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2016-17 Performances


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6.2 Season Average Rating
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Kevin

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We have also stopped creating 'all those chances' the caf have been on about without him. And look at all that fast silky smooth football.
 

the hea

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Where are all the morons who said his injury was a blessing in disguise?
We've had games like this all season both with Zlatan and without him, the problem isn't down to one player. Besides I don't think he would have made much difference today, when you have a midfield who takes about 10 minutes to get the ball from the defenders to the attackers and attackers who only dribbles until they loose the ball or passes it back to a defender there isn't much you can do as the striker what ever your name is.
 

Man-United

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We have also stopped creating 'all those chances' the caf have been on about without him. And look at all that fast silky smooth football.
I don't think him missing today had anything to do with the result, same goes with Pogba and Mata. It would have been the same like it was against Hull, Burnley, Stoke, WBA, Bournemouth, Everton. But one thing for sure, his injury is anything but a blessing. It's not one player who is the solution or the problem.

I think we should play 442 in the home games and keep the 451 in the away games who still works.
 

Kevin

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We've had games like this all season both with Zlatan and without him, the problem isn't down to one player. Besides I don't think he would have made much difference today, when you have a midfield who takes about 10 minutes to get the ball from the defenders to the attackers and attackers who only dribbles until they loose the ball or passes it back to a defender there isn't much you can do as the striker what ever your name is.
Since he isn't the problem then I would imagine it's better to have a 30 goal man playing rather than 'bless' us with being injured so that he can not supposedly 'slow us down'?
 

Delano

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We miss his hold up play so much. Even when he was off at times during the season he brings people into play and gets the team up the field. For all of Rashfords running, he's often running by himself into deadends.

Unfortunately as well we always resort to lumping it into the box and crossing when we are drawing and now we have zero threat without him.
 

Bastian

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His absence isn't the only factor in today's result. I don't think anyone's saying that. We of course have too many bottlers. We also had a shoddy midfield. A midget team. tiredness. But playing against a defensive setup where the threat of Martial and Rashford making runs in behind is nullified because Swansea stayed so deep and flooded midfield, Zlatan would have broken up their game plan.
 

BigCaine

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So we draw 7 or 8 games with zlatan and full strength team at that but it ain't zlatan's fault, but minute we draw 1 without zlatan without pogba or even 2 cb's by end of the game, we have fanboys telling us how zlatan would have won us this game, why wasn't zlatan winning us those 7-8 draws he was in then?
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Big difference between the draws Ibra was in and this 1 today is chance creation.

Ibra actually contributed a good amount to our chances created, but people ignored that.
 

Zlaatan

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So we draw 7 or 8 games with zlatan and full strength team at that but it ain't zlatan's fault, but minute we draw 1 without zlatan without pogba or even 2 cb's by end of the game, we have fanboys telling us how zlatan would have won us this game, why wasn't zlatan winning us those 7-8 draws he was in then?
Zlatan has gotten his fare share of criticism after those draws, even from us "fanboys".. No one is saying that he shouldn't take part of the blame for missing those chances and no one is saying he should have won us the game yesterday if he had played either. Your word-twisting is quite impressive.. The sarcasm when you ask why he didn't win us those draws isn't exactly working when no one has said the things you claim they have.
Funnily enough he has won us more points with his goals, by quite a distance, than any other player have. Only Costa and Kane have won more points for their teams in the league. Pretty sure no other player has been involved in ~50% of their teams total goal tally in the league either.

Anyway, people are just pointing out that Ibra would have offered something different yesterday and that we don't magically become a much better side that plays blistering attacking football when he's out (like many suggested we would).
 

Web of Bissaka

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Zlatan haters keeping quiet recently?
We have also stopped creating 'all those chances' the caf have been on about without him. And look at all that fast silky smooth football.
:DOur young attackers are promising and always a threat yet inconsistent.

Big difference between the draws Ibra was in and this 1 today is chance creation.

Ibra actually contributed a good amount to our chances created, but people ignored that.
Totally in agreement.

