Zlatan Ibrahimovic |United Player | See the thread in the United Forum

Should we sign Ibra on a free this summer ?


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bosnian_red

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:lol: Drogba owned the league in his time here.
He had like 1 or 2 seasons max where he did... the rest was very inconsistent with the odd really good performance (against arsenal). He never had the consistency ibra has shown in scoring consistently
 

stevoc

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He scored more than 20 twice, and I should have been more specific to his season where he hit I think 29?

I don't think Zlatan have that impact at this age. Think he'll get 15ish.
The cut off point doesn't even need to be that high mate, outside of his two best seasons he never scored more than 16 in a season for Chelsea.

Now though to be fair in two of those years at Chelsea he was outstanding and scored 33 and 37.

On Zlatan yeah if he managed 15-20 goals that would great and i think most of us would be satisfied. If he went even further and scored 20-30 then we'd all be fecking delighted.
 

royboy16

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Ibrahimović and Drogba are very different types of players, so any comparison between them can be hard unless one relies on pure statistics.

The former is quite involved in the buildup, he's a very technically gifted forward with exquisite control who's a good passer, and paradoxically relies lesser than expected on speed and his physical attributes (which is weird because his combination of stature and strength can be matched by very, very few strikers). This is why he's able to perform at a high level at his age - because that effortless technique is now allied with much great cunning, perceptiveness and understanding of the game (as opposed to his Ajax/ Juventus days when he was more mercurial and a bit more of an individualist), and since he was never overly reliant on physicality or pace, the transition has been smoother for him.

Whereas Drogba was more of a traditional center-forward whose game was predicated on dynamism, aerial dominance, brute strength to overpower the defender, and incredible work ethic to lead the line in smash-mouth fashion (which isn't Zlatan's strong suit, in fairness). Without trying to deprecate Drogba's technique - he a significantly worse passer, and not as heavily involved in the build-up play, but he was great as the focal point who was adept at intelligent one touch play to bring the other attackers into the game. But because a large part of him game was predicated on his physicality and dynamism, he didn't perform at his former level into his mid 30s, apart from a few occasions.

In that sense, it's a bit like comparing Lewandowski with Mandžukić (not qualitatively, but in terms of the way they effected the game). Or maybe Vieri for Drogba, if Mandžukić is not palatable. Ultimately, it depends on the type of football you want to play, and who the team's center-piece will be. You will have to make more allowances for Zlatan and be mindful of the chemistry around him so that they don't detract from him, whereas Drogba would fit more comfortably with better players around him because he can be the battering ram to open the floodgates for them.
Nice summary.
 

JPRouve

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NP, I was overrating Drogba a bit too much by saying he "owned the league" anyway.

Good post @Invictus - with Zlatan dropping deep more I think we do lack a traditional CF (assuming him and Rashford don't play together).
We won't lack a traditional striker because Ibrahimovic is a very smart player. He doesn't drop deep for the sake of it , he does it to create space for the wide players in our case it will or should be Martial. Ibrahimovic will be in the box when he needs to, because the guy loves scoring goals.
 

Beachryan

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Anyone else think he might play as a 10 for us, rather than up top? Feel like he does that more with Sweden, but then I don't watch PSG very often outside of CL when he was fully up top.

His control and vision are immaculate, and his hold up play is excellent too. Jose at Chelsea talked about a 'house' around a target man - where the ball goes long to target (Drogba) and then 5 others make a house shape around him - runners going past him and two providing options. I could see that working well with Ibra - use him as the pivot and have two fast wingers bursting past him.

Am genuinely very excited by this one. Hope it gets sorted tomorrow with no surprises.
 

Cassidy

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Anyone else think he might play as a 10 for us, rather than up top? Feel like he does that more with Sweden, but then I don't watch PSG very often outside of CL when he was fully up top.

His control and vision are immaculate, and his hold up play is excellent too. Jose at Chelsea talked about a 'house' around a target man - where the ball goes long to target (Drogba) and then 5 others make a house shape around him - runners going past him and two providing options. I could see that working well with Ibra - use him as the pivot and have two fast wingers bursting past him.

Am genuinely very excited by this one. Hope it gets sorted tomorrow with no surprises.
Its kind of what I was hoping, however

1. We have Rooney
2. He doesn't work hard enough defensively to play 10 under Mourinho IMO

You never know though

EDIT:
The thing to note though, is that even if he is playing as the main striker, he will drop deep into the 10 position and allow others, particularly out wide, to occupy the central striker position quite frequently (could be good for Martial on the left)
 

Cassidy

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Who is a better player?

