I am surprised he has said that, he's scored some great goals with his head for us. The winner in the Community Shield, at home to West Ham, and the pick of the bunch away at West Brom. I am sure I'm forgetting some too.
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 46
- Goals
- 28
- Assists
- 9
- Yellow cards
- 8
- Status
He wouldn't have been able to reach the ball without the kungfu kick...
I was surprised how he scored those headers, maybe he's just insecure about trying it to often.
"Some others tho" can be said for the other side as well, don't you think? "Disgraceful" and "thankfully he didn't cost us the game" are hardly fair verdicts on his performance today, so no wonder people will put a huge spotlight on the good things he did when they read crap like that. The responses from the pro-Zlatan side get more and more over the top because many of the people who don't like him go way over the top with their critizism, and vice versa of course.
Since he's such a 'love him or hate him' type of player/person and often seems to have games where he does some things brilliantly and some things very crappy then both sides will have fuel for their "agenda" every time. Then the people who love him will gloss over the mistakes he made because he had an assist and was involved in 3-4 great chances while the other side will gloss over the assist because he lost the ball 3-4 times and didn't bother to try and take it back etc and that leads to, especially in Zlatan's case, some pretty bizarre conversations where you think half the people must have watched a highlight real of all his mistakes and the other half only saw the positives.
His finishing was poor today but i thought his overall game was good. An integral part of our sexy first half. He's pure class on the ball, even if it isn't happening in front of goal.
He was very poor today. Easily his worst performance in a United shirt. He was very lazy and careless in possession.
The biggest worry is the lack of alternatives. If he has a long run of poor form or if he gets injured it will be a huge blow to United's run in.
The biggest worry is the lack of alternatives. If he has a long run of poor form or if he gets injured it will be a huge blow to United's run in.
No he wasn't. Finishing aside he was decent
Decent? He gave away possession almost every time he got the ball. FInishing aside, his passing was also shite
Why did he not head that late attempt? Seems weird that he went at it with his foot and then he completely fluffed the effort to add further insult.
He has went for the ball 4/5 times with his foot this season already when it would be easier to go for a header.
He has went for the ball 4/5 times with his foot this season already when it would be easier to go for a header.
He really was poor. MEN review: "Dropped so needlessly deep he was sometimes in his own half. A liability in possession and wasteful with his finishing, it was no coincidence his Marital assist came high up the pitch."
Absolute nail on the head. Not sure what his fans saw from today that was so amazing.
Heres where you are going wrong mate, top level professional strikers routinely do stuff that to you or i would seem impossible. Thats why they are paid £200-300k a week and earning a living from football.
For any professional striker (or anyone with a head) that chance should have been an easy finish, it's head height and a foot or two in front of him. Jump forward to head it and it's a goal, what you don't do in that situation is lean back and try to karate kick it into the net only to clear it out for a throw.
You've never seen someone score a diving header?
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You can write another 2 pages of essay or papers about it.
And it won't still change that he can be very wasteful in general. And not just with finishing chances.
I think some people are strange with his criticism. His athleticism actually means that some half chances are fantastic chances for Zlatan. (anybody else in the team, it would be more "good attempt" or "good effort")
His linkup play is good, and having the quicker players around him, his dropping deep works as you can tell it confuses defences at times whether to stay or push out with him. It also means he can have a run into the box which is harder to defend than a standing jump.
Its nice to have a player who tries things though. And its not like hes some sort of Emile Heskey type in front of goal. Hes been getting goals.
His linkup play is good, and having the quicker players around him, his dropping deep works as you can tell it confuses defences at times whether to stay or push out with him. It also means he can have a run into the box which is harder to defend than a standing jump.
Its nice to have a player who tries things though. And its not like hes some sort of Emile Heskey type in front of goal. Hes been getting goals.
As is most of our attacking line up.
Difference is he backs it up with goals and assists unlike most of the others.
Im from Sweden and mostly like Zlatan but he's by no means perfect.
He need to feel untouchable to be confident and perform and he has no problem of pushing other people down to lift himself up to that level. When he is the superstar he can be a leader and Mr nice guy. But that is not a real leader, is it?
He is a leader by example though. There's no other more professional player in football today. And he truly loves the game.
