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2016-17 Performances


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6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
46
Goals
28
Assists
9
Yellow cards
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JaffyJoe

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He's slow ad lethargic. Not a fan of how he has played so far at all, poor decision making too. Comparing his link up play with Van Persie, RVP was on another level. Having a slow striker is fine in the right system but just assessing Zlatan stand alone performances, he's been a poor team player.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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It's unlikely that Klopp would've preferred Ibra for his team instead of Firmino, that's a fair assumption. With the high-pressing game and all the running that Klopp expects from all his players Ibra doesn't seem like a natural fit.

He is still a better goalscorer than Firmino though, and a better player (maybe arguable, looking at his age, but still).

Rooney's presence highlights Ibra's weaknesses and hides his strengths - in a fluid front three with, say, Martial and Rashford, and without a dedicated number 10, a false 9 PSG version Ibra would still be brilliant in any league. Hell, even playing for a disorganized and unbalanced team he already scored what, 5 goals for us?
Yes, I argued that it was Rooney that was the problem and he did concede that I may have a point
 

nick2004

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It's unlikely that Klopp would've preferred Ibra for his team instead of Firmino, that's a fair assumption. With the high-pressing game and all the running that Klopp expects from all his players Ibra doesn't seem like a natural fit.

He is still a better goalscorer than Firmino though, and a better player (maybe arguable, looking at his age, but still).

Rooney's presence highlights Ibra's weaknesses and hides his strengths - in a fluid front three with, say, Martial and Rashford, and without a dedicated number 10, a false 9 PSG version Ibra would still be brilliant in any league. Hell, even playing for a disorganized and unbalanced team he already scored what, 5 goals for us?
So, Ibrha is a player that needs special players around him to be able to shine.

Some say that Pogba is a player than needs special players and formation for him to be able to shine.

Some others say that Kagawa ... ahem, Miki I mean, is a player than needs special players and formation for him to be able to shine.


So.. we have a squad full of players with ... special needs? :(
 

harms

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So, Ibrha is a player that needs special players around him to be able to shine.

Some say that Pogba is a player than needs special players and formation for him to be able to shine.

Some others say that Kagawa ... ahem, Miki I mean, is a player than needs special players and formation for him to be able to shine.


So.. we have a squad full of players with ... special needs? :(
C. Ronaldo also have special needs, so does Bale, Kroos and Marcelo, for example. Doesn't mean that Madrid will struggle because of it.

Also, the needs of Pogba and Ibra are, actually, very similar - 4-3-3 with attacking wings and without a designated n. 10, which will allow Ibra to drop deeper and Pogba to move around the inside left zone (Pogba's attacking skills will also come in handy here, Matuidi scored a lot of goals running forward into the space that Ibra vacated and receiving a pass from him).

We do need someone like a prime Carrick or Schweiny for this formation to work though - and it doesn't seem like we have one, or, at least, Mou doesn't think so.
 

Jacky Quacky

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He was our best attacker yesterday which no one saw. Get Mkhi, Martial on the wings and cutting inside with through balls going towards them by Pogba to lay it on a plate for Ibra. We can't have Rooney in there as Ibra and Rooney occupy the same positions on the field.

Mourinho has also instructed Ibra to not come deep which Is annoying me. Him coming deep is how he's effective. He's a playmaker from deep and we saw that when he got the ball and ran at the defense for Rashfords goal.

Look at the Bournmouth game. At times he made some world class linkup. That's because him and Rooney were constantly switching positions so he could drop deep and have the ability to pick a pass. Against Man City and Watford this never happened.

Have this:

De Gea
Valencia Bailly Blind Shaw
Carrick Herrera
Pogba
Miki Zlatan Martial

Then our attacking play will be so much better as Pogba will be in his favourite position, so will Zlatan and Martial.
 
Last edited:

RedCurry

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Does anyone else see the irony in us playing on the counter and using our slowest player as a target while playing our 2 quickest striker out of position as wingers ?
Under a working model, on the counter, Zlatan should hold the ball up with Pogba, Martial and Rashford(along with maybe Micki) rushing in for support, carrying the ball and going beyond Zlatan. Zlatan can then arrive in the box as a free runner where his height can actually be useful. Obviously this involves us actually running and making an quick pass to transition the play.
 

Cassidy

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He was our best attacker yesterday which no one saw. Get Mkhi, Martial on the wings and cutting inside with through balls going towards them by Pogba to lay it on a plate for Ibra. We can't have Rooney in there as Ibra and Rooney occupy the same positions on the field.

Mourinho has also instructed Ibra to not come deep which Is annoying me. Him coming deep is how he's effective. He's a playmaker from deep and we saw that when he got the ball and ran at the defense for Rashfords goal.

Look at the Bournmouth game. At times he made some world class linkup. That's because him and Rooney were constantly switching positions so he could drop deep and have the ability to pick a pass. Against Man City and Watford this never happened.

Have this:

De Gea
Valencia Bailly Blind Shaw
Carrick Herrera
Pogba
Miki Zlatan Martial

Then our attacking play will be so much better as Pogba will be in his favourite position, so will Zlatan and Martial.
He wont tbh
 

Bubz27

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Putting Zlatan around players on his level works. That one-two wth Rashford that led to the goal, Rooney never plays the ball back to Zlatan. He goes backwards (probably to Valencia).

Point is, this is another negative effect of Rooney. Not on the same wavelength of the technically superior players around him, of which one is Zlatan. And this slows is down. Every single time.
 

