An artist. With a shitload of strength.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Would require money, lots of it, and an inspiring manager. Chelsea would be a perfect match as he rates Mourinho quite highly (a couple of years ago when he was at Milan he said he missed Mourinho).
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It's a shame he'll never win a Ballon D'or. Lesser players than him have.
Plus, he has that annoying habit of winning league titles every year. We could use that at the moment.
Aside from Cannavaro, I can't recall anyone else that is 'lesser' than Ibrahimovic winning a Ballon D'or
Michael Owen?
Zlatan > Shevchenko
Ah indeed, fair play. I was thinking of FIFA Ballon D'or. Not the prior existing exclusively European one
I'm pretty sure from excerpts from his autobiography that he and Mourinho have a great relationship. Mourinho described him as a friend a few weeks back too.
That's only existed since 2010!
Let me clarify, the prior Balon D'or was exclusively given to the best European Player, up until Weah won it in 1995 ? or 96 I believe? (IIRC)
by Ballon d'or I incorrectly assumed we were discussing Fifa World Player of the Year which started in 1991. This is why I stated other than Cannavoro which player has won this award that was deemed 'lesser' than Ibra.
The changing of the name of the award confused me.
The Champions League goal the other week reminded me of when you'd watch Cantona and ponder why he was stood 10 yards outside the box despite Giggsy or Andrei being at the byeline. 5 seconds later, he would have swept it up and magestically put it in the net.
He absolutely adores Mourinho, he even said Mourinho is one of the people he would die for (in his book). However, with PSG's financial status, there's no way Chelsea can afford to buy him, even with their riches.
Just finished reading his autobiography. Highly recommended, he's a fantastically entertaining character. You can definitely see where his "mercenary" type mentality comes from, in my opinion he just views all his moves as trying out every dish on offer at a restaurant. He's not the type to just order his favourite meal every visit, if that makes any sense.
He's very complimentary about United and Sir Alex as well. Would have loved to see him at Old Trafford, I think those two would have been perfect for each other.
He's very complimentary about United and Sir Alex as well. Would have loved to see him at Old Trafford, I think those two would have been perfect for each other.
Zlatan on Sir Alex Ferguson
“Just imagine what he could have achieved in his career if he’d had Zlatan.”
Zlatan on Gareth Bale
“Not too sure what this is. Sorry.”
Zlatan on Trees
“I hate them. Their stupid leaves, branches, towering over me. They think they’re better than me. Newsflash: They are not.”
Zlatan on being part of a team
“Obviously you cannot have 11 Zlatans on a team (although I understand scientists are working on it with cloning technology). So in the meantime, it’s important that everyone knows his role: supporting the Zlatan and making him look good.”
“Just imagine what he could have achieved in his career if he’d had Zlatan.”
Zlatan on Gareth Bale
“Not too sure what this is. Sorry.”
Zlatan on Trees
“I hate them. Their stupid leaves, branches, towering over me. They think they’re better than me. Newsflash: They are not.”
Zlatan on being part of a team
“Obviously you cannot have 11 Zlatans on a team (although I understand scientists are working on it with cloning technology). So in the meantime, it’s important that everyone knows his role: supporting the Zlatan and making him look good.”
Can't wait for him take to the bottle post retirement. That is when the real comedy would begin.
Zlatan on Sir Alex Ferguson
“Just imagine what he could have achieved in his career if he’d had Zlatan.”
Zlatan on Gareth Bale
“Not too sure what this is. Sorry.”
Zlatan on Trees
“I hate them. Their stupid leaves, branches, towering over me. They think they’re better than me. Newsflash: They are not.”
Zlatan on being part of a team
“Obviously you cannot have 11 Zlatans on a team (although I understand scientists are working on it with cloning technology). So in the meantime, it’s important that everyone knows his role: supporting the Zlatan and making him look good.”
That's fake/parody:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/co...xtracts-from-his-fictional-autobiography.html
Oh ok I thought they were real...
The best quotes from his autobiography are:
Journalist: "What did she get as an engagement present?"
Zlatan: "What do mean, present? She got Zlatan."
"The first 20 minutes were unbelievable. I scored 0-1 and 0-2, great goals yet again, and I thought: "I don't give a shit about Guardiola. I'll just keep going!" But then I got subbed, and Arsenal replied with 1-2 and 2-2. It was shit, and afterwards I had a pain in my leg. That's usually something the manager worries about. An injured Zlatan is a pretty serious matter for any team."
