Zlatan Ibrahimović: "I wasn't expecting very much of Ligue 1 when I signed for PSG..."

[CS@SG]

I am not sure if this thread shld be in here or in the Football Forum.

This is a discussion I read on Reddit.

Zlatan Ibrahimović: "I wasn't expecting very much of Ligue 1 when I signed for PSG. Ligue 1 wasn't up to my level nor of the clubs where I'd played before. It's the simple truth. So there was clearly a risk to me, for my value, for my image"

The link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/4r1jj1/zlatan_ibrahimović_i_wasnt_expecting_very_much_of/
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddevils/...n_ibrahimović_i_wasnt_expecting_very_much_of/

URL of the article:
http://www.europe1.fr/sport/ibrahimovic-la-l1-netait-pas-au-niveau-de-mon-talent-2788129

An interview recently I guess?

I can't read French. Just to check, if the title of the Reddit discussion accurate?

 

[Darkpulse]

Reddit links don't seem to work for me.

Edit: works now, was using mobile and it did not work for some reason. Working on PC.

 

[CS@SG]

Reddit links don't seem to work for me.

They work for me

 

[Wumminator]

Crikey, lot of PSG fans slating him in that first Reddit thread.

 

[ivaldo]

That'll go down well with the Parisians.

 

[CS@SG]

Crikey, lot of PSG fans slating him in that first Reddit thread.

So I guess the translation is quite accurate.

So, he went PSG for the money?

 

[Wumminator]

So I guess the translation is quite accurate.

So, he went PSG for the money?

I assume it is. No one is correcting it.

Of course he went PSG for the money

 

[Lurpak99]

So I guess the translation is quite accurate.

So, he went PSG for the money?

Who doesn't?

 

[Cassidy]

Not surprising since he didn't want to sign for them in the first place.

 

[CS@SG]

I assume it is. No one is correcting it.

Of course he went PSG for the money

The standard is so low that he had to stay there for 5 seasons.

I cannot stand those fanboys who keep emphasizing his "breaking season" achievement in League 1, or his love foe Jose, PL, ManUtd. Come on, it is all about money.

 

[Dans]

He's a little too full of himself for my liking. A little humility wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Cal?]

The standard is so low that he had to stay there for 5 seasons.

I cannot stand those fanboys who keep emphasizing his "breaking season" achievement in League 1, or his love foe Jose, PL, ManUtd. Come on, it is all about money.

So why isn't he in China now?

 

[Striker10]

Nice that he was honest. Psg fans might be insulted but they shouldn't take it as an insult. The guy was in Paris for four years and did as expected on the pitch but PSG SHOULD win the league no problem and that has a knock on effect in terms of how they view themselves and how people view them. What Zlatan done for PSG is great but there would always be that suspicion. Zlatan would say he's improving still - so he deserves credit for risking his reputation

 

[CS@SG]

So why isn't he in China now?

You can ask him on his IG.

 

[Lay]

Shocker. Him and Thiago Silva were very reluctant to go to PSG.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He's a little too full of himself for my liking. A little humility wouldn't go amiss.

We need more players like him IMO.

 

[noodlehair]

He wants to play a LOT better than he did for Sweden to be coming out with this kind of shite.

I suspect I'm going to end up disiking him.

 

[CS@SG]

Shocker. Him and Thiago Silva were very reluctant to go to PSG.

Someone must have pointing a stack of money on their head to make them going to PSG?

 

[Wumminator]

He wants to play a LOT better than he did for Sweden to be coming out with this kind of shite.

I suspect I'm going to end up disiking him.

In all fairness he couldn't play much worse.

 

[SwansonsTache]

Let's be brutally honest here, PSG should know this by now.

They are deluded if they think anyone join them for the enormous challenge and glory of League 1. And they are hardly big enough for young players outside of France to have grown up with a dream playing for them, in other words people join for money. But no doubt the money and city helps them a lot, I mean wtf is a player like Veratti doing in the French league and at PSG?

 

[noodlehair]

In all fairness he couldn't play much worse.

Harry Kane would disagree...but yes he was shite. Worryingly so.

 

[devilish]

Shocker. Him and Thiago Silva were very reluctant to go to PSG.

Thiago was pushed to PSG

 

[Ecstatic]

- There are no scoops here.
- A seller: Milan AC did need money and couldn't decline these offers
- A buyer that needs Ibrahimovic & Thiago Silva to put in place their project... and offers a lot of money for all the parties.
- Leonardo & Ancelotti - former Milan AC coaches - make these transactions possible.
- Since they left the club, Milan AC gained nothing

But no doubt the money and city helps them a lot, I mean wtf is a player like Veratti doing in the French league and at PSG?

Leonardo/Ancelotti is the answer to your question.

 

[red thru&thru]

He's a little too full of himself for my liking. A little humility wouldn't go amiss.

What, like Mata and Herrera? No thanks.

 

[Insanity]

He wants to play a LOT better than he did for Sweden to be coming out with this kind of shite.

