Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Edinson Cavani - Comparing their United careers

harms

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Ibra came in and instantly became the main man — while Cavani wasn’t even a certain starter for most of the season. So individually there’s no comparison.

The better question is, would you rather have Ibra than Cavani in this team? A much better team than the one Ibra was playing for, with Bruno at the helm. I feel like Cavani’s qualities as a player and as a personality suit this side better.
 

MadDogg

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Does anyone else get Ruud vs Saha vibes?
That's a decent call actually.

I do think Zlatan's time with us is a bit overrated. He was good, but not as good as some seem to make out. I do think Cavani could well be better for us as a team, even if Zlatan was obviously better on the individual level.

The problem with Cavani is that he started the season only useful off the bench (he struggled to make an impact when he started), then just as he began to really get going he got injured. So it was only the few weeks before the injury and now the few weeks since returning that he's really been looking good. As such I'd have to give Zlatan the edge for now, but if Cavani does stick around next season and is able to show a fair bit more of this current form then I'd pick him instead.
 

CM10

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Cavani does far more for the team than Ibrahimovic ever did. How often would you have seen him make either of the two assists Cavani made last night? The pass for Greenwood's goal was unbelievable.

Cavani does a lot more in terms of work rate too. It's very difficult not to love him.
 

Andersons Dietician

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I don’t know, I would say Cavani will probably have a better long term lasting effect on the likes of Greenwood, Rashford and Martial and any other young players that watch what he does.

Personally I always think Zlatans time with United was very overated
 

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Zlatan played in a younger and infinitely worse team and lead us to 2 trophy campaigns. He was the leader of that team. Cavani has been in and out and sometimes on the bench
 

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Zlatan way better overall, but we did not have great league sucess with him. Key to win the league cup though with 2 goals in the final.

Cavani only have 8 league goals and not been that good overall for us, but his performance tonight can take us to an EL title.
Had a pretty dire team around him. Miki was a bottler, PP the only creator.
 

GueRed

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He's had a good career but Zlatan is an overrated walking totem pole IMO.
He is more suited to a boring long ball, play it to the static target man football. Hence why Mourinho loved him for us.

Cavani is a Manchester United type player.
A high energy, industrious centre-forward. Great link-up, great movement. A better all round team player.

Finishing ability wise? they are similar i would say. Not the most clinical, both capable of missing gilt-edge chances.
 

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I don’t know, I would say Cavani will probably have a better long term lasting effect on the likes of Greenwood, Rashford and Martial and any other young players that watch what he does.

Personally I always think Zlatans time with United was very overated
He won't be here long time and Martial and Rashford have shown zero improvement in movement and decision making so how can that be?

Zlatan made 46 apps, scored 28 goals 10 assists, in 3800 mins - top class striker contributions which is very oVeRaTeD.
 

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Zlatan was great. Our problem, at that time, was that the way we where set up was relying on Zlatan for almost all our goals.

Now the goals our coming from many more players.
 

Donut

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Zlatan’s time at United is already vastly overrated just because he was such an iconic player. He scored some goals sure, but he was nothing special for us, his Caf rating was 6.0 or something like that and many of us were really frustrated with him. Cavani is a much better fit.
 

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Zlatan’s time at United is already vastly overrated just because he was such an iconic player. He scored some goals sure, but he was nothing special for us, his Caf rating was 6.0 or something like that and many of us were really frustrated with him. Cavani is a much better fit.
Why? his link up and hold up is very sub par and Zlatan had great out of box play. People were frustrated with Cavani up until the Spurs game. Cavani main use in being in the right place to finish chances. Is that our ideal fit? We prefer a more dynamic forward which Zlatan was, scoring long range goals, could head the ball, drop deep etc. People only saying Cavani better simply because he is playing in a better team, with better players and not as boring or negative a manager. But if you think critically, he isn't that great outside the box in all the other aspects of being a forward.
 