That is Zlatan's hidden capability imo which many doesn't seem to realize. His movements, positioning and style of play leads to the creations of the many creations of scoring chances which we're famously known to have. It's no coincidence we've created a lot of scoring chances with him playing... and the many misses too comes from having a lot of that scoring creations.
 

montpelier

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Zlatan has had the benefit of a full team playing behind him & almost exclusively for his benefit on occasions.

And Burnley away was good, yesterday not so much, obviously, :(.

Anyway, the Swedish donkey has gone & we just have to learn to live with it. Rashford will soon be banging in 40 goals a season like we all said.
 

dirkey

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What happened to all the "blessing in disguise" posters?
My guess is.. This being a thread about his performances, and the fact he's currently.. You know... Not performing, perhaps people are busy in other threads talking about players who are actually playing? Just a thought.

I do find it quite hilarious that people are in here crowing On about our draw, as if it somehow proves we have to have Zlatan. It's not like we didn't draw one or two games with him in the side! And yes, in a lot of those games we created more chances than yesterday, but quite a few also were similar.

People need to stop focusing on individuals. This is a team issue.
 

littleman

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My guess is.. This being a thread about his performances, and the fact he's currently.. You know... Not performing, perhaps people are busy in other threads talking about players who are actually playing? Just a thought.

I do find it quite hilarious that people are in here crowing On about our draw, as if it somehow proves we have to have Zlatan. It's not like we didn't draw one or two games with him in the side! And yes, in a lot of those games we created more chances than yesterday, but quite a few also were similar.

People need to stop focusing on individuals. This is a team issue.
Wow, a post about how this is a Zlatan performance thread, pointing out how this isn't an individual performance issue and rather a team one.
 

Ashley R1+O

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So we draw 7 or 8 games with zlatan and full strength team at that but it ain't zlatan's fault, but minute we draw 1 without zlatan without pogba or even 2 cb's by end of the game, we have fanboys telling us how zlatan would have won us this game, why wasn't zlatan winning us those 7-8 draws he was in then?
Agreed, it will take a while to break out of the single phase target striker mentality, it won't happen overnight. I think there were the same signs that were evident during the Burnley away game and today that we're trying to adjust the mix of possession and attack phases. It takes time to adjust to the different aspects of mobility from the striker.
 

Brwned

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So we draw 7 or 8 games with zlatan and full strength team at that but it ain't zlatan's fault, but minute we draw 1 without zlatan without pogba or even 2 cb's by end of the game, we have fanboys telling us how zlatan would have won us this game, why wasn't zlatan winning us those 7-8 draws he was in then?
He might not have won us the game but it's immediately apparent that the idea he's the cause of our slow play is totally false. Slow striker = slow attacking play is such a lazy misconception fuelled by obvious bias.
 

dirkey

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Wow, a post about how this is a Zlatan performance thread, pointing out how this isn't an individual performance issue and rather a team one.
Way to completely misinterpret what I wrote. Well done.
 

kouroux

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You don't lose a player of this calibre and not feel its impact and this no matter how old and slows he is. There was and maybe still is a bit of delusion regarding the other players elevating their game in his absence. Never mind the goals, we are missing some good interplay in and around the pen box.
 

Seanus

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West Brom defender Evans recalled a battle with Ibrahimovic in a chat with football journalist Graham Hunter: “I came up against Zlatan Ibrahimovic when we (Northern Ireland) played Sweden. He left one on me.

“I cleared the ball and he left his studs up – I thought I would try and make the most of it.

“He came over and was all like: ‘Get up, bitch.’ I thought I’d better get up!”

The former United defender also played against Ibrahimovic when the striker was playing for Inter Milan in 2009. United won that clash on the way to reach the Champions League final but Evans had his hands full.

He said: “I just remember the strength he had – he could put one arm out and hold me off – and I could see the skill he had.”
 

