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01/07/2016 18:07, Report by Steve Bartram
Opinion: Ibrahimovic is tailored to United
Connery as Bond. Bale as Batman. Keiko as Willy. Sometimes, a role is tailor-made for its star. In joining Manchester United at a time when the club is steadily rebuilding its swagger, Zlatan Ibrahimovic may just have landed the perfect part.
The Swede, as he has shown through his near-sadistic manipulation of the world’s football media in recent weeks before a dramatic
Instagram confirmation of his arrival, is more than at home in the spotlight. He wants the eyes of the world on him.
The same goes for United. The glare once permanently fixed on Old Trafford has occasionally been retrained elsewhere during recent seasons, and the recruitment of the Swede – following hot on the heels of Jose Mourinho's appointment – will do much to wrest it back.
The timing of the Zlatan's arrival is more than opportune as United look to regain domestic rule. Leicester City’s emergence as the victorious underdog may have captivated the imagination of the football world last season, but their success owed as much to the collective underachievement of their competitors as it did Claudio Ranieri’s careful nurturing of team spirit and tactical discipline. A focused tortoise strolled past a field of neurotic, scatty hares.
Following the installation of Mourinho, an established winner in modern English football, the bookies have only Manchester City ahead of United in their early reckoning for next season’s title, in a setting where Leicester’s success has once again changed the topography. With a master motivator at the helm of a squad boasting plenty of established and rising talent, United need fear nobody. With Ibrahimovic's confidence swelling the collective self-belief, the Reds are altogether more fearsome.
Perhaps the biggest casualty of Ferguson’s departure was the Reds’ aura of invincibility, which left most opponents beaten before a ball had been kicked because no other outcomes were even countenanced. That presence underwent some restoration during Louis van Gaal’s tenure – the Dutchman enjoyed a particularly decent home record – but the way to fully reinstate it is with unwavering self-belief. Mourinho has it, and so too does Ibrahimovic.
Everybody has an opinion on Zlatan, nobody more than the man himself. Asked to describe his unique style of play, the Swede simply dubbed it ‘Zlatan style’. Spectacular goals and skills are the hallmarks of a man born to entertain himself and the watching world. “You were born as the one you are,” he once said. “Some things are made by destiny, other things by hard work, but quality you don’t learn.”
One skill he has acquired is taekwondo, the martial art which lends further menace to his already hulking, glowering frame. He gives the impression that he could batter an opponent senseless, rabona them into the top corner and sashay off to the Northern Quarter to celebrate. He has edge aplenty and that is something United have long needed.
The man’s egocentricity will irk opponents – and all the better to re-cultivate the us-against-the-world mantra so prominent under Ferguson – but it is as well-founded as can be. Few talk the talk or walk the walk better. A famous Old Trafford banner once proclaimed United as ‘not arrogant, just better’. Is there anything wrong with being both?
A phenomenally skilled player who has won virtually every available honour, Ibrahimovic fits into the Reds’ dressing room subculture of lavishly-decorated veterans alongside Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Bastian Schweinsteiger and (on achievement more than age) Juan Mata. He brings a new dimension to the attack, both in experience and ability. He will co-exist with burgeoning, exciting talents like Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, who can only learn from working with a striker of such standing.
While the winning habit is fresh in the collective mind of the FA Cup-winning squad Mourinho has inherited, it is long ingrained in Ibrahimovic. The Swede has finished 13 of his last 15 seasons as a league champion in either the Netherlands, Italy, Spain or France. Even reducing it to 11 after two of Juventus’s titles were struck off by the
Calciopoli scandal, it is a ludicrous record. The man is simply unaccustomed to not winning.
He is, however, accustomed to thriving under pressure on the biggest stages. He has met the demands of success at Ajax, Juventus, Internazionale, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris St Germain. Now he enters English football at the biggest club in the country, a giant looking to end a three-year wait for a league title.
We’re ready. He’s ready. The stage is set. Go get the popcorn.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be considered as representative of Manchester United Football Club.
Why Zlatan Ibrahimovic is tailored to United - Official Manchester United Website