FatTails

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Are you joking?
:lol: :lol: :lol:
The guy was known as a big time choker in the 00s that only produced flashes of brilliance every now and then.
By who? By the type premier league fans who consider scoring against Stoke in an EL quarter final a bigger achievement than scoring 25+ goals in some “farmers league” (like La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1…)? Little to no attention should be paid to them.
 

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Cavani is awful technically and very wasteful. I don't get the hype
 

GifLord

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By who? By the type premier league fans who consider scoring against Stoke in an EL quarter final a bigger achievement than scoring 25+ goals in some “farmers league” (like La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1…)? Little to no attention should be paid to them.
He choked for all the Italian teams in UCL.
No show for Milan vs Arsenal and Spurs
No show for Inter vs Liverpool, Valencia and Man Utd
Not to mention proper shit for Barca vs Inter
 
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Zlaatan

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He was supposed to be the best player in those teams and barely influenced the games he played for them in UCL.
He had just turned 23 when he came to Juve in 2004 and I don't know if anyone thought he was supposed to be better than Nedved, Del Piero and Trezeguet at that time.

Anyway, the guy has 30+ titles, he's scored 220+ goals in Italy, Spain and England and has a NT record that equals the likes of Suarez and Lewandowski. Saying he's a choker or implying that he's not all that because of 40 games in the CL is making hard work of the ol' cherry picker imo.
 

GifLord

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He had just turned 23 when he came to Juve in 2004 and I don't know if anyone thought he was supposed to be better than Nedved, Del Piero and Trezeguet at that time.

Anyway, the guy has 30+ titles, he's scored 220+ goals in Italy, Spain and England and has a NT record that equals the likes of Suarez and Lewandowski. Saying he's a choker or implying that he's not all that because of 40 games in the CL is making hard work of the ol' cherry picker imo.
Err... 2005-06 was the Juve match vs Arsenal he was 25 at the time played 180min did nothing
At Inter matches vs Valencia, Liverpool and Man Utd? Absolutely nothing
Or at Milan again vs Arsenal and Spurs 0, nothing, nada.
Serie a he scored 122goals in 219 matches
In France he played for the most dominant side ever. In his last season when he scored 50 goals in all competitions PSG won the League title in DECEMBER
 
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Andersons Dietician

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He won't be here long time and Martial and Rashford have shown zero improvement in movement and decision making so how can that be?

Zlatan made 46 apps, scored 28 goals 10 assists, in 3800 mins - top class striker contributions which is very oVeRaTeD.
Long term, key word and Martial for one showed far better movement recently than he had previously.

here’s the thing. Zlatan could be shocking in a game, do nothing for 89 minutes then score two goals. I think back to the final where he was terrible against Southhampton but then scored 2 goals and everything was forgiven.

He missed endless easy chances, lost possesion way too much and his link up wasn’t that great. I know that many a member just likes to look at goal stats and assists and don’t actually think about a game and how it’s a team sport and how people fit in to the team. Cavani to me has already shown he’s better. Proper player that plays for a team and not to inflate their own ego with false bravado.
 

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Long term, key word and Martial for one showed far better movement recently than he had previously.

here’s the thing. Zlatan could be shocking in a game, do nothing for 89 minutes then score two goals. I think back to the final where he was terrible against Southhampton but then scored 2 goals and everything was forgiven.

He missed endless easy chances, lost possesion way too much and his link up wasn’t that great. I know that many a member just likes to look at goal stats and assists and don’t actually think about a game and how it’s a team sport and how people fit in to the team. Cavani to me has already shown he’s better. Proper player that plays for a team and not to inflate their own ego with false bravado.
so can Cavani. there are games where he legit has basically no touches all game.
Zlatans who scored rating was 7.41 and 5 MotM compared with Cavani's 6.65 and 1 MoTM.
Zlatan passing stats and creativity were far better, won more headers. Cavani barely touches the ball some games so of course you'll lose the ball less. If we try to play him linking up deep he loses the ball when he does it so we have to focus around the box or limit it. He averages 13 passes per match.....Just means we work around his deficiencies.
You seem to have a personal gripe against Zlatan which is cool.
 

