He knows a lot more than you.
Zlatan Ibrahimović
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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Bailly dropping hints, he's coming back
The spirit in the team is fantastic atm.
If he is fully recovered now already hes not human
Great news
Great news
Absolute no brainer. Bringing Zlatan in for the business end of the season when the games pile up? What's not to like?
Bring him back. Play all our giants at the same time. feck this tippy bs. We can pretend the floor is lava and they can just keep heading the ball to each other.
The ESPN article by Mitten says he'll be on less wages than last year due to Lukaku being the main striker.
I'd rather we just focus on this attack we are building, I hope he's only used in the role Rooney had last season, playing the games where Lukaku is rested and coming on as a sub, and I hope it's only a 6 month thing.
---------Zlatan--Lukaku----
-------------Pogba-------------
-------Matic----Felliani-----
Blind-----------------------Valencia
---Jones--Smalling--Bailly
---------------DeGea-----------
Wouldn't want to play against that team.
Secretly prefer him to Lukaku.
Both of them are fantastic nonetheless.
Both of them are fantastic nonetheless.
That would be great if this wasnt Zlatan. Jose rates him highly still, Zlatan wants to play as much as possible. This will only lead to Zlatan starting more games than he should or coming on more than he should.
The Rooney role was him coming on more than he should have or starting games just cos of his name. I honestly thought Zlatan being injured was a blessing in disguise for us going forward (ie this season)
I'd honestly we don't sign him back. If he's undroppable and unsubbable again it's going to be a bit frustrating.
Deary me! in 99' United had 4 amazing strikers yet we're worrying about adding a second striker to the squad!
It's obvious Rashford and Martial are wide forwards and will be for this season at least.
Lukaku can't play 50 games up front on his own! let's give the guy some help and since Zlatan has been here he's been a massive influence on the team spirit.
I can't wait to see him back
It's obvious Rashford and Martial are wide forwards and will be for this season at least.
Lukaku can't play 50 games up front on his own! let's give the guy some help and since Zlatan has been here he's been a massive influence on the team spirit.
I can't wait to see him back
@Mickfoley
-------------Lukaku---------------
Martial--------Zlatan--------Rashford
--------Pogba------Matic-----------
---------------Back 5----------------
I think we could see Zlatan as a 10. Hope so anyway. Has pace all around him, and he has the vision, touch and awareness to create for others without doing a lot of running himself. He would hardly be much less of a goal threat playing deeper either.
It obviously wouldn't be my 'go to' formation for any opponent, but on occasion, it would be pretty formidable and hard to contain.
Really didn't see that last season. I'd rather have Mata or Mkhi in that role as they actually know how to put in good balls to the forwards.
With him coming back from this kind of injury (that's very easy to injure again once it has happened) it makes perfect sense for both parties that he signs again.
We'll get a world class striker as a backup (that can't play as the first striker yet) and Zlatan will get the chance to play and win PL/CL before moving to the states in the summer.
We'll get a world class striker as a backup (that can't play as the first striker yet) and Zlatan will get the chance to play and win PL/CL before moving to the states in the summer.
Hopefully with his age and injury situation, everyone is at an understanding that he'll be mostly subbing and rotating. Even ibra cant expect to walk in after an acl tear.
If that's the understanding then fair enough but if it's going to be a situation where he's a guaranteed starter, then I rather we didn't have him sign.
That's not gonna happen. Ibra will be the second choice striker. Lukaku could be here for 7/8+ years, Ibra will probably be gone by the end of the season. Mourinho won't sacrifice young for old, just like he didn't sacrifice Courtois for Cech.
Delighted with this. Assuming that he has recovered well physically, I think he should slot in as our #10 behind Lukaku, with Mkhitaryan moving to the right wing in place of Mata. Mata could start over Mkhi too, depending on form. Ibra likes to drop deep anyway and is excellent at creating chances. Plus he is another very physical player alongside the rest of our starting players, who would be very useful at defending/attacking set pieces too.
I just understand the comments about him playing #10 and showing his "passing range". I certainly didn't see this last season and why would we play him there when he have Mata and Mkhi for the same role?
Awesome news. Massive boost for any title hopes.
For him to get back to playing 90 mins is going to take a while. Maybe 2-3 more months. Hopefully he will be back for the plethora of games we have in Dec. Between Dec 23rd and Jan 1 we have 4 matches - thats 4 games in 9 days. Impossible for Lukaku to play all 4. Zlatan starts two out of the 4 games.
He didn't play as a 10 last season, he played up on his own and didn't have enough pacy runners going past him for him to show his creativity. That's why it wasn't as evident. His weight of pass is excellent, and if players run beyond him he can pick them out no problem, or use them to create the space for him to shoot on goal. Either way, the way we can set up now compared to last season gives him even better conditions to score and create.
Do you really think he stayed up front and waited for service when he played for Sweden? Of course not, he dropped deep and dictated Sweden's play, allowing others time to get forward and get in positions to create chances for him. He will have far more quality and pace around him here than he ever did for Sweden, and he still managed to do pretty well for them.
where are you getting this notion that he is some sort of tyrannical diva who is only re-signing if he starts every game? Has he said something to that effect? Has anyone other than yourself even suggested it?
