Why run when you can fly? That was the concise message Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent after his winning goal to Udinese. There is one phrase when it comes to Swedish, but the surprising thing is that in his 40th year, he has the answers.
Against Verona on Sunday, when AC Milan were in a position to defeat, their penalty on skiing seemed to be costly. A last-minute draw that helps maintain Milan’s undefeated start in Serie A. They’re still the wisest. He’s still Italy’s most sensible goal scorer.
Eight goals in five games. Although he missed two games due to Covid-19, he is the master shooter pointing at the capocannoniere’s back and this explosion is not accidental.
The possibilities are numerous, the ball turns out to be drawn towards him inside the penalty area. Former Milan teammate Antonio Cassano insists Ibrahimovic remains the most productive player in Serie A and others are beginning to admit that he may be right.
There will be those who will say this says a lot about the meaning of Italian football right now. The fact is, it says a lot more about Ibrahimovic’s ordinary resistance.
It’s been three and a half years since the knee cruciate ligament injury while playing for Manchester United as opposed to Anderlecht robbed him of his big moment in Stockholm.
The 2017 Europa League final seemed like a great start. After all, he was 35 years old, and a serious injury actually showed that his days in the most sensible were over. When he struggled to get back in shape to be considered a surplus through United, he seemed to verify it.
What followed, in the United States with the Los Angeles Galaxy, and with his triumphant return to Milan defies all logic, but those who know Ibrahimovic and the mindset that has taken him throughout his career can help in what is inexplicable.
“I’m not surprised, ” said Ashley Cole to Sky Sports. ” I had the thrill of betting with him. I can see the professional he is. The difficult paintings he puts into the scenes. “
“The physicality he has shows the pictures he makes outside the box after being seriously injured. Going back to everyone thinking he’d gone to America on vacation, to be the most sensible scorer in Serie A, I think it’s a credit to him. professionalism and for him as a man. “
Ibrahimovic returned to action for Manchester United just seven months after suffering ligament injury. Their immediate return led to the line of lions recovering differently from humans. But his next struggle to make an effect had an effect was a sign of concern.
What sets Ibrahimovic apart from many others his age is that when he moved to Los Angeles in March 2018, he refused to give in. He’s rebuilt himself.
“Most of the time he paints in the gym,” Cole reveals. “He had had this serious injury, the injury that prevented him from leaving, of course, Manchester United. I saw the hard paintings he made in the gym. ” The skill and aggressiveness you have when you push those weights.
“In the box and in the field of education, you can’t imagine I was almost 37 at the time. He was in a position to train, he was in a position to train. He gave 100 percent to education, the ethics of painting. “, that mindset, never changed. “
Ibrahimovic’s mindset continues to divide opinions.
There are those who perceive the way they treat others as problematic and it is easy to perceive why. Kingsley Coguy, a young man from Paris Saint-Germain Ibrahimovic who remains in France, complained that he did not give any recommendations and only cared about himself.
This behavior manifested itself in the Los Angeles chart where all uttered words tended to be negative. A Florian Jungwirth through the St. Joseph earthquakes recalls Ibrahimovic’s reminiscence “really insulting” his colleagues around a specific party.
There is video of him shoving his Galaxy teammate Sebastian Lletget as he prepares to face a loose kick.
“It’s hard to play against him and play with him. “
As Ibrahimovic’s former foreign teammate Anders Svensson has seen, it’s like he’s looking for new players: “It’s like I need to analyze them to see what they can do. “
Cole is more balanced in his memories. Although the first two words he seeks when asked to describe Ibrahimovic’s character are “crazy” and “wild,” he prefers the positive contributions of a player who has scored 52 goals in 56 games with the club.
“No, he was a smart teammate,” he said. Sometimes some players may not have been able to take care of him with his strong words. To be his teammate, you have to be mentally strong. Sometimes you have to take it with a pinch of salt because it just seeks to grow. to be better.
