Zlatan

Regulus Arcturus Black said:
You think Conte is a more progressive coach? feck me.

He has Ashley at left wing back because that’s exactly what he’s NOT!
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Slightly more yes, but the point was more that Left wing back is a more attacking position than Left Back in a Mourinho system.

Jesus fecking Left wing back is a more attacking position than Left back in any system, i'm not sure what it is you're trying to argue here.

Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Haaland had a better ratio in Austria though, 16 in 14 followed by 13 in 15 in Germany.
His stats are eerily similar in both leagues.
Salah was miles worse in Italy, huge difference there.
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Thats your opinion i thought he was good at Roma, Klopp seemed to agree.

The post under yours explained quite well i think why Salah scored more goals in England. Better team, system that suits him down to the ground and he matured as he started in England.
 
stevoc said:
I thought he was absolutely atrocious for United in his last 1-2 years so thats why he's looked better at Inter for me.
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He still had some decent games tbh. Overall he was bad for sure. Tbh I had to ask an Inter fan friend of mine and he told me that Young was there just as a body. Nothing else
 
poleglass red said:
in terms of goals scored, he scored 17 in 28 pl games that 1st season, where he was the main striker and would automatically hit all free kicks and penalties, he scored 2 penalties that season. Rashford last season hit 17 in 31 pl games from the wing, even Martial hit 17 in 32 pl games. Give either of them some of Fernandes penalties and there numbers could have been even higher. He was good for us Ibra, for me more so in the cups, but I wouldn't go overboard in my praise for him. We haven't had much joy in the striking dept since SAF left, so he's definitely in the mix, the fact that's he's in the mix, with a winger and a striker, who whilst talented ,isn't renowned for being prolific, says it all really.
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He has scored 28 goals in all competition on his first season for us though. It’s the highest amount of goals recorded from any of our strikers over past 8 years, and since Van Persie 30 goals in 12-13. In other words, he is the best forward we’ve ever had, ever since Fergie retired.
 
I should ask the Inter fan at work about Young. He does think Lukaku is world class though and that his United career is down to the club and cited Mkhitaryan, Di Maria, Memphis as examples of why we turn players into shells of themselves
 
kouroux said:
He still had some decent games tbh. Overall he was bad for sure. Tbh I had to ask an Inter fan friend of mine and he told me that Young was there just as a body. Nothing else
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Fan Friends
*insert Jay gif*
 
simplyared said:
That maybe but they weren't better as a team when he played.
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I don’t even think we were better to watch in all honesty. I’ve enjoyed watching the national team a whole lot more since Andersson took charge. Zlatan definitely brought some real highs but our general play was worse IMO, both aesthetically and effect wise.

You’d never expect much from Sweden in a group with France, one of the best Portugal sides I’ve seen and Croatia. So to use this group to beat ourselves up with seems a bit deluded to me. If anything it shows the difference in expectations since Andersson took charge.
 
To anyone who says we are a better team now than we were during the Zlatan era. Hard disagree. We had Erik Hamrén as our National Team Manager and he was utterly clueless.

Our qualifications were almost entirely carried by Zlatan. We beat Denmark over two legs to qualify for Euro 2016 solely because of Zlatan's brilliance. We very nearly qualified for the World Cup in 2014 because of Zlatan but since we had a playoff against Portugal who had Cristiano Ronaldo in his prime that fell just short.

Janne Andersson's reign has been collectively great but also carried by a great defensive organization. In the World Cup 2018, we relied on the synergy between established strikers Marcus Berg-Ola Toivonen who had played together since U-21. After that World Cup when players like Granqvist have tailed off we've lacked defensive organization, leadership, and attacking penetration.

Bringing Zlatan back into the fold wouldn't change anything other than give us a massive advantage in attack where we're struggling for options and create a role model and a leader for the young and very talented players coming through. It really is a no-brainer. Which is probably why Janne Andersson travelled to Milano straight away after Zlatan opened up the door for the national team again.

Zlatan himself is well and truly back. He's overcome a massive injury and has proven himself in a top 4 league in the world. To say that it would be harmful for the team when we regularly select players from 23:d ranked Allsvenskan is nothing short of ridiculous. I think most players who represent the national team now would adore having him back into the fold.

He recently said in an interview to Aftonbladet that although he maybe has been harsh at times he did so to produce results. He came for Rasmus Elm at halftime during that England game at Friends Arena which we ended up winning 4-3 and at the end of the day. That is what people will remember. Winning. He has the desire of winning, not just the desire to "do as good as possible". That mentality needs to be brought back and passed on to the youth so we can keep competing in the future.
 
SwedishFish said:
To anyone who says we are a better team now than we were during the Zlatan era. Hard disagree. We had Erik Hamrén as our National Team Manager and he was utterly clueless.

Our qualifications were almost entirely carried by Zlatan. We beat Denmark over two legs to qualify for Euro 2016 solely because of Zlatan's brilliance. We very nearly qualified for the World Cup in 2014 because of Zlatan but since we had a playoff against Portugal who had Cristiano Ronaldo in his prime that fell just short.

Janne Andersson's reign has been collectively great but also carried by a great defensive organization. In the World Cup 2018, we relied on the synergy between established strikers Marcus Berg-Ola Toivonen who had played together since U-21. After that World Cup when players like Granqvist have tailed off we've lacked defensive organization, leadership, and attacking penetration.