Because if we are going off what we saw last season, then i certainly did not see, hear or read anything that gives that view any credibility whatsoever. Jose didn't drop him often last season, because we lacked options, our opponents were scared shitless of him, he scored 28 goals, and overall, he was by far and away our most dangerous player.
Even if Jose decided to play 2 up front, Zlatan would clearly be the one to drop deep, and Lukaku/Rashford/Martial would use their pace to basically play off him.
Yeah I agree. Lukaku and Ibra up top, no chance it'd work tbh. Both never striked me as 2 up top types unless it was a griezmann type behind.
Here we go again!
Zlatan is too old...Lukaku's not good enough for united, his first touch is horrible...Matic is on a decline, he'll never be good enough for United....zlatan and lukaku can never play together...
I am just glad we have a manager in Mourinho who knows what he's doing. If he thinks Zlatan would be a good player to bring back, I trust him wholeheartedly.
Zlatan is too old...Lukaku's not good enough for united, his first touch is horrible...Matic is on a decline, he'll never be good enough for United....zlatan and lukaku can never play together...
I am just glad we have a manager in Mourinho who knows what he's doing. If he thinks Zlatan would be a good player to bring back, I trust him wholeheartedly.
Play Zlatan in the domestic cup competitions, save Romalu for the PL games and play them both in the CL.
Awesome news and a no-brainer to bring him back. Can't wait to see him putting the red shirt on again!
Spot on.
Hope to see him pulling on our shirt again, he is such a massive presence on the pitch and in the dressing room.
Always love these kinds of responses. @charlenefan is not being paid to have good sources or be a reliable journalist, so he's not competing with him. It would be quite strange if Simon Stone didn't know more than him.However, he's right, Stone has a bit of a weird reputation on here for being a kind of gold-standard in terms of UK journalists. In reality he's just the same as any other British journalist that Woodward decides to brief; similar to Ducker, Ogden, McDonnell and the rest.
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When we were first linked with zlatan I said I wasnt fussed and wanted lukaku. Never would I think we would have them both! He's a great presence and a real winner and he knows the score in the champions league can only be a good thing.
I'm pretty much the same by now. I didn't like every player he bought so far and still think he needs to do something about our FBs but so far all his the players he brought in seem to work better and better in his system each day. So yeah if he thinks Zlatan is good to have in the team then I trust him that it is, if only as a backup player or if he might consider a 2 striker formation with Zlatan and Lukaku starting I think he has a good plan on what to do with Zlatan if he wants him to come back.
I wasn't a big fan of Ibra last season for points made in here, missed a lot of great chances, broke down quite a few of our attacks and doesn't have the pace to stretch a back line. But he's a fighter and a winner, a great character to have in the changing room and if he can get us 15-20 goals off the bench and in cup games then it's a no brainer.
It makes sense to bring him back in, it'll help us keep Lukaku fresh, there's no doubt Lukaku is and will continue to be our main striker and will start every league and CL game when he's fit. But we do need another striker if we're to try and win the cup competitions this season, which Jose will want to do.
It makes sense to bring him back in, it'll help us keep Lukaku fresh, there's no doubt Lukaku is and will continue to be our main striker and will start every league and CL game when he's fit. But we do need another striker if we're to try and win the cup competitions this season, which Jose will want to do.
Mourinho can do whatever he want but this is my simple reasoning
Lukaku is a better fit for the team in every way and he should never go out of the team in favor of bringing Zlatan back in.
Zlatan is not a player for the bench, never was, never will be. His ego is too big and so is his salary, he would be one of our most expensive players and he would sit on the bench, no way imo.
Playing both Lukaku and Zlatan upfront, not a fan because they don't seem complementary and Zlatan will drain the pace out of our attacks just like he did last year.
So I don't think we need him at all
Lukaku is a better fit for the team in every way and he should never go out of the team in favor of bringing Zlatan back in.
Zlatan is not a player for the bench, never was, never will be. His ego is too big and so is his salary, he would be one of our most expensive players and he would sit on the bench, no way imo.
Playing both Lukaku and Zlatan upfront, not a fan because they don't seem complementary and Zlatan will drain the pace out of our attacks just like he did last year.
So I don't think we need him at all
why do people always bring up the argument about not dropping Luk for Zlatan? You really expect Luk to able/motivated/hungry enough to play 60 games a season? Without any injuries or loss of focus? That´s just deluded.
IF Zlatan is ready to play second striker it is a no brainer, every team in the league would instantly sign him up for that role.
IF Zlatan is ready to play second striker it is a no brainer, every team in the league would instantly sign him up for that role.
I really don't get all this. Of course it's been done and dusted for a long time which role Zlatan will have in this United team. With the Mourinho-Zlatan love story in mind I'm pretty sure they've had a dialogue during all his time out about this season and how to cope with PL/CL + domestic cups. Zlatan must've accepted that he will play second fiddle behind Lukaku as this is his last chance to win the PL/CL.
At 36 I assume that both Zlatan and Mourinho realises that he won't be able to start every game. Though he's a lion, he'll be a better player if he gets the rest he needs.
He wouldn't come back if he hasn't accept to play second fiddle.
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