“It actually worked with young players. They’ve taken a step forward in their game. Others might have dived a little bit because they couldn’t take care of him. But it was an emotion to play with him and he was someone we needed in the locker. “room, at the time. “
That’s the heart of the problem. Ibrahimovic is not easy, but the most important criteria are important.
When Portuguese midfielder Joao Pedro revealed the words they had spoken after Galaxy gave a two-goal credit for losing 3-2 to Houston Dynamo, Ibrahimovic’s comments were flagged as an idle boast of owning an island. That’s the stereotype.
The truth is that he let his teammates know how much it meant to him, how much he craved good fortune for himself and others on LA Galaxy, despite all his wealth.
“He spoke to us, ” said Joao Pedro.
He said, “If you want to come here to go to the beach or walk around Hollywood, say so. I got $300 million in the bank and an island. I don’t want that. “
That’s the mentality that came back to Milan.
It’s an organization that needed it, a club that hasn’t earned its name since its final season, one that hasn’t finished in the four most sensitive in Serie A for seven seasons.
They want their goals, but also their personality. Paolo Maldini, the Milan legend who became sporting director, says that “it is only his importance in the field, but also the competitiveness he has returned” to Milanello’s education.
Former CEO Adriano Galliani stresses that Ibrahimovic will ask for more “if he finds out that a team member doesn’t do the most productive training. “Asmir Begovic, who was on loan in Milan with Ibrahimovic last season, confirms this.
“He simply meets the highest criteria every day,” Begovic told Sky Sports. “He holds his teammates and all club members accountable for these criteria. I think it pushes everyone to do more when someone has their presence in the locker room. “
There is a softer side.
“In the closed years, he’s a general guy,” Begovic adds. He likes to joke, laugh and joke with everybody. Of course, the public figure is another pot of fish.
Cole agrees.
“The thing is, he’s a quiet person. You can touch the cameras and you have to think he has that personality, but he’s a quiet guy. He comes in and takes credit for the locker room with all the boys. “. He’s a very smart team player. Then he goes home. Your kids are getting bigger now, so spend time with them. He’s a man in the family circle. “
Still, Cole laughs at what it would be like to play Ibrahimovic if he ever returned to control when his long playing career came to an end.
“I would have made the most of myself, but I don’t know if I would have spent a full season with him,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be a player beneath him. “
However, playing with it has a good finish to paint. Thirteen times, his team dominated the board at the end of the season. Fourteen years would actually be sensational.
But the symptoms are good, Milan has built a young and talented team with Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers in open positions and Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer in midfield. The four are at least a decade and a part younger than the guy who leads the line. .
With Hakan Calhanoglu, 26, pulling the rope in support, they provide the service Ibrahimovic has had more touches in the opposition penalty area -57 – than any other Serie A player. The result is that he also had 32 shots.
Milan has movement. Your striker does the rest.
“Watching those players play around Ibrahimovic is so beautiful,” says former Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko. “I Zlatan has discovered the right environment. “
More than that, he contributed to his creation.
Cole has been familiar with Italian football since moving to Rome, but is unable to admit that a league celebrity for his seasoned technique is better suited to his aged structure. This is a resurgence. Instead, it’s a continuation. Wherever he goes, Ibrahimovic doesn’t stop.
“If I’m honest, anywhere you have left. He’s getting old, of course. He’s almost 40 years old. But with this mentality you have, with this will of strength you will have to not lose and remain the most productive or think. “that you’re the most productive, pushes it and pushes it across.
“I think if I went back to the Premier League now, there would still be a handful of groups to play against. To be honest, I’d expect him to score goals at any level. “
But how can it happen?
“If you ask him, he’ll probably tell you that lions don’t match humans or anything,” Cole adds. “I think it will continue until your body feels unable to stand it and doesn’t feel that love for the game. But I think he’ll play one more year. “
At this rate, there may be many more goals away from home.