Cheesy

Bread with dipping sauce
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You don't lose a player of this calibre and not feel its impact and this no matter how old and slows he is. There was and maybe still is a bit of delusion regarding the other players elevating their game in his absence. Never mind the goals, we are missing some good interplay in and around the pen box.
True. Long-term I think it makes sense for us to gradually transition to an attack which is led by Rashford/Martial if they continue to develop and we decide not to sign someone like Griezmann, but I think the last couple of results have shown us that our young talents still have a long way to go until they can be depended upon to score like Zlatan, and that while our overall play may have looked fantastic in spite of his absence against Chelsea, it's not going to be like that all the time.
 

sunama

Baghdad Bob
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True. Long-term I think it makes sense for us to gradually transition to an attack which is led by Rashford/Martial if they continue to develop and we decide not to sign someone like Griezmann, but I think the last couple of results have shown us that our young talents still have a long way to go until they can be depended upon to score like Zlatan, and that while our overall play may have looked fantastic in spite of his absence against Chelsea, it's not going to be like that all the time.
I think that that CFC game was an exception. We got lucky, with Herrera playing the game of his life for us and he ran the show.
It didn't really have anything to do with a young strike force. Since then Herrera hasn't had any outstanding games and we have struggled.
Rashford did score a great free kick though, but in any case, without Ibra, goal scoring remains a serious problem. Nobody has really stepped up, which doesn't suprirse me when you consider that Mata has been injured, while Miki and Martial are next to useless.
 

unchanged_lineup

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http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...vic-transfer-injury-mino-raiola-a7722311.html

The doctors operating on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s knee were so impressed with the Manchester United striker’s level of fitness, they wish to use him for further research.

Ibrahimovic underwent successful surgery on the affected knee earlier this week, having sustained season-ending ligament damage during his side’s 2-1 Europa League win over Anderlecht last month.

According to Mino Raiola, Ibrahimovic’s agent, surgeons at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine were so surprised by his 35-year-old client’s excellent physical condition that they are eager to carry out further tests.

“His knee is so strong that the doctors said they had never seen anything like it,” Raiola told Expressen, the Swedish newspaper.

“He has a knee that it is almost impossible for a football player with a 20-year career to have. It was quite clean, there was no harm in it.

“Zlatan is so strong that the doctor wants him back after his career to research on him. They work on the world's best research institutions for the knees and ligaments.
 

Cloud7

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Still waiting to see all that fast attacking play that Ibra was supposed to be stopping us from playing. How much the team catered to him and he was keeping the other attacking players from performing because they were all playing for him.

Not to mention the loads of chances being created, all of a sudden he isn't in the team and there's less chances being created, wonder why that may be.

Blessing in disguise indeed.
 

sunama

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Not to mention the loads of chances being created, all of a sudden he isn't in the team and there's less chances being created, wonder why that may be.
To be fair, if any top team loses their top scorer, they will be "reduced" and that's what has happened with us.
Before he got injured, we were creating many chances, but missing a lot.
Now we are creating very few chances.

Here is a run down of the score lines since the injury:
PL L Arsenal 2:0 Man Utd 07 May 2017
EL W Celta Vigo 0:1 Man Utd 04 May 2017
PL D Man Utd 1:1 Swansea 30 Apr 2017
PL D Man City 0:0 Man Utd 27 Apr 2017
PL W Burnley 0:2 Man Utd 23 Apr 2017

5 games, 4 goals

5 games before ibra was injured (excluding the Anderlecht game he got injured in).
PL W Man Utd 2:0 Chelsea 16 Apr 2017
EL D Anderlecht 1:1 Man Utd 13 Apr 2017
PL W Sunderland 0:3 Man Utd 09 Apr 2017
PL D Man Utd 1:1 Everton 04 Apr 2017
PL D Man Utd 0:0 West Brom 01 Apr 2017

5 games, 7 goals.
 

DanNistelrooy

Lineup Prediction & Last Man Standing winner 2017
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To be fair, if any top team loses their top scorer, they will be "reduced" and that's what has happened with us.
Before he got injured, we were creating many chances, but missing a lot.
Now we are creating very few chances.

