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Zlatan Ibrahimovic Sweden flag

2016-17 Performances


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6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
46
Goals
28
Assists
9
Yellow cards
8
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Great physical presence in the box and great in the air, but too often does United's attacking strategy devolve to lashing it to the big man. When that's your only strategy it's easy to defend against. Maybe try one of our faster strikers next game simply to see if we play better.
 
At the start of the season he scored two goals against Southampton and I had 23 posters tagging me in quotes laughing at me for saying we shouldn't sign him...

I'm close to naming and shaming. It's not that bad yet, but he's offering nothing.

Said similar, felt he didn't have the mobility for this league, people argued about goals but he's been. Woeful in front of goal.

He's just a very very over rated player and the amount of venom I received in the summer transfer thread for saying it I almost feel like also naming and shaming but it's hardly like I'm enjoying this.
 
Hes not played great the past few games but feck me the over reaction in here. He's missed a few headed chances fair enough but who else looks likely to score in this team? it's not like we're smashing teams and Zlatan just isn't scoring our build up play from the midfield and both wingers is non existent.

Even today he was calving half chances out for himself and winning knock down headers, he's far from our biggest problem and 6 goals in 13 games even though we've been piss poor shows that.
 
I wouldn't be that bothered if he sodded off in January, everything is fired in the air to him and his mobility is shocking.

There may be a Chinese club willing to take him off our hands for a hefty fee as well.
 
Playing up front on his own, in a very slow build up play, with wingers playing wide, he needs to stay up top rather than dropping back all the time.... As negative as we seem to be, with him dropping back, we have no outlet up front at all
 
Yes it was Ibras fault we lost this game..

He should have scored 5 atleast with the chances the team helped him with! Hes holding the team back! And he also has the stomach to miss the halfchances he somehow manages to create on his own.. wanker.. sell him in January!
 
I'd consider dropping him for Rashford, with Martial starting on the left. And f*cking give Mkhitaryan a go, we're nearly though October and have yet to see him really.
 
I've been one his defenders and I think he is very isolated with how far our two wide players are from him, but he looks like he's feeling the tempo of the PL already in how little closing down he does to pressure the CB's, and his hold up play has been poor in the last 2 games.
 
I've not given hope on him just yet, i still can't decide if the team aren't playing to his strengths and he's not getting the service or he's not doing enough to hold the ball up and get himself involved. The two chances vs Pool and today should both be goals for someone with his scoring record.

The doubts myself and others had about his age before we signed him and how he would adapt to the physicality of the PL may well have been correct. We kept hearing in the summer that he's a super athlete, plays like he's much younger than he is and is in his prime. I hope i'm wrong but what i'm seeing from him is about what i'd expect from any 35 year old striker being played every week in a top league.
 
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At the start of the season he scored two goals against Southampton and I had 23 posters tagging me in quotes laughing at me for saying we shouldn't sign him...

I'm close to naming and shaming. It's not that bad yet, but he's offering nothing.

23?! Haha. I had one poster tag me for the first two games. He hasn't since.

Said it before he signed, he isn't the type of player we need. It's not that he's terrible, his style just doesn't suit us.
 
I've not given hope on him just yet, i still can't decide if the team aren't playing to his strengths and he's not getting the service or not doing enough to hold the ball up and get himself involved. The two chances vs Pool and today should both be goals for someone with his scoring record.

The doubts myself and others had about his age before we signed him and how he would adapt to the physicality of the PL may well have been correct. We kept hearing in the summer that he's a super athlete, plays like he's much younger than he is and is in his prime. I hope i'm wrong but what i'm seeing from him is about what i'd expect from any 35 year old striker being played every week in a top league.

Bit of both.

The way he likes to play you need to build around him or you will look toothless. That space he leaves we need players making runs and filling that space but who wants their striker at the halfway line playing one two's anyway? Then he can't hold the ball up, loses 50/50's and he keeps missing chances. He's killing us.
 
To those defending the Big target Man, I want to point out that...

Basically, Peter Crouch was available & we got this fecking idiot.
 
Bit of both.

The way he likes to play you need to build around him or you will look toothless. That space he leaves we need players making runs and filling that space but who wants their striker at the halfway line playing one two's anyway? Then he can't hold the ball up, loses 50/50's and he keeps missing chances. He's killing us.

Yeah you can't blame our poor performances all on Zlatan, others have been poor also. He needs a rest i think, his hold up play isn't good enough for these tight away games. Nor is he fast enough on the counter, our play devolves to hitting it long to him whenever we need a goal.
 
Needs dropping. Thinks he's a mix of Aguero and Lewandowski. Stay in the
Box you lump.
 
I'd consider dropping him for Rashford, with Martial starting on the left. And f*cking give Mkhitaryan a go, we're nearly though October and have yet to see him really.

Rashford has done nothing too. Even in the second half when he played up front he'd just dribble into the opponents.
 
Yeah, that's the thing. People wanting to drop Zlatan for Rashford who himself has been crap. "But he's just 19!!!" "and played on the wing". But should know how to beat a man?
 