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Cavani isn't near to zlatan. At times all our play was going through him. He and Pogba were our whole team. Cavani is playing on a much better team yet has less goals and assists.
 

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I think Cavani, for what they bring to an inexperienced forward line. Zlatan I’d question how he is helped Rashford and Martial develop. Whilst Cavani seem to be the calm and experience guy for the lads to learn from.
 

pacifictheme

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Ibra came in and instantly became the main man — while Cavani wasn’t even a certain starter for most of the season. So individually there’s no comparison.

The better question is, would you rather have Ibra than Cavani in this team? A much better team than the one Ibra was playing for, with Bruno at the helm. I feel like Cavani’s qualities as a player and as a personality suit this side better.
I agree. I think zlatan gave us as many issues as he solved. Cavani feels like he suits us far more.

Gutted we got him so late in his career.
 

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I think Cavani, for what they bring to an inexperienced forward line. Zlatan I’d question how he is helped Rashford and Martial develop. Whilst Cavani seem to be the calm and experience guy for the lads to learn from.
People keep making these claims but what have they learnt evidently? Martial is having a worse season and many are calling for Rashford to be dropped so who said they are learning? Is it evident. Greenwood has also been worse than last year. People can make claims but have anyone actually added anything to their bow?

Both players we should have signed before they moved to PSG.
The most correct answer in this whole thread
 

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I don’t know where this Cavani is a team player and Zlatan is not comes from. That Cavani create for others but Zlatan doesn’t. What do you base that on?

Look at Milan now and you’ll see how much he creates for others. Same when he made comeback for Sweden NT.
He had most CL assists one year.
He’s had seasons with 10+ league assists while still scoring 20+ goals.
His number of key passes during his best years are higher than any forward has today.
 

OleBoiii

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Completely unnecessary comparison.

Cavani was signed to complement Rashford, Martial, Greenwood and James. He was in no way meant to be a sure starter. He's doing his job well enough and I'm happy that we have him.

Zlatan on the other hand, was a no-brainer for the starting XI and would probably have stayed for a few more years had it not been for the injury. His immediate effect was obvious in terms of goal output, hold-up play and team spirit. Despite poorer results, I actually enjoyed Mourinho's first season more than his second. Zlatan definitely played a part in that.
 

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Err... 2005-06 was the Juve match vs Arsenal he was 25 at the time played 180min did nothing
Well in fairness, it must have been a big shock to him playing in a Juventus game which wasnt pre-determained.
 

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People keep making these claims but what have they learnt evidently? Martial is having a worse season and many are calling for Rashford to be dropped so who said they are learning? Is it evident. Greenwood has also been worse than last year. People can make claims but have anyone actually added anything to their bow?


The most correct answer in this whole thread
anyone calling for that is completely clueless...

For what it's worth I think Ibra would be amazing in the current team, we weren't playing so well when he was there. Cavani though is exactly what this team needs, complete animal in the box for us. I'm thankful we have got to see both and I wished we had them both when they were younger. Cavani especially with his goal scoring prowess would have gotten us more trophies I'm certain.
 

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Anyone know where I can find their g/90? My sense is Cavani is better.
 

antohan

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If we look at the two older versions of the players, I too think Cavani fits United much better. The thing with Zlatan, even in his old version, is that he can win matches even playing in weaker teams. He is better with good players around him, but he doesn’t need them in the same way as Cavani. You can hoof the ball and he will suck it in and create something. I have watched Milan quite a lot and it is incredible how he create.
That's it in a nutshell. We had Zlatan at the right time as we were a terrible side and that's exactly what we were needing. As we've seen, it took some time for the link up and understanding between Cavani and others to kick in. He wasn't going to transform us all by himself, he is a system/team-player, not a one man team.

All in all, I wouldn't swap them around in either direction, both are better than the other in the sides each had the opportunity to play in.

That said, I was always baffled we didn't try sign Cavani earlier. Chelsea kept being linked as well. He was made for the Premier League and would have suited both LVG (pressing, workrate) and Mourinho (proper centreforward, warrior, no emotional management nonsense). Despite spending years shunted on the wings Cavani is PSGs all time record goalscorer, domestically and in Europe, not Zlatan. Still, you get some here saying Zlatan can only compare to Messi and Ronaldo, go figure.
 