Here is a run down of the score lines since the injury:
PL L Arsenal 2:0 Man Utd 07 May 2017
EL W Celta Vigo 0:1 Man Utd 04 May 2017
PL D Man Utd 1:1 Swansea 30 Apr 2017
PL D Man City 0:0 Man Utd 27 Apr 2017
PL W Burnley 0:2 Man Utd 23 Apr 2017

5 games, 4 goals

5 games before ibra was injured (excluding the Anderlecht game he got injured in).
PL W Man Utd 2:0 Chelsea 16 Apr 2017
EL D Anderlecht 1:1 Man Utd 13 Apr 2017
PL W Sunderland 0:3 Man Utd 09 Apr 2017
PL D Man Utd 1:1 Everton 04 Apr 2017
PL D Man Utd 0:0 West Brom 01 Apr 2017

5 games, 7 goals.
Zlatan was suspended for that West Brom game so your point is even more valid
 

Web of Bissaka

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Still waiting to see all that fast attacking play that Ibra was supposed to be stopping us from playing. How much the team catered to him and he was keeping the other attacking players from performing because they were all playing for him.

Not to mention the loads of chances being created, all of a sudden he isn't in the team and there's less chances being created, wonder why that may be.

Blessing in disguise indeed.
Yup, indeed a blessing. For sure. Very.
 

Web of Bissaka

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Wow haha.

“He has a knee that it is almost impossible for a football player with a 20-year career to have. It was quite clean, there was no harm in it.

“Zlatan is so strong that the doctor wants him back after his career to research on him. They work on the world's best research institutions for the knees and ligaments.

“They research a lot on the subject and that is why they are better than everyone else, and doctors want back Zlatan to do research on him.

“So after Zlatan's career, we will go back and open him up again to do research on his ligaments.”

On Tuesday, Ibrahimovic claimed to be “fixed, done and stronger” following his operation and thanked his well-wishers for their support, adding: “We will enjoy my game together soon.”

:cool:Putting my bet on him playing the Europa League Finale, start as sub and score a goal.
 

Treble

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To be fair, if any top team loses their top scorer, they will be "reduced" and that's what has happened with us.
Before he got injured, we were creating many chances, but missing a lot.
Now we are creating very few chances.

Here is a run down of the score lines since the injury:
PL L Arsenal 2:0 Man Utd 07 May 2017
EL W Celta Vigo 0:1 Man Utd 04 May 2017
PL D Man Utd 1:1 Swansea 30 Apr 2017
PL D Man City 0:0 Man Utd 27 Apr 2017
PL W Burnley 0:2 Man Utd 23 Apr 2017

5 games, 4 goals

5 games before ibra was injured (excluding the Anderlecht game he got injured in).
PL W Man Utd 2:0 Chelsea 16 Apr 2017
EL D Anderlecht 1:1 Man Utd 13 Apr 2017
PL W Sunderland 0:3 Man Utd 09 Apr 2017
PL D Man Utd 1:1 Everton 04 Apr 2017
PL D Man Utd 0:0 West Brom 01 Apr 2017

5 games, 7 goals.
Two big holes in your argument. First, Ibra did nothing against Chelsea, he was a substitute. Second, the fixtures without him were more difficult than the ones with him.

Without Zlatan: Chelsea, City (away), Celta (away), Arsenal (away)
With Zlatan: Everton and what? Anderlecht? Sunderland?

We aren't doing worse without him. Obviously.
 

Barnslig

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Just posted a video on instagram of him walking in a pool with the caption "ready for the final" on instagram. Can't embed, someone please do me the favor?
 

VP89

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Just posted a video on instagram of him walking in a pool with the caption "ready for the final" on instagram. Can't embed, someone please do me the favor?
Already done in the Zlatan Injury thread
 

GM K

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Two big holes in your argument. First, Ibra did nothing against Chelsea, he was a substitute. Second, the fixtures without him were more difficult than the ones with him.

Without Zlatan: Chelsea, City (away), Celta (away), Arsenal (away)
With Zlatan: Everton and what? Anderlecht? Sunderland?

We aren't doing worse without him. Obviously.

We were clearly better with Zlatan. Not in terms of wins but in terms of play quality and chances created. Zlatan gave that team some swag.
 
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