At the same he doesn't only win games, but championships, for his teams. That's how good he is. So let him drop as much as he wants, have his 90 minutes and do whatever he wants at least this season and you can evaluate him and decide if you want another season in the summer. But to stop him from doing whatever he wants will make him a much worse player. I personally think he can still be the best player in the league even though he's had some bad games.
He need to feel untouchable to be confident and perform and he has no problem of pushing other people down to lift himself up to that level. When he is the superstar he can be a leader and Mr nice guy. But that is not a real leader, is it?
He is a leader by example though. There's no other more professional player in football today. And he truly loves the game.
At the same he doesn't only win games, but championships, for his teams. That's how good he is. So let him drop as much as he wants, have his 90 minutes and do whatever he wants at least this season and you can evaluate him and decide if you want another season in the summer. But to stop him from doing whatever he wants will make him a much worse player. I personally think he can still be the best player in the league even though he's had some bad games.
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Thought he had a bit of a mare watching the game live at OT, but watching the highlights back made me appreciate how much he did right too. He's making scoring really hard work again, but still got an assist with a clever pass and got himself a number of good chances. In the short term, there's not a centre forward I'd swap him for the Premier League.
I'm sorry but do some people in here think that Ibra drops deep just for the sake of it? Someone mentioned the missed attempt with his feet should have been a header (a sitter) - the defender seemed to be in the "same line" as him, Ibra couldn't just jump to put his head on the ball. His attempt was the only way to reach the ball.
About him being bad at heading - that's true - 10 years ago, he was awful, but like a lot of other parts of his weaknesses, he has also improved this over the years.
How can some claim that he was bad today? Sure, he did not have his best game, but this was also not the worst. He's only human, no player scores every game. I believe his, record was 11 goals in the last 13 games ahead of this match. His link up and hold up play was like most of the time, incredible. The difference today was that his teammates helped him when he had an off today scoring wise. Not like the start of the season when everything was up to Ibra - Ibra scores, team wins - Ibra doesn't score, team loses. Not fair on the player.
Next game is against St. Etienne where he has 14 goals in 13 games against them. He'll hopefully make up for the misses against Watford and improve his record against them. It was clear that Ibra was also frustrated during the game when he couldn't score. But let's not forget that he had a drought period when a lot of people were "against" him, but what happened? He started to score which wasn't a surprise since he still played well and managed to get into goalscoring chances. The same will hopefully happen again, because it's unfair to immediately go against him as soon as he fails to score in a couple of games. That will seem as no one actually appreciates him, but just tolerate.
About him being bad at heading - that's true - 10 years ago, he was awful, but like a lot of other parts of his weaknesses, he has also improved this over the years.
How can some claim that he was bad today? Sure, he did not have his best game, but this was also not the worst. He's only human, no player scores every game. I believe his, record was 11 goals in the last 13 games ahead of this match. His link up and hold up play was like most of the time, incredible. The difference today was that his teammates helped him when he had an off today scoring wise. Not like the start of the season when everything was up to Ibra - Ibra scores, team wins - Ibra doesn't score, team loses. Not fair on the player.
Next game is against St. Etienne where he has 14 goals in 13 games against them. He'll hopefully make up for the misses against Watford and improve his record against them. It was clear that Ibra was also frustrated during the game when he couldn't score. But let's not forget that he had a drought period when a lot of people were "against" him, but what happened? He started to score which wasn't a surprise since he still played well and managed to get into goalscoring chances. The same will hopefully happen again, because it's unfair to immediately go against him as soon as he fails to score in a couple of games. That will seem as no one actually appreciates him, but just tolerate.
I'm a big fan of Zlatan and think he adds a completely different dimension to the attack. But today he was poor. His passing was so sloppy and he wasted a number of good opportunities and caused moves to break down with a careless pass of picking the wrong option.
I think Zlatan has improved his game a lot as he has matured but today reminded me of his self indulgent worst as a less mature player.
I think my biggest problem is I like my stickers to score more often than they miss. I preferred Hernandez to Welbeck for the same reason.
I'll love Zlatan when he stops dicking about trying to show that he's got the flexibility of a 17 year old Japanese Yoga instructor and starts putting the ball in the net more often than he misses.
