Rolling around topless in Snow will do that to you, Zlatan.
I heard some illness caught the Zlatan.
Hope the illness survives.
Hope the illness survives.
If he only got ill today I wouldn't be so sure that he can play on Sunday.
Zlatan probably has a great immune system though, that just toys with the virus for a few days before snuffing it out.
Zlatan probably has a great immune system though, that just toys with the virus for a few days before snuffing it out.
Wouldn't worry for him. Maybe it's just cold and a high fever.
Different team with him in it.
Thing I miss most when he doesn't play is knowing every long ball is just a pass back to the opposition defenders.
Thing I miss most when he doesn't play is knowing every long ball is just a pass back to the opposition defenders.
Get well soon!
It's just not the same with Rooney up top.
He's "ill" just like Carrick was ill before the fa cup game.
Rooney wasn't up top, though.
Jose pretty much said he should be fine for Sunday. Would like to see him ahead of Mkhi and Martial.
I agree with you. In his early years he never really "cared" about the amount of goals he should score. The only thing that was important was to make it as spectacular as possible. But in Juventus with the help of Capello he learned that there was room for improvement - take more shots.
He was a great striker at Inter but he was never really a playmaker. But if not including that one could say that he was in his prime as a striker. After his spell in Spain he became a much more intelligent player. Became more aware of how he should move around the field and he became really good at his playmaking abilities. Some people consider his time at Barcelona unsuccessful but in my opinion he became a more "complete" player with basically no "flaws".
In AC Milan he "carried" the team on his shoulders with both goals and assists. Despite playing probably his best season the second year he couldn't win the Scudetto. But it's incredible that the team could finish second place with such a "bad" team.
I feel that he spent too many years in France. I think that Ibra would have loved to come to the PL earlier in his career. He should have only stayed in France for two years and not four. But it's still great to see him in the PL and that he despite the fact that he is "old" still can prove that he's a world class player.
I would love to see him stay at the club for two more seasons and preferably ending his career at the best club in the best league. With Ibra it's at least clear that if he stays - he feels that he can still make an impact.
And when he is ready to no longer put his shirt on then we can hope that Marcus Rashford has learned a lot from the big Z. This is also a reason for why I would prefer it if Ibra stayed two more seasons. The longer he stays, the more he can teach the young players.
Yeah agree with this. Although I'm sorta glad he didn't as don't think a winner such as Ibra would even contemplate working with a manager such as David Moyes. And he hated LvG.
You've clearly never seen him play for Inter
Bad team? Ibra, Cassano, Thiago Silva, still good Pato, Boateng, Gattuso...bad? Of course Ibra carried that team, but that was the best team in Italy that season. It's widely considered Allegri's only failure as a manager, and with good reason. They were 7 points clear of juventus with 10 games to go and managed to lose the title
Ibra was always first and foremost a playmaker. Capello, Mancini and Mourinho managed to turn him into a goalscorer, too.
I've probably seen him play in more games than you, but not sure. Ibra, before and after Barcelona are two different types of players, if you just consider his playmaking abilities. Before Barca he used to have occasional passes but after his time in Spain he more or less became a "standard" no 10. I'm not saying that he didn't have the ability to make assists, just that it wasn't his priority. He has become a better playmaker the more he's matured - before he used to think about himself and just make beautiful things. Even he says now that he enjoys assists as much as scoring goals, maybe even more.
Yep, AC Milan during his second season was a "poor" team. Robinho constantly missed passes from Ibra and Pato was made of glass. Thiago Silva was the only one who was really good. Cassano had his stroke during that period - but he was the only one who "understood" Ibra. Think about the fact that he managed to make a somewhat "limited" player (at least not World class) like Nocerino look like a top player - look at Nocerino's career after Ibra. Juventus with Conte was a better team but AC Milan had the best player in Ibra. Juventus had really good players back then, many of them still playing there now - 2011/12, Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli, Lichtsteiner, Pirlo, Vidal and Marchisio etc.
He was not "foremost a playmaker" as you say it. He has always had great technique and agility despite his size. His favourite player growing up was Ronaldo and he tried to play like him. But he's always been a great target man and from that managed to make assists. During his years he's constantly developed his lesser qualities - became more of a teamplayer over the years, better at goalscoring (taking more shots), learned that a beautiful assist is just like a beautiful goal, became more of a leader over the years, has become better at taking the right decisions when making his runs, despite his height he's actually been rather poor at headers but he's become much better at this also.
The list can go on, but in my opinion he became a more "intelligent" player after his time in Spain, a part of which his passing shows. By the way, he could have had a lot of assists this season, I especially like his back heel pass to Rooney.
Yes, totally agree with you. But I'm sure he would have made a move if Mourinho or another coach he respected had been at the club instead of Moyes and LVG. But let's enjoy him now for how long it may be. A short period is better than none.
Anyone who knows Mourinho especially back in the days in his first three seasons at Chelsea should knows that he loves playing mind games. Ibra will play with "that illness" on Sunday. 
He needs to play as well. Need to put the fear of God into that Scouse defense
Zlatan doesn't need the golden boot. The golden boot needs Zlatan.