"Yaya Touré was there, and a few others, and the metal container we put our clothes in, and I was staring at that. Then I kicked it. I think it flew about three meters, but I wasn't done. Not even close. I screamed [to Guardiola]: "You have no balls", and probably worse things than that, and then I added: "Mourinho makes you shit your pants. You can go to hell!"
"When I realised that I was benched for the game against Almeria, I remembered: "Here in Barcelona we don't arrive for practice in Ferraris or Porsches!" What kind of bullshit is that? I arrive as I want, especially if I can piss off a few idiots. I jumped in my Ferrari Enzo, slammed the throttle down and parked it outside the training ground, and of course it turned into a media circus. The papers wrote that the car cost more than all the Almeria players' monthly wages put together. But I didn't care."
"What's happening? Do have anything for me?" and of course Anders [Carlsson, his agent at the time] wanted the best for me. He checked the options and got back to me. But what did he have?
"Southampton are interested," he said.
"What the feck! Southampton? Is that my level?"
Southampton!
At a press conference in Geneva I got a question about whether I compared myself to any other great players.
"No," I responded. "There's only one Zlatan."
Journalist: "What did she get as an engagement present?"
Zlatan: "What do mean, present? She got Zlatan."
"The first 20 minutes were unbelievable. I scored 0-1 and 0-2, great goals yet again, and I thought: "I don't give a shit about Guardiola. I'll just keep going!" But then I got subbed, and Arsenal replied with 1-2 and 2-2. It was shit, and afterwards I had a pain in my leg. That's usually something the manager worries about. An injured Zlatan is a pretty serious matter for any team."
"Yaya Touré was there, and a few others, and the metal container we put our clothes in, and I was staring at that. Then I kicked it. I think it flew about three meters, but I wasn't done. Not even close. I screamed [to Guardiola]: "You have no balls", and probably worse things than that, and then I added: "Mourinho makes you shit your pants. You can go to hell!"
"When I realised that I was benched for the game against Almeria, I remembered: "Here in Barcelona we don't arrive for practice in Ferraris or Porsches!" What kind of bullshit is that? I arrive as I want, especially if I can piss off a few idiots. I jumped in my Ferrari Enzo, slammed the throttle down and parked it outside the training ground, and of course it turned into a media circus. The papers wrote that the car cost more than all the Almeria players' monthly wages put together. But I didn't care."
"What's happening? Do have anything for me?" and of course Anders [Carlsson, his agent at the time] wanted the best for me. He checked the options and got back to me. But what did he have?
"Southampton are interested," he said.
"What the feck! Southampton? Is that my level?"
Southampton!
At a press conference in Geneva I got a question about whether I compared myself to any other great players.
"No," I responded. "There's only one Zlatan."
His whole Dare To Zlatan thing on Twitter yesterday was so forced and terrible.
Blame the PR team, the more you read about him, you'll realise the less he's interested in stuff like this in reality, he'd make quite a good actor...
He's a bit like Dr Pepper for me, misunderstood.
Two new goals so far tonight. I am not sure if they added the goals today in the stats I saw but I think they didn't. If not then these are the figures.
40 goals in 39 matches so far this season. Ronaldo is the only one near I believe, with 39 goals in 36 matches.
Zlatan is also topping the Assist-league in Europe this season with 16 I believe. Not bad to top the assist and goal-scoring league, when was the last time somebody did that?
40 goals in 39 matches so far this season. Ronaldo is the only one near I believe, with 39 goals in 36 matches.
Zlatan is also topping the Assist-league in Europe this season with 16 I believe. Not bad to top the assist and goal-scoring league, when was the last time somebody did that?
Probably Messi and not that long ago
You have any numbers/exact times? Can't seem to remember Messi out-assisting the likes of Özil, Mata, Götze, Rooney, Ribery etc etc.
I don't have exact numbers, just seemed like a safe bet.
Messi led assists in 2010-11 but came second to Ronaldo in goals scored. He's been in the top three assists for the last five seasons and hasn't fallen below double figures for about seven.
So last time someone actually won the assist and goal league would be further back than Messi? Or are you unsure if he won it in those 5 season he ended in the top 3?