I suspect I'm going to end up disiking him.

I don't doubt it for a minute. You'll get more annoyed when he'll get the Mata/Blind/Schweinsteiger treatment from the fanboys.

I'll change my name if he scores more than 15 league goals.

 

[Randall Flagg]

If he doesnt deliver in at least giving a lot of effort I will probably dislike him even more than berbatov

 

[Wumminator]

What, like Mata and Herrera? No thanks.

I have got absolutely no idea where this idea comes from that players can either be massive egotistical knobs who are "born winners" or placid nobodies with no mental strength like Herrera or Mata.

Mata's last appearance in a United shirt saw him score in a Cup Final minutes after going behind. Ibra's last appearances for Sweden saw him doing nothing of note and bowing out without a goal in his last five games in a Swedish shirt.

There are a multitude of personality types that can win football matches. Frankly half of the people praising Ibrahimovic's "winning mentality" have been cheering Giggs' exit from the club, the most decorated player of all time.

Scholes was quiet and reserved. Keane was a firecracker who would get angry and rant and rave. Neville was a one club legend who fought for everything. Beckham seemed more interested in celebrity lifestyle than kicking a ball around a pitch. Yet all four of these players played for United in their most successful period.

At United at the moment there are around a dozen players who've had massive success, lifting either Champions Leagues or League Titles from around the world.

------------------DDG------------------
Valencia ----Jones----Smalling----Rojo
-------------Schweinsteiger----------
-----------Carrick----Mata------------
Young----------Rooney--------Depay

In that first 11 there every single player has won a high profile league title or the Champions League. Overall between them they have lifted 27 League Titles and Four Champions League trophies. The players who haven't won anything in our squad include players like Martial and Rashford who to be honest were probably our best players last season.

This "winning mentality" is at the club already. Otherwise we wouldn't have players who have won 27 league titles between them. Ibra can be an important player for us, but it's not like these players need someone to tell them they're winners. They know that already.

 

[Samid]

Who doesn't?

Beckham?

 

[mbb8]

Let's see:
Played for Juventus, Milan, Inter, Barcelona at top level for over a decade.
Get's questioned by overweight keyboard warriors for cashing in a mega paycheck to close out his career.

That's why most of you will die in debt.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Beckham?

joking?

 

[Lurpak99]

Beckham?

I thought of top players moving to PSG.

 

[Rado_N]

joking?

Considering he gave his wages to charity probably not.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Considering he gave his wages to charity probably not.

indeed, but it was also a clear attempt to promote brand Beckham

 

[Rado_N]

indeed, but it was also a clear attempt to promote brand Beckham

But he didn't go there for money.

 

[mbb8]

Considering he gave his wages to charity probably not.

Beckham makes more in endorsments in a year than Rooney makes playing football, and that's with Rooney on ungodly high wages.

Beckham in a once in a lifetime marketing icon. No comparison to Zlatan getting his massive payday that happens once or twice in a footballers career.

 

[Wumminator]

Let's see:
Played for Juventus, Milan, Inter, Barcelona at top level for over a decade.
Get's questioned by overweight keyboard warriors for cashing in a mega paycheck to close out his career.

That's why most of you will die in debt.

Crikey.

Calling other posters fat for no reason.

Takes superior position against others for "questioning" his motives - which as far as I can see, no one is criticising him.


Talks about PSG closing out his career after he's just left and joined Manchester United.

Yeah, it all adds up to a car crash of a post.

 

[mbb8]

Crikey.

Calling other posters fat for no reason.

Takes superior position against others for "questioning" his motives - which as far as I can see, no one is criticising him.


Talks about PSG closing out his career after he's just left and joined Manchester United.

Yeah, it all adds up to a car crash of a post.

 

[Seveneric]

I have got absolutely no idea where this idea comes from that players can either be massive egotistical knobs who are "born winners" or placid nobodies with no mental strength like Herrera or Mata.

This. Redcafe's definition of having a "personality" seems to run along the lines of being an arrogant prick

 

[Randall Flagg]

But he didn't go there for money.

He did, and don’t get me wrong at the end of the day charities benefited so that’s great. But to think he didn’t have ulterior motives is very naïve. He went to a very famous city at an emerging club which globally was getting bigger and bigger. Called a huge press conference to announce his aims and boom his brand which had been declining gets a huge boost.

 

[Rado_N]

Beckham makes more in endorsments in a year than Rooney makes playing football, and that's with Rooney on ungodly high wages.

Beckham in a once in a lifetime marketing icon. No comparison to Zlatan getting his massive payday that happens once or twice in a footballers career.

What does any of that have to do with what I said?

He did, and don’t get me wrong at the end of the day charities benefited so that’s great. But to think he didn’t have ulterior motives is very naïve. He went to a very famous city at an emerging club which globally was getting bigger and bigger. Called a huge press conference to announce his aims and boom his brand which had been declining gets a huge boost.

How was his brand declining? He's been an A list celebrity since he set foot in LA, that hadn't changed.