Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been a fleeting presence in front of the media cameras in his almost one year at AC Milan so far, and his latest declarations came last night.
Milan are currently struggling to find consistency in the league given that they sit eight points off top and seven points off fourth place. In the Champions League they are on two wins and two losses, so it has been a mixed start.
In the 125th anniversary campaign the hope was that things would come together under the new head coach Paulo Fonseca so that a trophy or two could be a legitimate target to mark the occasion. Instead, doubts persist over the summer choices made.
Words from the guarantor
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to Milan as a Senior Advisor 11 months ago, many saw it as a positive step. A figure synonymous with the recent rebirth of the club and a man obsessed by winning was returning to set the standards, at least that’s how it was viewed.
It is important to bring in a couple of recent interviews that the Swede has given, in which he gave a glimpse into how he perceives Milan’s current state to be and also the project moving forward.
Ibrahimovic was interviewed by the UEFA Champions League Magazine before the game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, and we translated his interview in full. As part of it, he was asked about why he returned.
“I believe in the project, I believe in what Milan represents, and I think I share the same vision as the people who work there and the owners because they want to do extraordinary things,” he said.
“They want to make history, win, and when it comes to winning, that’s when I feel alive, because I want to win, I’ll do anything to win and I won’t give up until I win. Now I work for the club from a different perspective.
“I can’t influence or contribute on the pitch, I’m working from the outside, I have a lot to learn. I’m entering this new situation with humility, step by step, and I’m learning a lot. I feel connected to Milan in a special way even after my career, and I want to do great things with Milan.”
Then, Ibrahimovic was present in Turin last night for an event to launch the Kings League, and he spoke to Sky Italia.
“We are working every day to achieve balance and stability. The team is doing well, but we can do better and that is what we want,” said Ibrahimovic.
“What can we do better? Balance. We lose games that we should not be losing. That is about mental balance, when we find that, then the team will do much, much better. But we are positive and improving every day.”
When asked about the chances of January business, he continued his trend of failing to really give a straight answer, joking his way around the topic and then suggesting the status quo is fine.
“Do we need that? Do you have any requests? (Smiles). Everyone is an expert and has advice (laughs). I’m kidding, the transfer market is every day, we have a scouting system to look for players, what we need and what we don’t.
“However, as of right now, we are not thinking about reinforcements. We’ll see what happens over the next two months, hopefully there are no injuries to our players. If all goes well, we will keep going with this team.”
Words vs. reality
For Ibrahimovic, Milan’s inconsistencies are only a matter of time from fading away, and this takes the pressure off the management ahead of the January window. The squad, in the Swede’s eyes, is complete and should remain intact should nobody leave.
Furthermore, with the ‘let’s hope there is no news for our players’, the legend seems to refer to possible star transfers rather than the outcasts within the squad, such as Divock Origi and Fode Ballo-Toure, who are not already part of the first team and are currently training with Milan Futuro.
Following Ibra’s words, does that mean fans should look to January without great ambitions, and instead with the worry that some valuable piece might even decide to leave the club?
According to what has been gathered by our colleagues at SempreMilan.it, Milan do not seem willing to let any of the big three – Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez and/or Rafael Leao – leave, nor should any of the new arrivals such as Tijjani Reijnders or Alvaro Morata in the mid-season mercato.
Therefore, Ibrahimovic’s words seem more circumstantial and limited to a small portion of the squad including the enigmatic Luka Jovic. However, it is not excluded that within this list names such as Fikayo Tomori, Ismael Bennacer, Davide Calabria and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could be present.
Between truths, half-truths and quips, Zlatan has therefore paraphrased his own mentor Adriano Galliani, who with his ‘sell before you buy’ has characterised Milan’s winter markets for almost two decades.
Of course, the other explanation is that he is referring to nothing happening to any of the key players regarding injuries, which would then potentially force a change in strategy. However, he left it vague enough to read between.
The problem upstream and the hope ahead
Yet, something the interviewer was not quick enough to point out and perhaps challenge was that the issues are in the first statement made last night by Ibrahimovic: Milan do not have a complete squad.
Rationalising and therefore reversing Ibra’s words, it must be made clear that the eighth place occupied by the Rossoneri in the standings is not the ‘cause’ but the effect of the inadequacy of the squad.