Italian. Live in Milan. Watched a good 80% of his games in Italy. Several times got to see him live
No, you got it backwards. Ibra was a #10 when he moved to juventus. During his time in Italy, he gradually turned into a #9. He's now a hybrid #9/#10. He's always provided plenty of assists, but most importantly, at juve, inter and milan, he was always either the main playmaker(at inter and milan) or the second playmaker(at juve, who's main playmaker was camoranesi)
But Milan did have Ibra. And with Ibra, they were better than juventus. Also more experienced, barring Buffon, Pirlo(and Conte as a player) nobody else had won the serie A title before then(a young chiellini in 2006, but not sure how much that counts)
But he was. That's how juventus used him, that's how inter used him(they're game-plan boiled down to, press high, and pass it to Ibra), and that's how Milan used him
Spain had nothing to do with it. He became a more intelligent player because he matured. That's true of literally every player
Sky building up Zlatan vs lovren 
Sky are terrible
Zlatan vs Lovren
What has happened since "Red Monday"?
Spidercam for United vs Liverpool
Merseyside bigger or Manchester?
Zlatan vs Lovren
What has happened since "Red Monday"?
Spidercam for United vs Liverpool
Merseyside bigger or Manchester?
You make good points, but I think you forget that he was a no 9 in Ajax (their new van Basten). He had assists during that period as well but that was "bonus" from his good play at least in my opinion. He was more of a "show-off" during his early years and preferred to make a lot of unnecessary moves instead of passing the ball. Nothing wrong with that, actually quite normal, given he was so young. I've seen him play almost all of his NT-games for Sweden and he became more of a playmaker the latter part of his career and not the beginning. But the last years in the NT he alternated both 9/10 during a game, which is something we can see him do nowadays.
Having won a title before isn't something that I count as important (about Milan/Juventus). You can't live on "old" merits. Besides I think you forgot a legend, Del Piero, also a "winner". Yes, Milan was really good with Ibra, but without him the team wasn't really quite as powerful, Juventus was from that period, like now, a "well oiled machine".
Well, every player usually don't manage to become better just because they "mature". Don't you think that he became a player with a "wider range" after his time in Spain? I see it as his time there gave him the extra fuel (anger) which made him focus even more on the play to prove everyone (Barcelona) wrong. He made better assessments after that period.
It's actually not that important, you may be more right than me. I just gave my opinion from the games I've seen. We can hopefully agree on that he is an incredible player with many qualities. He's such an intelligent player, a fantastic leader, incredible hold up and link up play, great playmaking abilities "spiced" with magical goals.
I wonder if he would try to coach a team after retirement. It's obvious that he has a lot of knowledge of the game and it would be interesting to see him even in that role.
Yes, and even there he was a playmaker. He was compared to Van Basten for a reason afterall(a comparison they also made in Italy)
I dunno about Sweden. I do know about his time at juventus, inter and milan, and at juve he played as a pure #10, at inter he began his conversion into a #9 but was still very much the hub of the team's play, and at milan it was more of the same. He's a different player nowadays in that he's lost his pace and acceleration, he dribbles considerably less, and he plays a lot more WITH his teammates, whereas before he played FOR his teammates, but in a more individualistic way(think hazard at chelsea for a comparison)
I didn't say he became a better player. Just smarter. Honestly, I think he was at his best in his last season at inter. He's certainly not as good now as he was for milan
oh yes, this I agree with 100%
That's what he's always been. A fantastic #10 who learned to score like a #9. Third best player of the last decade, and imho he's been far closer to cristiano than most people credit him for
Agree with you. It's a shame that he's had to compete in the same generation as Messi and Ronaldo. He's been somewhat in their shadows. I'm almost certain that if Ibra had M's/R's speed than he would probably be as good as or even better than them.
I miss the times when he used to dribble, but like you said, he's lost this because of the loss of pace. I know that both Messi and Ronaldo should be considered as the best in the world but I appreciate Ibra more than them. Maybe because he's a type of player I've never seen before. He possesses a kind of "aura" that makes you mesmerized. A feeling quite similar to Zidane. He was also a very interesting player.
Hope that Ibra can score a couple of magical goals in the red shirt too. He's had a few attempts, altough maybe not the usual magic, but the goals have either been disallowed (the one against Middlesbrough) or the goalkeeper has made an amazing save (i.e. the one Heaton saved).
How long do you think he could/would stay in PL? I really hope he can stay for two more years - that is if he can conserve his superb physical qualities and not lose anymore than he has til this age (speed).
Choose the wrong teams, too. Goes to milan instead of inter in 2006, wins league title and CL in 2006/07 and the BoD ahead of Kaka. If he played in a top english side between 2007-2009 instead of inter, he'd probably be considered on the same level as cristiano ronaldo by now
It's not the loss of pace so much as the loss of his impressive explosive acceleration. That, and he became a smarter player. Started forcing things less
Wouldn't say he's more special than messi or 2006-2012 cristiano, but certainly a special player to watch, I agree
I've no idea
He's still one of the 10 best players in the world at 35. Honestly, he could very well stay at this level for another 10 years for all I know - Status