Zlatan

Who would be better to sign next year?

Zlatan.
Fixed that for you, there is no way spending £29.8m on Vardy is better, no way
 
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Annahnomoss

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Anyone else think he might play as a 10 for us, rather than up top? Feel like he does that more with Sweden, but then I don't watch PSG very often outside of CL when he was fully up top.

His control and vision are immaculate, and his hold up play is excellent too. Jose at Chelsea talked about a 'house' around a target man - where the ball goes long to target (Drogba) and then 5 others make a house shape around him - runners going past him and two providing options. I could see that working well with Ibra - use him as the pivot and have two fast wingers bursting past him.

Am genuinely very excited by this one. Hope it gets sorted tomorrow with no surprises.
In that case you would play a 4-4-1-1 with Ibrahimovic as the lazy striker furthest forward in the defense, while he drops deeper in the offense while the other striker provides runs through the lines - which is how Sweden has used him mostly these years. It is far from ideal though in comparison to as a playmaking striker considering the fact that he drops so deep to create chances - while he is still scores so many goals.

It isn't nearly as good as him as the lone striker with two wingers who can score a goal though. I couldn't see it work at United like Blanc didn't see it work with Cavani in that role for PSG even if he's one of the best grafty strikers in the world.
 

DWelbz19

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His latest instagram post tells you to go to http://a-z.com which is literally a site about his branding.
 

LuisNaniencia

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Not really. Don't like Mourinho and think Zlatan is no longer of the level required.
Vardy has had one good season. He could just as easily pale into insignificance next season. Starts missing a couple of one on ones, confidence drops and so on.

Surely Ibra has more to suggest he'd be a good signing, let alone for free.
 

Ecstatic

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Wasn't Origi awful in the French league?

United's best player is some unproven youngster from the very league.
Given the facts he was owned by Liverpool and his performances with Belgium in the summer 2014, Origi was expected to be a super star here.

But, he was disappointing and generally average: 8 goals in 33 games in 14/15.

I don't follow Liverpool but I remember him as an overrated player.
 

Betson

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I may have my doubts about the actual impact he will have with his age , new league etc but I do admit to been excited by his arrival with hope that he will have a great season for us next season. He certainly won't lack the confidence or be overawed by anything, I think like other players who come to Utd from abroad he will still be surprised by just how big we are globally as a club but he will take all that in his stride and hopefully the final chapter in his career is a glorious one.
 

Morpheus 7

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Imagine the meltdown in here if he said he was going somewhere else tommorow. He's the guy who would do it for the fun of it too. Hope he comes before the Euros and it isn't the summer dissapointed like Vidal, schneider, Lucas Moura ect..Let's hope Sanches was the worst of it.
 

Pexbo

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Happy Zlatan Day everyone!
 

SATA

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He's not going to announce his own signing if he's coming to us. It's all obviously about his silly clothing brand launch
 

top1whoisman

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He's not going to announce his own signing if he's coming to us. It's all obviously about his silly clothing brand launch
Yeah, can’t remember United ever allowing that for any player. Medical hasn’t happened yet either and wouldn’t probably take place before Sweden’s Euros are over. Perhaps a decision has been made and personal terms agreed, but as much as I’d want to see this announced today...
 

Utd7

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Yeah, can’t remember United ever allowing that for any player. Medical hasn’t happened yet either and wouldn’t probably take place before Sweden’s Euros are over. Perhaps a decision has been made and personal terms agreed, but as much as I’d want to see this announced today...
Not necessarily. Remember when Chelsea signed Fabregas, he was confirmed while he was in Brazil for the World Cup. But I agree, an announcement on his next team is not likey tomorrow. By the end of the week, before the Euros begin I think is in play.
 

top1whoisman

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True, guess United’s doctors could fly to France as well, however if they would’ve already done that, twitter would surely have some flight tracker experts on it.
 

Pexbo

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He's not going to announce his own signing if he's coming to us. It's all obviously about his silly clothing brand launch
Of course it is. We wouldn't let him at his own clothes range launch anyway. Adidas would have a fit.
 

RDCR07

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This is hilarious! "If Zlatan comes to your house, you're the guest". And him interviewing those people cracked me up. How can you not love this guy?
 
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