The Diavolo are a team that are still today, on November 19, in a construction phase and needs to plant the crops in the right positions to be completed.
The midfield is certainly the department that needs the most manpower, with the attack following shortly after. It cannot consist of three strikers and then a 16-year-old who is thrown into the deep end in a delicate moment.
For the rest, and here we agree with Ibra, Fonseca must act in the knowledge that his side are lagging behind. Milan so far have been the protagonists of feats that deserve underlining like against Inter and Real Madrid, but in general they sail in the waters of mediocrity, of mid-table in both competitions.
We close with the hope that Milan can do some business in January to reinforce the departments that need strengthening rather than hiding behind the alibi of the coach who did not hit the targets in May.
If it is true that the management move compactly as a ship and do not question their watertight compartments, then it must also be judged in its entirety, ownership included. Today it is only time to express some concerns, for judgment (and remedy, we hope) there is still time.
He is a soulless mercenary, nobody believes a word he utters, I wish he would leave
Says a lot about the ownership that he is their mouthpiece.
The squad is a shambles. Imagine we started to get injuries like last season, they will happen eventually.
What if Fofana or Reijnders get injured? Or theo? Or Morata etc etc
We are paper thin and yet with an almost full squad we are mid table.
The scudetto is gone, CL qualification looks in the balance and let’s be honest CL we will struggle and are struggling.
Yes we need reinforcements and we need them NOW!!
The harder part is getting rid of the ever mounting pile of rubbish RLC, Emerson, Abraham, Jovic, Origi, Ballo Toure, Terraciano, Pavlovic, Chucky etc etc etc
You are pathetic to talk about Ibra this way. The man brought this team a Scudetto, then comes back 10 years later and brings you another one because you couldn’t win one without him in between and you dare to talk like this about him. If he were standing in front of you you would cower and say thank you Zlatan.
When the season is over you are going to look even more foolish than you do now. And I will be sure to remind you of all your ridiculous comments.
Are you willing to to throw that same support behind Maldini? who actually did the work? Come on. If not, you are no Milanista. Branding Fan? ROI fan? Zlatan-ista at best.
With significantly less capital, Maldini and Massara won a scudetto. You think given a proper budget they would still make purchases they made? No.
The real targets were: Olmo, Szoboszlai, Botman, Scalvini, Tonali, Brahim Diaz, Theo, Leao, Mike.
Now this is a real squad to build around.
I’d also argue that the bennacer +krunic for 25 mil
Is a significantly better piece of business than RLC+Musah for over 35 million.
I’m sorry, what has Zlatan done since his retirement?
Tonali ended up being not much more expensive than Musah (because of the structure of the deal & Tonali taking a paycut) and one is a footballer and one isnt.
Again, Zlatan has done nothing to improve the clubs performances since his retirement. Can you say the same for Maldini?
From a football perspective, this management is equally as clueless as Fassone and Mirabelli.
Where they are better are as bankers.
Grow a brain man. Or go date Zlatan.
Yes continue to make excuses for Maldini. There’s not enough of his sycophants on here doing it.
Maybe Maldini would’ve had the money to sign some of the targets he wanted if he didn’t let all of our most valuable players leave for free time and time again. It was incompetence.
Well actually Zlatan has improved the club. He took over a team that finished 5th in points and they finished 2nd in his first season. So yeah, that is objectively an improvement. ANd the team has more depth now. While still having to deal with Maldini’s leftover garbage signings like Origi and ballo-toure.
So maldini you hate and Ibra you love
You are not a Milan fan, you may be a RedTurd fan but thats it
Zlatan has done Zero, he is just a mouth piece to give credence to some wall street investors, how are you so blind or are you willfully ignorant?
Why don’t you face facts, Maldini brought a scudetto with little or no money, RedTurd took over and we have declined year on year, to the point we are in 7th!!!
Zlatan says we don’t need any signings, Maldini said we needed to sign better players to take the next step, given how things have gone, who do you HONESTLY think is right?
Thank you for saving me the bother. Excellent post
Please remind me. I always forget which idiot was ranting about what
Please just let me know what you mean, at the end of season what? We are going to win the league? finish 4th? what is your goal? Make more profits?