SATA

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I'm told about his technique of striking a quality ball, but so far his volleys at goal have been shocking. They have been either mishit real bad or skied way off the goal
 

Cassidy

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I'm told about his technique of striking a quality ball, but so far his volleys at goal have been shocking. They have been either mishit real bad or skied way off the goal
Except the one the scored in pre season...
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Fellaini Rooney and Ibra playing at the same time is overkill. 1 max can only play and it should be Ibra.
 

Shark

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He needs more pace around him. Hopefully Martial and Miki can hit form and we feck Rooney out of the lineup. Then we might get the best out of Ibra.
 

Devil may care

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That has, or shouldn't have, nothing to do with it. Every season is a new season. Let's try and stick to this years performances. The clues in the thread name.
Ibra has scored in 3 of our 5 league games so far and can control a football, it makes sense to give him a dozen or so games to get used to the PL, and if you look at PSG he thrived with Matuidi behind him instead of Rooney lumbering around in his space miscontrolling lay-offs..
 

Devil may care

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He had Rashford and Martial in the last game. How much pace do you need?
One game and Martial went off in the first half. How about we try that front 3 for a few games on the trot without Rooney getting in the way and give them a chance to gel instead of judging the combination off one half.
 

Ludens the Red

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He's good at getting goals and that's great because we do need a 20 goal a season man, but his performances and some of his misses have been borderline mediocre to be honest. He's just not this great all round player people pretend he is, I had concerns, raised here https://www.redcafe.net/threads/zla...the-united-forum.410554/page-32#post-19115523, was shat on of course by the Zlatan fan boys but I'd be interested to know what a lot of people in that thread think now watching him play .

I also don't think its a case of him needing to adjust, he's not going to stop being slow and immobile or get any faster, defenders aren't going to stop closing him down quickly. Despite that, he can hold the ball up and if he can pull people out of defence and we get some midfield runners it could work but so far midfield runners in our team are non existent. Everybody wants to come deep, nobody wants to run in behind the opposition, everyone is afraid of their own shadow.
 

wr8_utd

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I find the criticism of Rooney fair enough but Zlatan does seem to get away with a lot. Yes he's new to the club and "hasn't been shit for 3 years" etc but I expected more from him. If the goals dry up for him, he's going to be as much a problem in attack as Rooney is right now. Getting someone like Auba in for next year is crucial really imo. We've not had a mobile pacey goal scorer in ages.
 

The United

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Reading people posting about how we should set up to get the best out of him etc.

So much trouble for almost 35 years old striker and the guy could be pretty useless next year.

So what would be the solutions? well, i am not paid millions to do that job. So I will leave it to Jose.

Hopefully, we need to sort out our attacking play and Zlatan is part of it.
 

Varun

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Reading people posting about how we should set up to get the best out of him etc.

So much trouble for almost 35 years old striker and the guy could be pretty useless next year.

So what would be the solutions? well, i am not paid millions to do that job. So I will leave it to Jose.

Hopefully, we need to sort out our attacking play and Zlatan is part of it.
Issues with pogba and Zlatan both seem solvable with 1 change in system so that's a good thing.
 

ManRant

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I find the criticism of Rooney fair enough but Zlatan does seem to get away with a lot. Yes he's new to the club and "hasn't been shit for 3 years" etc but I expected more from him. If the goals dry up for him, he's going to be as much a problem in attack as Rooney is right now. Getting someone like Auba in for next year is crucial really imo. We've not had a mobile pacey goal scorer in ages.
I'm not sure how Rooney's performance has got anything to do with Ibra's. I do see what are you saying in term of criticism but Ibra is playing as a lone striker and his contribution has shown that he is done well in that position. My only problem with Ibra is that he, just like Pogba, seems to try too hard sometimes. We all know how good is he in term of finishing but there are few instances in the last 2 games he scuffed his shot.
 

wr8_utd

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I'm not sure how Rooney's performance has got anything to do with Ibra's. I do see what are you saying in term of criticism but Ibra is playing as a lone striker and his contribution has shown that he is done well in that position. My only problem with Ibra is that he, just like Pogba, seems to try too hard sometimes. We all know how good is he in term of finishing but there are few instances in the last 2 games he scuffed his shot.
It's fine that he's taking a lot of shots. Even if he's missing them, atleast he's getting into positions. It's his overplay which is more worrying and having both him and Rooney who are struggling to linkup play well isnt helping.
 

Bwuk

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5 goals in 7 games.

If he kept a similar ratio up for the season, he'd end up on about 30ish goals.

What are people complaining about.

He'd be far better if we didn't have Rooney just getting in the way. It's like playing with 10 with him in the side.
 

Cassidy

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Hes our top scorer and has 4 league goals and an assist in 5 games playing in a team that is not exactly creating many chances. I think thats a good sign tbh, he is only going to get better as he gets to know his teams mates and the teams starts to play better.
What is promising is that he seems to link up well with Rashford which can only be a good thing
 
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2cents

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Goals apart he's been extremely underwhelming. Reminds me of RVP in his last aeason here.
 

The United

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He came in and broke almost all attacks, got in others's ways and held the ball too long etc.

You can't expect an almost 35 years old striker to close down and press of course which is a bit of tactical issue for us.
 

Bwuk

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When we went 3-1 up there was no need for them to waste energy. He'd of been told that.
 
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