Manchester, welcome to Zlatan - The Zlatan Ibrahimović Thread

In 2001 season Liverpool won the "quadruple" the fourth one being the 3rd place finish that saw them slated for the CL the next season.

Man, I laughed so hard at their mickey mouse crap and them not knowing that they really have been underachieving in spite of their 4 "wins".....

Now I have to read the shit above about the great Manchester United. Don't you fcukers see we are turning into livercrap!

 

Why the hell would I do that??? Then I won't have anything to bitch about!

 

Somewhere in your post, J, is a serious point.

But no, we're not turning into a Liverpool but there is a risk that we will become the next Liverpool if we don't mount a serious challenge for the EPL trophy next season.

Winning the EL was critical to the future of Manchester United on all the levels that need not be repeated here. Defeat to Ajax would have been a disaster and we avoided that disaster. What we do next season with the fairly modest success we had this season remains to be seen, but if we continue to scrap four place finishes best we will have become a Liverpool.

For all the obvious reasons, we at least have to be credible challengers for both the EPL and CL trophies to avoid the horror fate of becoming the next Liverpool.

 

I'm with J'can. Mourinho with the whole 3 fingers thing after the EL ought to be embarrassed. Anything less than a Prem or CL win in a season is a failure. It doesn't matter if we're "rebuilding" or whatever. We are Manchester f'king United.

 

We really can't hold it against Mourinho for not winning the Champions League this season.

As for the prem, we just didn't have enough reliable scorers to push for a prem trophy.

The 16/17 season could be fairly described as a disappointment, but hardly a "failure".

 

I agree that Zlatan's release was the right way to go. Still, I enjoyed watching him play in a Manchester United shirt, will miss his swagger. It was fun while it lasted.

 

I wish we could have him back at Barca !!!

 

Seems that way to me too.

As much of an ego Zlatan has, no doubt he perfectly understood that United couldn't justify paying him 200k/week while he was out for the first six months of the season. Both Zlatan and Jose assess what's what in December and decide accordingly.

If we're in the hunt for both trophies, a fit Zlatan would be a pretty fantastic player to have on the squad.

For Ibra, it's not about the cash. It's about glory and legacy.

 

I don't want to see him thrown back into the team and undoing what will hopefully be six months of improved performance level.

 

Which makes you question the point and cost involved.

 

I'm all for Ibra hanging around during his rehab. One of the biggest reasons to have him around is to mentor younger guys. Once he gets toward the end of his recovery he'll probably start doing some training with the first team.

However, I highly doubt that Jose has the time to sit around and watch Ibra do rehab. He'll probably be kept in the loop but that's about it.

 

Think, man.

If we're flying high and scoring goals for fun -- maybe even padding our stats -- I seriously doubt Jose would bring Ibra back for the second half of the season no matter how great he might look in training.

If we're struggling for goals and Ibra looks terrible in training, I seriously doubt Jose would bring Ibra back.

If we're struggling for goals and Ibra looks great in training, it might make some sense to bring Ibra back, would it not?

 

...should always be taken with a grain of salt. It's the easy rumour when it comes to players potentially moving to the US.

While I believe there is a legitimate interest this time (at least before the injury), I've lost count of the amount of players the Galaxy has been linked with when there was absolutely no way they could've been signed with the existing squad situation.

 

A move to MLS would make a lot of sense for Ibra. He should be completely recovered by the time the new season starts in 2018 and if he did join an LA or NY club he'd be the proverbial toast of the town, even if he's only a professional "soccer" player.

Yet surely Ibra must have the fire in his belly to win a EPL trophy or, possibly, a CL trophy. Realistically, the only club that he could make either happen with is United.

 

Over on the LAG boards, they're not so keen.

To understand this reluctance, you have to understand how absolutely, colossally awful Steven effing Gerrard was when he came here. On top of that, the amount of changes made to the squad to accommodate him, has left the team with a significant rebuilding project.

 

I'm sure the ultras on the LAG board can't stand the idea of Ibra coming.

As for Gerrard, he was already shot when he left Liverpool. Another big name late in his career joined LAG and did quite well -- David Beckham.

And David Beckham was no Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The right question to ask is whether Ibra truly can recover from his ACL injury. I have no idea. But the point is that no one needs to answer that question any time soon. It may well be that he's as good as new by January, by which time LAG would be nowhere near Ibra's radar.

As for LA Galaxy, my hometown USL team could just turn them over on June 27. And if they do, I'm pretty sure the ultras might take a second look at bringing in Ibra.

 

The people on that forum aren't idiots and the ACL injury is very much a concern. He's expected back in January, so if he did sign for an MLS team, there will be no opportunity to see him in competitive games and there will be little opportunity to assess his recovery time.

If he was available in good health, then there would be more support for a short term deal. I personally would jump at it. However, remember that if the Galaxy sign him (and we all know that won't be cheap) and he's crocked, they're stuck with him and his salary, filling a Designated Player spot, meaning they probably can't replace him for at least half a season.

And no, I don't think an Open Cup loss would change those thoughts.

As for Beckham: He was injured most of his debut season, steadily lost interest in his first full season, absent with AC Milan for half of the following season and his transfer was on course for being deemed an embarrassing failure until Bruce Arena came in and built a strong defensive platform.

The travel and playing surfaces can also take their toll on players with knee issues. Nobody is crapping on Ibra and his legacy or writing him off. The situation and timing however, would make him a gamble at this precise moment.

 

Every player is a gamble. Di Maria was a sure thing and even started out brilliantly, but then he went south. Veron. Barthez.

Sure, Ibra is a gamble, but what I saw from Ibra before his knee injury was a cut above anything I've seen in MLS in recent years. And had he not gone down with the knee injury there's a good chance his United contract would have been extended. His midseason form matched that of anyone in the English prem during the same span of time.

As for the Open Cup, I can't make it to LA that night but if Sacramento Republic can take a second MLS scalp, oh my.