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Can't believe how overated Zlatan is. People saying he's third to Messi and Ronaldo? he's not even as good as peak Suarez or even Aguero and Lewandowski let alone comparable to Messi or Ronaldo.

Cavani spent years in his egotistical shadow and still ended up as PSG's all time leading goalscorer. People comparing a full season of Zlatan to Cavani coming when the season had already started, no proper pre season and time to get used to the team, having to quarantine for 2 weeks, all that leading to him not playing much the first few matches he was available, in the middle of covid with all the lock downs and crap, a bs ban just when he was hitting form and overall just a very stop start season. It's a bit silly to compare right now to be honest.
 
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antohan

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Ibra came in and instantly became the main man — while Cavani wasn’t even a certain starter for most of the season. So individually there’s no comparison.

The better question is, would you rather have Ibra than Cavani in this team? A much better team than the one Ibra was playing for, with Bruno at the helm. I feel like Cavani’s qualities as a player and as a personality suit this side better.
Precisely. You read through this thread and what becomes bleeding obvious is Zlatan can make a shit team work while Cavani doesn't.

Conversely, as teams improve, Zlatan's dominance, ego, having to go through him, etc is bound to put a ceiling on what that side can achieve while you can slot in Cavani into any great team and it will work great.

Different realities, needs and contributions.
 

Zlaatan

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Err... 2005-06 was the Juve match vs Arsenal he was 25 at the time played 180min did nothing
At Inter matches vs Valencia, Liverpool and Man Utd? Absolutely nothing
Or at Milan again vs Arsenal and Spurs 0, nothing, nada.
Serie a he scored 122goals in 219 matches
In France he played for the most dominant side ever. In his last season when he scored 50 goals in all competitions PSG won the League title in DECEMBER
So if I list 7-8 international games where he scored against good teams, does that mean he's good again? Or at least above average? Cherry picking a few games in one comp where he scored or didn't score is a terrible way to argue for or against a player, CF or not, and cherry picking even fewer games in a reply to a post that accuses you of cherry picking is kinda flirting with the troll side of things.

Call me nuts but I simply don't think his 00's can be summed up by goal stats from a handful of CL games from 2005 onwards or that basically anyone over 30 could've done what he did in France because one time he won the league in december, but that's just me.


Btw, is 122 goals in 219 games supposed to be bad?
 

Paul_Scholes18

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Precisely. You read through this thread and what becomes bleeding obvious is Zlatan can make a shit team work while Cavani doesn't.

Conversely, as teams improve, Zlatan's dominance, ego, having to go through him, etc is bound to put a ceiling on what that side can achieve while you can slot in Cavani into any great team and it will work great.

Different realities, needs and contributions.
I feel the opposite with Ibra. He is great when he got quality around him, but not the best in a weaker teams that do not dominate the games. He is best for the favorite, but not as an underdog.
Which is why he only ever looked great in CL for Barca when he played for a team dominating against everyone.

I think Ibra for us would be great against the weaker sides at least.

His ego is a problem though and it did not work ideally with Messi.
 

antohan

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I feel the opposite with Ibra. He is great when he got quality around him, but not the best in a weaker teams that do not dominate the games. He is best for the favorite, but not as an underdog.
Which is why he only ever looked great in CL for Barca when he played for a team dominating against everyone.

I think Ibra for us would be great against the weaker sides at least.

His ego is a problem though and it did not work ideally with Messi.
Well, yeah, he will look better surrounded by quality. But then, stick Cavani in that Barca side and he would also look fabulous.

My point is you stick Cavani in half the teams Ibra played for and they would be ordinary teams unable to get the best out of him and he wouldn't change that reality. With Zlatan you still have that ability to exert himself on a game single-handedly, which is what he delivered for us in a rather poor side. Was never enough against the better teams, of course. Today, frankly, I don't see how he would fit at all.