Ah, many happy returns Zlatan. Here is a cake __with 35 candles. But before you go off to play five-a-side football followed by a slightly questionable lunch at Wimpy and then Lazerquest where you’ll just hide in a corner to avoid being shot, we need to have a little word. Take a seat…
There is no doubt that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be the centre of attention when he plays; his personality demands it. Such is his domination of proceedings that he becomes a bellwether player. We say it about plenty of footballers in plenty of teams, but __with Ibrahimovic the phrase rings especially true: When he plays well, Manchester United play well.
The temptation from Jose Mourinho is therefore to play Ibrahimovic in every game while he is in form, despite his advancing years. Matt Stead wrote a piece last week about whether Mourinho’s extensive use of Ibrahimovic was a reflection of his lack of trust in other players to play centrally, and the statistics certainly suggest that. Ibrahimovic is one of only two United outfield players to appear in every minute of their Premier League campaign so far.
Until recently, Ibrahimovic has been United’s ideal centre-forward. Winning goal in the Community Shield, goal against Bournemouth, both goals against Southampton, goal in the Manchester Derby, winner against Zorya Luhansk. Michael Owen criticised the Swede on Thursday night for a lack of movement, but that entirely misses the point. Ibrahimovic has been instructed to be the focal point. Win headers, shield the ball, bring others into play, score goals; he’s hardly done many of those wrong.
The game against Stoke was therefore billed as the perfect re-match for Ibrahimovic, a battle against Ryan Shawcross for the first time since he scored four times against England in November 2012. The pre-game hype (yes, on here too) expected Ibrahimovic to run riot against the worst defence in the Premier League, on this season’s evidence at least. Stoke City have struggled with set-pieces; United scored from three against Leicester.
It proved to be an entirely inaccurate prediction. Yet again Ibrahimovic’s performance reflected that of United’s, but that’s not a compliment; he was profligate and wasteful. Sent through in the first 15 minutes after an exquisite through ball from Paul Pogba, Ibrahimovic chose to aim for Lee Grant’s near post rather than far corner. The follow-up was also thwarted. So too were various other chances, either through excellent goalkeeping or, more often, wayward shooting.
It was not just that Ibrahimovic ended the game without a goal, but that he produced the most ineffective display of his Old Trafford spell so far. The ball regularly escaped his control and his frustration boiled over when he was booked during the second half for a challenge on Shawcross. The defender was getting his own back against his tormentor-in-chief.
There is no huge cause for United panic. On another day they will score five or six goals given the chances they created, something that Mourinho was keen to point out after the game. Yet the refusal to take off his No. 9, whatever his performance level, is telling. Marcus Rashford really can play centrally, Jose. There are other options.
On the day of his 35th birthday, Ibrahimovic has rarely been more influential on the performance of a team. He has had 31.4% of all Manchester United’s shots in the Premier League. Even during his domination at Paris St Germain, Ibrahimovic never registered more than 27.4% of their shots in a league season.
There’s nothing wrong with that when he’s in top form, but the truth is that Ibrahimovic could do with a goal; he hasn’t managed one in his last 23 shots in the league since scoring in the Manchester derby.
Daniel Storey