It's all well and good talking about a few flicks and decent build up play whilst ignoring half a dozen loose passes and missed chances. But fundamentally today could have easily been a repeat of Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke, Burnley, West Ham, Hull etc if not for other players doing what he regularly struggles with... Ie having one chance and taking it (he's not the only one - Mkhitaryan and Pogba also).
It's great to talk about his "build up" play when we win 2-0 but the chances he missed today are indicative of a dozen points we dropped this season. It will get ignored because he still scores at a decent rate but for a team that sends 75% of their chances through one person he needs to do more.
I'll love Zlatan when he stops dicking about trying to show that he's got the flexibility of a 17 year old Japanese Yoga instructor and starts putting the ball in the net more often than he misses.
It's all well and good talking about a few flicks and decent build up play whilst ignoring half a dozen loose passes and missed chances. But fundamentally today could have easily been a repeat of Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke, Burnley, West Ham, Hull etc if not for other players doing what he regularly struggles with... Ie having one chance and taking it (he's not the only one - Mkhitaryan and Pogba also).
It's great to talk about his "build up" play when we win 2-0 but the chances he missed today are indicative of a dozen points we dropped this season. It will get ignored because he still scores at a decent rate but for a team that sends 75% of their chances through one person he needs to do more.
Almost every time he got the ball? Do me a favour and watch the game again and have some pen and paper at the ready... no fecking way did he lose the ball even the majority of times he was involved.
You sure mate?
Seems at the perfect height and distance for a header, in this picture it's only two feet in front of him. And at this point he has actually started to lean back. Had he leaned forward and jumped thats most likely a goal.
I didn't say that, reading comprehension is your friend.
You've shown me 5 chances, and only the 3rd one comes close to being similar. The first 2 are much slower crosses, and come in lower so the attackers of the ball don't really need to jump they just dive forward and you'll notice they actually get lower in order to reach the ball. The 4th and 5th are vastly different no need to even discuss that.
So you've shown me 1 chance where a player did the extraordinary in a very similar fashion (it's in a top 5 compilation video) and yet I'm somehow supposed to believe this chance was a sitter? Get real man, there's a reason why there's no sitter compilation videos (or at least I don't think many people watch them).
I find this annoying as well.
With all the dickheads that complain about everything all the fecking time even Cantona would have been ridiculed regularly if he was here now.
I hate them all.
Even though he wasteful with his scoring chances he was still a net positive with his link up play including the flick on assist for Martial. Also put Mkhi through on goal late in the 2nd half.
I do wish he was a bit more clinical and didn't try and take the piss out of defenders when a simpler, more effective option is available, but he's a much bigger part of the solutions to our issues this year than some major detractor from our overall play. Of our attackers Mkhi, Martial, Rooney and Rashford have all been far more wasteful than him in their finishing.
I do wish he was a bit more clinical and didn't try and take the piss out of defenders when a simpler, more effective option is available, but he's a much bigger part of the solutions to our issues this year than some major detractor from our overall play. Of our attackers Mkhi, Martial, Rooney and Rashford have all been far more wasteful than him in their finishing.
That's not true.
He's not thick. He's won countless things and his goals ratio is quite unbelievable over his career. I'm sure he knows he could have headed it. At 2-0 with 8 minutes left, chances are he was trying to be a bit clever and it never came off. You are allowed to try things like that at 2-0. He's earned the right to do this.You sure mate?
Seems at the perfect height and distance for a header, in this picture it's only two feet in front of him. And at this point he has actually started to lean back. Had he leaned forward and jumped thats most likely a goal.
Its funny, this is a man who has put the ball in the net over 50 times in the last 13 months. He's not someone who needs advice on how to score a goal. He's also the first player to score 20 goals at this stage of the season in years. If he needs advice, everyone in the Premiership is fecked then.
I find him a bit bewildering as a player. Blows so hot and cold and, if I'm honest, i thought he would be far more consistent in his all round game.
I don't understand what he was trying to do at times today when he kept drifting into Martials space, completely stifling him in the process. I don't really need to comment on his passing and finishing today, both awful as they have been too often this season. His long range shooting hasn't been great either since he arrived, which is something he was renowned for previously.
I was a bit bemused by him getting angry when Martial scored instead of passing to him. Still, he scores enough goals and some games his hold up and link up is good, so i completely understand why he features so much. But i honestly thought he would be better, i can understand why he flopped at Barca now.
