Zlatan: Manchester United & Me Interview

crossy1686

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https://www.manutd.com/en/news/deta...rahimovic-on-his-success-at-manchester-united

I wasn't always sure that I would play in England, but when I took the decision that I would, I was very clear in my mind that there was only one team I would play for.

United.

That is the team I want to shine with. That is the team that fits me.

Of course, I was always aware of United. The person who doesn’t know about United is the one who hasn’t heard what football is. Everybody that knows football knows who United are. I remember watching them, of course. I remember 1999, against Bayern Munich, that crazy Champions League final. I remember Teddy Sheringham came in and scored, Solskjaer scored, and they went from losing the trophy to winning the trophy in a few minutes. Of course, it was more than 1999.

I had a pretty good eye on United, always. There were waves and waves of success that you remember, Ferguson dominating the Premier League.

And they were always in these red shirts…

I thought to myself: I can carry that shirt very well because it’s not too heavy for me.



UTD Unscripted
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says
"It was a huge thing, going to United, and when I join a club, I try to have an impact."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Before United, I played for many big teams where you feel that pressure. You have to perform, give results or else somebody else will come in and do your job.

But I like that. I feel comfortable in those situations. I enjoy it and it makes me feel hungry, knowing that I need to perform, have to perform, that I need to prepare for it and train for it and be ready.

You have to think of the whole package, not only one thing that leads to another thing. If you focus on one thing then you fail on the other things; it’s the whole package and I really enjoyed that because that is when I feel that I’m on top. When you succeed in those circumstances, the feeling is nicer.

It was a huge thing, going to United, and when I join a club, I try to have an impact. It is important because you come with a lot of will, a lot of hunger, but also in my case a lot of expectation and big pressure.

I rise in these moments because this is how I like it to be.


UTD Unscripted
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says
"I thought to myself: I can carry that shirt very well because it's not too heavy for me."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic


I remember my first game for United.

We had a friendly game against Galatasaray, in Sweden.

Ok, you’re in my country now.

I get to play my first game with United, and after three minutes I get to score.

Even if it is just a friendly, you have to do that. You have to fit in as soon as possible. When you come to a big club like that, I don’t know how long they can afford to be patient for you to settle in. You need to settle in as fast as possible. So that’s what I tried to do. I worked, tried to do my thing, still adapt to the team, adapt to the coach’s philosophy and to the club, and I had no issues with those things because I’m professional. I like to work, I take instructions, at the same time I like to do my things that I think – I know – I’m good at, and I try to help the team in the best way.

Still, everybody was talking, thinking they knew everything.

My challenge was, at the age I was, coming to England, where I had years of everybody was saying I wasn’t good enough and all this bulls**t.

I like those things because they trigger me. They give me adrenaline. After three months, all of them were eating their own words. I needed new haters because all the old ones became my new fans!

UTD Unscripted
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says
"After three months, all of them were eating their own words. I needed new haters because all the old ones became my new fans!"

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Oh, the United fans, by the way… they are amazing. I’m not just saying that because I played for United. I know now because I’ve been on their side and I know the feeling they give you. I don’t need to lick a**, but the fans were just amazing. I remember my first game in the Premier League at Bournemouth, I scored and the fans were singing my song for 45 minutes. After 20 minutes I was like: guys, please, my game is not really on top right now. Wait until I’m on top, wait and see!

Inside, I was like: f***, this is fantastic!

They really appreciated what I did and they were thankful. That is the best credit a player can get because when you do something and you get that response from the fans, it’s amazing. They are 50 per cent of everything we do. Imagine if you played in empty stadiums… you would not play. In Old Trafford it was always full. Always. In every away game they always showed up, always supported.

When you get that support, it makes you give more back to them. We owed that to them. That is what triggered me, the whole season, not only winning the trophies, although of course you want to win the trophies.

UTD Unscripted
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says
"I remember walking out at Wembley for the League Cup final and seeing United shirts everywhere. And the noise... wow."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

I remember walking out at Wembley for the League Cup final and seeing United shirts everywhere. And the noise… wow.

Like I say, that triggers you. That makes you play.

So that day, I get to score the two goals and we win a trophy.

Just like I said we would.

Wherever I went before United, I won, and it was my pleasure that it happened again in England. Winning is in my DNA, I need to win – that’s my mentality. I hate losing. I’m not a bad loser, but I hate it and I love to win. I said we would win and we won two big trophies. That speaks for itself.


UTD Unscripted
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says
"Wherever I went before United, I won, and it was my pleasure that it happened again in England. Winning is in my DNA, I need to win - that's my mentality."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

That whole first season at United was fantastic. Everything was. I really enjoyed it. The family was happy, everybody was happy, the club took care of me and made it really easy for me. I just needed to turn up, put on my football boots and perform.

