Instead of being present day in and day out at Casa Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been working as a pundit for Fox Sports during the World Cup, though not with great success.
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Considering the important role that Ibrahimovic holds at Milan, by virtue of being the right-hand man of Gerry Cardinale, many fans were frustrated to learn about his Fox Sports gig. While the Rossoneri are in chaos of sorts, he’s on another continent talking about national team football.
Of course, Cardinale and Ibrahimovic have been in constant contact throughout his punditry so far, and the two even met at a UFC event recently. Then again, it’s not the best PR to see him on Fox Sports while the club is without a management.
No praise for Ibrahimovic
As if the Milan factor wasn’t enough, the New York Times has criticised the Swede for not really adding anything of value to the Fox Sports broadcasts. The same goes for his colleague Alexi Lalas, while Thierry Henry is the only one who has impressed (as expected).
“The risk with Zlatan was if he would be any good. It took Tom Brady a full season before sounding like a No. 1 NFL game analyst. The studio is easier, but the clock is ticking on Zlatan as the World Cup final is already only a month away on July 19.
“So far, the issue for Zlatan is that he does not appear to know anything too specific about many of the teams or their players. When Fox pumped up the storyline about American turned Canada coach Jesse Marsch before his first game last week, it sounded as if Zlatan had never heard of him.
“By the time the segments were done, Zlatan said he wanted to meet the confident Canadian coach. The cocky crutch is Zlatan’s one big move, which makes him sort of like a striker who can use only one foot.
“What Fox needs to really do is elicit Zlatan’s goal-scoring insight. It should use its field studio to explain techniques and tactics so Zlatan can demonstrate that, while he was a physical beast on the field, his intelligence and instincts allowed him to find the back of the net so often. Let’s hear more of that.
“The actual correct answer so far for this World Cup is: Less Zlatan. Less Lalas,” the journalist wrote.
Let’s see what will happen on the Milan front in the coming days, because Ibrahimovic and Cardinale need to get their act together.