I don't understand what he was trying to do at times today when he kept drifting into Martials space, completely stifling him in the process. I don't really need to comment on his passing and finishing today, both awful as they have been too often this season. His long range shooting hasn't been great either since he arrived, which is something he was renowned for previously.
I was a bit bemused by him getting angry when Martial scored instead of passing to him. Still, he scores enough goals and some games his hold up and link up is good, so i completely understand why he features so much. But i honestly thought he would be better, i can understand why he flopped at Barca now.
What is the goal ratio (per shot) of Zlatan at Man Utd?
Andy Cole was slammed through most of his United career. It wasn't until he and Yorke became such a devastating front 2 that he was widely accepted as good enough for United.
I agree with your overall point though. Ibra had a poor game but certainly not "disgraceful". He's had an excellent season so far. One bad game doesn't change that.
No you can't. If he would have come to United back then he'd demolish the league completely. Why he failed in Barcelona is because pep didn't let him play his game like he wanted to. He couldn't do like he wanted outside the pitch either. Understandable because they had a certain Argentinian doing that. No dropping, no freekicks, no penalties, no playmaking. He was supposed to stay upfront. As I said before Zlatan need to be the star of the team to be good. He wasn't. He couldn't tell Messi to sit on the floor and watch the big players. Zlatan need that to feel confident himself.
Plus, he didn't really 'fail' per se at Barcelona. 16 league goals in a season where he wasn't played much, wasn't given any faith by the coach, and was treated generally badly by the coach is hardly a resounding failure. Talent wise, he could have succeeded there under different circumstances.
I don't speak for everyone ofc, main focus of my comment are those posters that won't call his poor game when he's had one.
Ibra, Rashford, and Martial would be a match made in heaven. But as Rashford tells in the interview, that he learns from Zlatan. I can only see good from this!
His shooting technique can be quite atrocious at times for a player of his ability. The volley off Pogba's pass he attempted was nowhere near the goal, i think that's a few times he has missed those
Yes the only time he scored from Pogba's aerial pass was when he headed it against West Ham. All his volleys have been way off the mark.
I read somewhere that he had the highest goal per minutes played ratio of any first season player in Barcelonas history. Though I'm pretty sure Suarez has smashed that record now.
On topic, Zlatan was poor today. Finishing was completely off and his hold up play was just good (which is average by his standards). His assist to Martial was good, but it's expected that we should have him get at least one point in a game that we dominate like we did today.
He needs to play less, he's 35 and will have the same problems that a younger player like Rashford has - inconsistency. But in a older players case it's not because of inexperience, but rather fatigue. Today's game we would have dominated and won without him, he should have rested.
This. Zlatan has been great no doubt but I just feel this attack has the potential to be amazing if we had a quick quality forward ahead of our Mkhi, Mata, Martial trio. Zlatan has been great for this season but I think we would step up a level with a better striker
Funny how people are defending about zlatan's finishing being poor.
People are talking about it because he has shown it this season in our shirt many times. Just because some of us think he is poor at it at times does not mean he is a 'shit' striker or can't get goals.
I suppose it does not matter in long term because we need to blood our young strikers or buy some striker this summer anyway. Hopefully, Zlatan does his job good enough for us to go thru this season to get top 4.
People are talking about it because he has shown it this season in our shirt many times. Just because some of us think he is poor at it at times does not mean he is a 'shit' striker or can't get goals.
I suppose it does not matter in long term because we need to blood our young strikers or buy some striker this summer anyway. Hopefully, Zlatan does his job good enough for us to go thru this season to get top 4.
Hes been very good for us, we havent played this good footy since Fergie left.
And here we have it, saw it yesterday. There is possible for others to score even if Zlatan plays. I dont know if its pure hate or plain stupidity that quite a few here has blamed him for Rash and Martial havent scored as much as they should.
For now and next year Zlatan will be our main guy and the others will form around him. For the first time in years we seem to have a plan. Let the good times come.
And here we have it, saw it yesterday. There is possible for others to score even if Zlatan plays. I dont know if its pure hate or plain stupidity that quite a few here has blamed him for Rash and Martial havent scored as much as they should.
For now and next year Zlatan will be our main guy and the others will form around him. For the first time in years we seem to have a plan. Let the good times come.
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