When I was a boy, I had a vision of what I wanted in my life. You never know what will happen, but I had my dreams, I had my will and my life became what it became. A lot of things have proven that if you want it, you will make it. You will achieve it. It’s all up to you. If you don’t work for it, you will not reach your objective. It’s my mentality. I like that pressure because I like to say before that I’ll do it because I really believe in it. I know I can do it.

When I came to United and I said I would conquer England, people were laughing at me.

I wasn’t joking.
 

Bojan11

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If only Raiola wasn’t his agent. I’m sure Fergie would have signed him then.
 

Canagel

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It's a shame fergie didn't buy him. We had two good opportunities- first the 2009 summer in which he got involved in swap deal with etoo. We also lost Ronaldo that year and replaced him with Owen, Valencia and obertan which is mad.
And secondly the summer of 2012. I love RVP he is one of my favorites but he had questionable injury record and we only got one top season. Zlatan would've given us 5 seasons.
 

el3mel

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Miss him. One of my all time favorite players in football ever.
 

Dudu

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What a Legend.
The person who doesn’t know about United is the one who hasn’t heard what football is. Everybody that knows football knows who United are.
:lol:
 

RedDevil@84

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I really believe, if it were not for his injury, we would have got another good season from him, quite easily. We missed a great chance. Our forwards struggle to get into 20+ goals.
And I really believe our players would have massively benefited by having him at the club for some more time.
 

Jib

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I like him but he was a liability despite his stats. Every game he wasted the chances that Pogba created for him.
 

Bo_7iDaR

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Zlatan at his best with Rooney, Giggs, Scholes, and most importantly, under Fergie? That would've been utterly ridiculous! Still happy we managed to see him in a United shirt even if it was for one season effectively. Not to mention the plethora of fantastic goals he scored for us, including a cup final winner. Not too shabby for a 70 year old!
 

Negan

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Love him. A shame we only got one season out of him. If he joined us instead of PSG that time, we would have been laughing.
 

Sterling Archer

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Love him. A shame we only got one season out of him. If he joined us instead of PSG that time, we would have been laughing.
Still wild to me that he and Thiago Silva went to PSG at that time without any other clubs swooping in. You have to imagine he'd have won that elusive CL anywhere else.
 

clarkydaz

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some nice humbling words there. While he was here he conducted himself as an incredible pro, but i never quite felt he had an affinity to the club that other players have. That was a pleasant read
 

mariachi-19

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I may be the devil, but i'm not a monster
some nice humbling words there. While he was here he conducted himself as an incredible pro, but i never quite felt he had an affinity to the club that other players have. That was a pleasant read
The way it reads and how he talks about us, its as if he thought he should have come to as sooner as well. Almost as if he'd found his home but at the end of his career. I wonder if that will be a big regret in his career?
 

Valencia Shin Crosses

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People talk about how much of a liability he was but they should really go back and look at the quality of some of his goals from that year. Him and Lukaku had similar numbers in their first seasons but Zlatan's quality of strikes really shines through for me after rewatching the highlights from both. I would have loved to see him in a more cohesive set up, or perhaps even a younger Zlatan if we were luckier.
 

Saffron

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Still wild to me that he and Thiago Silva went to PSG at that time without any other clubs swooping in. You have to imagine he'd have won that elusive CL anywhere else.

PSG offered him higher wages than Messi and Ronaldo. The financial doping was too much for other clubs to overcome.

What surprises me more is that Zlatan accepted the move. At that time PSG was nothing close to what it is today. It was a little bit like going to China for the money. Which is a weird thing to do for a world class player in his prime still searching for his first CL title.
 

MUM

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Brilliant player, it would have been great to of had him at United earlier but is was not to be.
That night when he captained Sweden against England and single handedly destroyed us with four goals, the last one being the overhead kick, will stick in my mind for years to come. Legend.
 

Adisa

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I think it was in the summer of 2006 that there were rumours we were going to sign him. I was over the moon.
 

el3mel

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PSG offered him higher wages than Messi and Ronaldo. The financial doping was too much for other clubs to overcome.

What surprises me more is that Zlatan accepted the move. At that time PSG was nothing close to what it is today. It was a little bit like going to China for the money. Which is a weird thing to do for a world class player in his prime still searching for his first CL title.
Zlatan move to PSG actually made them what they were today. I have no doubt he had this in his mind, to go there and transform them into an elite team.
 
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InfiniteBoredom

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Zlatan move to PSG actually made them what they were today. I have no doubt he had this in his mind, but Ito go there and transform them into an elite team.
At the time of his transfer no one would ever predict Madrid would go on to win 4 CL, so to his mind great wage package, great city to love and limitless money for squad building would see him win CL soon enough.