You tell me. Combination of poor scouting, bad management (Moyes and LVG had a strong say in signings, as has Jose for that matter)... bottom line is instead of pointing fingers, mistakes need to be admitted and we need to sell, move on and start with a clean slate and start making proper signings again. I am sick of just splashing money on big names instead of thinking of unheralded players who could come in and make a proper contribution from the off in key areas.

Zlatan was a big name, but what we needed was a striker at his peak.. not a has been. Silly signings like this, it just seems so lazy and not well thought out.

Spot on.

It's undestandable that fans get blinded by overhyped names but why on earth did Mou make that mistake? To build the attack around a 35 y.o. striker who is new to the league is very risky.
 
There's something special happening at United and sending stuff to the city goal keeper before the city game :lol:
 
It really shows now how poor the French league really is... Did really someone think that Zlatan could play all PL games for 90 min and score like in French??? The worst part is that we don't have any better striker than him.
 
Go for Auba, anyone but Ibra. Immobile past it striker, just like last year.
 
Could be a good option off the bench, but not a starter for me, the issue of course is that puts him in the same boat as Rooney and leaves us with Rashford as main striker (assuming Martial is actually a winger), and he isn't ready for that imo.

We're just well short up front.
 
Hes been poor lately, but if people think benching him would solve anything they have not been paying attention.

Something is very, very wrong with how we are set up in attack. First of all the distance between our front 4 is just enormous, secondly there seems to be no chemistry between our attacking players.

The only time we have looked competent in attack is when Mata has played. So, Mata should play

Zlatan, Rashford and Lingaard is clearly not working out we need to do something different
 
He's the player we need to beat the 'lesser teams'. He's not dynamic enough for the others. . Missed a sitter vs Liverpool and missed one again today that could've changed the game for us.

Said before a strikers job is to score goals and he's failing. So he should be dropped as a consequence.
 
Zlatan has been gifted two big game changing headers in the last two games and he's fluffed them both. Perhaps a sign that his effectiveness is fast diminishing. At his age it won't be a gradual decline, it will be rapid and it doesn't look good.
 
He's the player we need to beat the 'lesser teams'. He's not dynamic enough for the others. . Missed a sitter vs Liverpool and missed one again today that could've changed the game for us.

Said before a strikers job is to score goals and he's failing. So he should be dropped as a consequence.

Didn't he also miss a few chances against City??
 
Didn't he also miss a few chances against City??

Yeah he did, but tbf he did score vs them too. He's clearly still got the ability but he's far far too wasteful. He had numerous crosses today and couldn't convert even one. All he offers right now that would get him picked over say Martial is his aerial threat, because otherwise he isn't finishing chances. So why not try someone else? He's not creating many chances, and link up play is average-poor at times albeit a great flick here and there. Trying someone else we have little to lose.

I'm not turning against him or anything, but like I said he should not be immune to be dropped when he's not scoring goals. He should be dropped and give someone else a chance.
 
Grinning like a cnut at full time. More presentable chances missed. This guy is a complete and utter fraud and pretty much sums up why United are such a mess.
 
Grinning like a cnut at full time. More presentable chances missed. This guy is a complete and utter fraud and pretty much sums up why United are such a mess.
Not sure about that but he needs to get his shit together that's for shizzle.
 
Not sure about that but he needs to get his shit together that's for shizzle.

Social media is awash with images of him shirt swapping with a grin on his face after today's game. Doesn't send a good message, especially when you're performing as uselessly as he is.

I'm not even trying to hide my disdain for the guy, to me he is emblematic of everything that has gone wrong with the club over the last few years. Terrible signing.
 
Well whatever happens he certainly won't be leaving as the 'God of Manchester'.
 
This is a frequent dilemma for coaches. All strikers keep saying confidence is such an important part of the art of goalscoring. If you bench someone on a drought, it can go either way really.

If we had a superb alternative, he would see the bench surely. But neither Martial nor Rashford has that presence in the box. Ibra missed his header today, but I doubt Martial would've even won it in the first place.

I watched Arsenal play 0-0 yesterday, and the lack of a target in the box makes it easier to defend.
 
Zlatan's not been the same since he passed to John Stones in the derby with the goal gaping. In our last three league games he's missed chances he should bury. He also seems reluctant to shoot from range, which is bizarre given where he scored at Bournemouth from. Despite the bravado he's clearly lost his confidence. No surprise his best effort today, the turn and volley, was the one he had the least time to think about. Clear that the misses are playing on his mind.
 
I am one of those who didn't really want him. Nor did I like how he and Mou were sellng each other to the club and fans. He may pull through but there's also reason to believe won't, or at any rate not become the superb striker of yesteryear. Has he become the new Rooney - undroppable ?
 
I think it's hard for him to succeed, but he really shouldn't be here next season unless he improves massively which I doubt.

If he's still here, then Mourinho has lost it imo.

I didn't mind the signing, but Ibra's past it. He's too immobile for the Premier League. We can't carry passengers.
 
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