He only won it 2010-11, and this is all just La Liga, no European comp. He hasn't done both. But then he had to compete with much more prolific players than Zlatan. His numbers are certainly better than Zlatans.
Zlatan only has 11 this year according to ESPN.
No doubt Messi is a better player and has the more impressive records. But still very impressive for Zlatan to be in the lead of the goal and assist league this late in a season.
I doubt he'll win it anyhow as PSG will be thrown out the CL before Real Madrid/Barcelona. Fabregas/Bale/Suarez are the ones contesting for the assists and Ronaldo for the goals.
Fabregas has more assists than Zlatan according to ESPN, Bale the same, and Messi is two behind.
I am counting all official matches, Zlatan doesn't have 40 goals in the league yet nor does Ronaldo have 39.
It is impressive but then again when you consider the teams he faces on a regular basis it's a bit natural that he's leading in the stats. He's outstanding player and in the top 5 best in the world but the Ligue 1 is way too easy for him. I respect a lot more his numbers in the CL where he has made a proper improvement.
Just hadn't seen anybody mention the fact that he just climbed up as the leading scorer and assist provider in Europe of the season. So figured I'd mention it as it is quite an interesting fact.
Your point is of course valid, but at the same time whoever plays for the best team also has a maaassive advantage to score more goals. Real Madrid/Barcelona/Bayern/Liverpool have all scored more goals this season than PSG and some of them are more dominant against the average league side too than PSG.
In the CL the striker of the best teams usually score most goals, so Zlatans goals there are even more impressive I'd say than if Messi/Ronaldo scored the same amount.
Really? That's just the thing that sets Messi apart from the rest, the fact that he's so productive in both scoring and assisting. With Özil and Mata it's close either way, but those others you've listed are a "no-contest" in Messi's (statistically) best seasons.
To my knowledge Messi led both in scoring and assisting in the 2011-12 season (of the top leagues anyway). And he came close in 2010-11. Note: I'm using the strict definition for assists (no rebounds, penalties, deflected passes/crosses).
In all official club competitions (top 5 UEFA-ranked leagues)
2010-11
Goals
1. C. Ronaldo, 53 goals
1. Messi, 53 goals
2. Mario Gómez, 39 goals
3. Eto'o, 37 goals
4. Cavani, 33 goals
5. Rossi, 32 goals
6. Di Natale, 28 goals
7. Agüero, 27 goals
8. Negredo, 26 goals
8. Benzema, 26 goals
8. Sow, 26 goals
9. Soldado, 25 goals
...
note: Falcao and Hulk scored 37 and 36 goals respectively at Porto, but I didn't include them because Portugal was ranked 6th in the UEFA coefficients.
Assists
1. Özil, 26 assists
2. Messi, 24 assists
3. Dani Alves, 21 assists
4. Tiffert, 20 assists
5. Di María, 19 assists
5. Martin, 19 assists
6. Mata, 17 assists
7. C. Ronaldo, 15 assists
7. Ribéry, 15 assists
7. Xavi, 15 assists
7. Nani, 15 assists
7. Eto'o, 15 assists
7. Drogba, 15 assists
8. Fàbregas, 14 assists
8. Rooney, 14 assists
8. David Silva, 14 assists
...
2011-12
Goals
1. Messi, 73 goals
2. C. Ronaldo, 60 goals
3. Huntelaar, 48 goals
4. Mario Gómez, 41 goals
5. Van Persie, 37 goals
6. Falcao, 36 goals
7. Ibrahimovic, 35 goals
8. Rooney, 34 goals
9. Cavani, 33 goals
10. Benzema, 32 goals
11. Agüero, 30 goals
11. Lewandowski, 30 goals
...
Assists
1. Messi, 29 assists
2. Özil, 24 assists
3. Mata, 20 assists
3. Hazard, 20 assists
4. David Silva, 19 assists
5. Fàbregas, 18 assists
5. Ribéry, 18 assists
6. Dani Alves, 16 assists
6. Di María, 16 assists
7. C. Ronaldo, 15 assists
8. Xavi, 14 assists
8. Valencia, 14 assists
8. Arango, 14 assists
...
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Nobody mentioned it because it isn't true, I don't think... I have him on 13 assists in all comps this season (11 in Ligue 1, 1 in Coupe de France and 1 in the French Super Cup). Fàbregas has 16, Rooney 15, Koke and Di María are on 14.
This is in french but still very easy to understand
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