His biggest regret probably is jumping ship to Barca and Inter win CL season after.
 

el3mel

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At the time of his transfer no one would ever predict Madrid would go on to win 4 CL, so to his mind great wage package, great city to love and limitless money for squad building would see him win CL soon enough.

His biggest regret probably is jumping ship to Barca and Inter win CL season after.
That move to Barca was extremely unlucky. No one would have ever predicted the outcome of 2010 CL or that he will fall out with Pep. It happens though.
 

AndyJ1985

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Really wish we had signed him years before we did. Think he could have become a club legend. He has the charisma and likeable arrogance of Cantona
 

Saffron

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Zlatan move to PSG actually made them what they were today. I have no doubt he had this in his mind, to go there and transform them into an elite team.

But it didn’t happen overnight did it? It took years, and arguably the team didn’t really take off until they brought in Neymar and Mbappé.

I don’t think kids today realize what an utter irrelevant club PSG was in 2010/2011. By that point they hadn’t won the league since 1994 and only had two league titles ever. I mean just look at their squad. A 38 year grandpa Makélélé was their biggest star and saviour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010–11_Paris_Saint-Germain_F.C._season

Imagine if Standard Liège was bought by sheiks today and bought Pogba as their main star. Then he spent 5 years winning Mickey Mouse trophies in Belgium and crashing out of the UCL on the regular. Then when he was about to leave, things started falling into place and kids flocked to the new European superpower: Standard Liège.

Would that be a blot on Pogba’s career? That he was willing to sell his star appeal to an upstart sheik club with no realistic chance of winning the UCL within a few years? I remember Zlatan admitting as much when he went to PSG.

I think it would. But the amnesia around what PSG actually was is already starting to kick in. I see kids thinking Ronaldinho was in a top club in 2002 ffs.

And that is why I don’t think his money move will ever be recognized for what it probably was. A move with striking similarities to Eto’o to oligarch club Anzhi Makhachkala at 30. Zlatan was lucky PSG didn’t end up like Anzhi.
 

Mastadon

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And that is why I don’t think his money move will ever be recognized for what it probably was. A move with striking similarities to Eto’o to oligarch club Anzhi Makhachkala at 30. Zlatan was lucky PSG didn’t end up like Anzhi.
I don’t think it’s comparable at all. One club is in Dagestan and the other is in Paris there is literally 0 reason to play for Anzhi apart from money because it’s an awful part of the world you have to be paid to go to for any reason. At least Paris has baguettes.
 

Saffron

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I don’t think it’s comparable at all. One club is in Dagestan and the other is in Paris there is literally 0 reason to play for Anzhi apart from money because it’s an awful part of the world you have to be paid to go to for any reason. At least Paris has baguettes.

The players lived and trained in luxury in Moscow and were flown in on a private jet for every game. They had virtually no connection to Dagestan.

Bit of a farce really, but that (and the money) was how they were able to attract top talent at the time.

And Zlatan’s love for the city of Paris shouldn’t be overstated. He literally called France a ”shit country” when he was there, and he never really bothered to learn French. Wheras he speaks fluent Italian and loves the city of Milan.
 
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el3mel

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But it didn’t happen overnight did it? It took years, and arguably the team didn’t really take off until they brought in Neymar and Mbappé.

I don’t think kids today realize what an utter irrelevant club PSG was in 2010/2011. By that point they hadn’t won the league since 1994 and only had two league titles ever. I mean just look at their squad. A 38 year grandpa Makélélé was their biggest star and saviour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010–11_Paris_Saint-Germain_F.C._season

Imagine if Standard Liège was bought by sheiks today and bought Pogba as their main star. Then he spent 5 years winning Mickey Mouse trophies in Belgium and crashing out of the UCL on the regular. Then when he was about to leave, things started falling into place and kids flocked to the new European superpower: Standard Liège.

Would that be a blot on Pogba’s career? That he was willing to sell his star appeal to an upstart sheik club with no realistic chance of winning the UCL within a few years? I remember Zlatan admitting as much when he went to PSG.

I think it would. But the amnesia around what PSG actually was is already starting to kick in. I see kids thinking Ronaldinho was in a top club in 2002 ffs.

And that is why I don’t think his money move will ever be recognized for what it probably was. A move with striking similarities to Eto’o to oligarch club Anzhi Makhachkala at 30. Zlatan was lucky PSG didn’t end up like Anzhi.
Money played a big role but it definitely wasn't the only reason. He saw a rising project and thought that it will be a great idea if he became the star and the icon of that team and raise it to the glory by himself . This suits Zlatan's ego pretty well imo more than being a star in another team.

The mistake was that he spent 4 years there not that he joined them imo. Should have left after 2 years or so.