Bringing Zlatan back into the fold wouldn't change anything other than give us a massive advantage in attack where we're struggling for options and create a role model and a leader for the young and very talented players coming through. It really is a no-brainer. Which is probably why Janne Andersson travelled to Milano straight away after Zlatan opened up the door for the national team again.

Zlatan himself is well and truly back. He's overcome a massive injury and has proven himself in a top 4 league in the world. To say that it would be harmful for the team when we regularly select players from 23:d ranked Allsvenskan is nothing short of ridiculous. I think most players who represent the national team now would adore having him back into the fold.

He recently said in an interview to Aftonbladet that although he maybe has been harsh at times he did so to produce results. He came for Rasmus Elm at halftime during that England game at Friends Arena which we ended up winning 4-3 and at the end of the day. That is what people will remember. Winning. He has the desire of winning, not just the desire to "do as good as possible". That mentality needs to be brought back and passed on to the youth so we can keep competing in the future.
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People don't realize imho what it would mean if he became part of the national team of Sweden again at the age of 39. Bringing him back you get the whole package = Zlatan. The current manager's status would drop whilst the other players would be in awe of their new teammate. Everything would rotate around him and we've seen it before where players limit themselves to playing for Zlatan rather than the team. Doesn't have a postive effect!
 
simplyared said:
People don't realize imho what it would mean if he became part of the national team of Sweden again at the age of 39. Bringing him back you get the whole package = Zlatan. The current manager's status would drop whilst the other players would be in awe of their new teammate. Everything would rotate around him and we've seen it before where players limit themselves to playing for Zlatan rather than the team. Doesn't have a postive effect!
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Nah it doesn't. He plays for the shirt and it improves the attack. Age is completely irrelevant if you are as good as he is. AC Milan are currently top of the league in Italy, do you think they also suffer from having Zlatan at age 39?
 
SwedishFish said:
Nah it doesn't. He plays for the shirt and it improves the attack. Age is completely irrelevant if you are as good as he is. AC Milan are currently top of the league in Italy, do you think they also suffer from having Zlatan at age 39?
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Two totally different environments. You cannot compare AC Milan with the Swedish national team!
 
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Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Sweden just got relegated from the nations league ffs, they are utterly wank.
They were more fun to watch for the entire nation when Zlatan played, and right now that’s all that really matters.
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I think we play pretty good stuff. Did struggle against Portugal, but they are bloody hard to create against.

Most other big international sides do not play fun football. Like France, Portugal and England are often dire to watch.
 
kouroux said:
He still had some decent games tbh. Overall he was bad for sure. Tbh I had to ask an Inter fan friend of mine and he told me that Young was there just as a body. Nothing else
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Thats probably more than could be said for some of his later United performances.
 
Kamprad said:
True. Since Zlatan left Pogba has truly shown his class and got the numbers to prove It. Zlatan was lucky to play with such a genius. He barely had to make any runs and Pogba somehow found a way to make those passes.
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Stilł robbed Pogba of the assist record
 
simplyared said:
Two totally different environments. You cannot compare AC Milan with the Swedish national team!
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Exactly, AC Milan want to win football matches.
I do agree to a certain extent that he doesn't fit Jannes philosophy, but that philosophy is the issue not Zlatan.
 
You have players who are finished in their early 30s, Zlatan is pretty much the same player since he turned 30.
How is that possible?
Unique combination of physique and training?
 
Very unique player, in that his style of play didn't change much into his 30s. Incredible athlete; coming back from a bad knee injury at 35 takes extreme dedication
 
Morty_ said:
You have players who are finished in their early 30s, Zlatan is pretty much the same player since he turned 30.
How is that possible?
Unique combination of physique and training?
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He is a 9th Dan blackbelt in Taekwondo and also does Yoga. Flexibility is an important part of training in both. This will help him massively in playing at a high level at his age.
 
Absolutely ridiculous, first start after that hammy injury, what a player.
Shouldn’t be possible to do your ACL in mid thirties, go to the retirement zone in the US to take the piss, then come back to Europe at almost 40 and continue being this good. Makes no sense.
 
Zlatan is so big, strong and technical. He's 39 now... I think he can play until 41 if he wants to. Two more seasons.
 
The man is a machine, let's be honest he's back playing In Europe and being amazingly competitive.

Who knows if he actually wants to go back to MLS in a year or two and do another few years there. I think he's motivated enough to keep going.
 
Two goals today. Absolute class. The first goal was really well played. Unbelievable that he's still doing it at 39.

Also scored his 500th career club goal today. Hope Milan can hold on and win the league this year, would be amazing to see.
 
chomsky89 said:
14 goals in 11 games. Which is the best game to goal-ratio in any professional football league 20/21.
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Pretty freaky doing it at 39. Even in the MLS at 39 that would be a pretty impressive return.
 
That ratio is even more ridiculous when you take into account 4 (I think) penalty misses.
 
chomsky89 said:
14 goals in 11 games. Which is the best game to goal-ratio in any professional football league 20/21.
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It is in 10 starts (1 game was a 5 min sub).
In those ten starts, he has been MOTM 7 times.
He has scored every 63 minute on average.
 
This is a tough question maybe but what's your favorite Zlatan goal ?
 
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