Hey look, SJF is back with more foolish posts not based in reality but just his hatred of american businessmen and his undying love of the amazing Maldini.
Unlike you I can be objective and am not ruled by emotion like a little child. Show me one post where I made any kind of personal insult about Maldini… you won’t find one. I talk about his mistakes as a GM which he made many. DO I really need to list them again?
You in one breath say that Redbird won’t spend and doesn’t care about winning, and in the next breath you are making excuses about how Ibra has so much more money to spend than Maldini… Which is it?
Or is it like I said and you can’t seem to get through your thick head, the reason Maldini didn’t have a lot of money to spend is because he let our most valuable players leave for free, over and over again. And then he made a bunch of bad signings on top of that.
“Why don’t you face facts, Maldini brought a scudetto with little or no money, RedTurd took over and we have declined year on year, to the point we are in 7th!!!”
Only you could say face facts and then follow it up with something that is objectively, factually untrue.
We finished in second last season, when we finished 5th in points the previous season. So I’ll explain it to you like you are a mentally challenged 3 year old, 2nd is better than 5th. That is not a decline, that is an improvement. Are you following so far? Can I make it simpler for you?
And you might have an argument about this season if not for the fact that the season is not even a third of the way through with a brand new manager, so you might want to wait a bit before you end up looking even more foolish than you already do.
Just look at the roster we had in the final year under Maldini 22/23 and compare it to the roster now. If you don’t think this year’s squad is better you are either a liar or have no clue what you are talking about.
Wow you don’t get logic do you
Milan won the league – 1st place
Redbird took over
We finished 5th
We finished 2nd Miles behind Inter in a year where all the other main teams floundered and fired their coaches (we were still no closer to 1st by points)
Now we are 7th and the squad is a complete mess
Grow up kid.
You talk about Ibra bringing us a scudetto and coming back and biringing another.
News flash, Maldini won scores of leagues and CL’s as player and then as director.
You are right though, I hate the owners, how could any true fan not? They have no ambition to win, just make money and THIS is why Maldini is not there anymore, because he put the club 1st, he wanted to win
How quickly you leave facts behind and start changing your argument. 2nd place is second place. Just like first place is first place.
If you want to start making excuses about other teams floundering / new coaches and points, you could do the same about our scudetto season. You could say we only won the scudetto because Inter lost their coach and leading goal scorer that year , which they did or that Juventus was rebuilding from Ronaldo. Milan won the scudetto with only 86 points which is fewer than any team in the last 4 years to win it. Does it count any less.?
You of course again are wrong. You just want to hate. You are hoping so badly for the team to fail that you can’t even let the season play out. You have to try and get in all your shots now. Go ahead, I’ll be here to remind you how wrong you were.
The Trials of Terra
1. Do nothing wrong, putting in decent performances
2. Get trashed
🍼
Says the person who constantly posted how “Kalulu is injury prone” bla bla bla, well you were wrong as always and now he is better than the defenders we have.
Stop disgracing the name of Savicevic
What’s Kalulu got to do with you disrespecting Ibra?? Stop crying like a baby and you’ll stop getting milk bottles thrown at you. And by the way it’s November in case you weren’t aware – there’s plenty of time for Kalulu to get injured. Although I agree as it stands it looks like a bad move – which I’ve also posted “constantly”…
Such a drama queen….
The squad has more depth now than it has had in 5 years.
“The midfield is certainly the department that needs the most manpower, with the attack following shortly after. It cannot consist of three strikers and then a 16-year-old who is thrown into the deep end in a delicate moment.”
Our midfield is Fofana, Reijnders, RLC, Musah and Bennacer.
Compare that to 2 years ago: Tonali, Bennacer, Krunic, Pobega, Bakayoko.
I’ll take this years.
And 3 strikers plus a 16 year old Carmada is not enough? How many strikers should we have , 5?
2 years ago we had a 39 year old Ibra and a 35 year old Giroud. AGain, we have more depth now.
Also Ibra has no obligation to tell the press what moves they plan on making. Just getting upset about a little joke about how you all think you are experts on what the team needs and doesn’t need. He’s right.
Would a DM and a nother RB be welcomed? ABsolutely. but resigning current players should take a higher priority than signing new ones.
Well said! Exactly what I was thinking. These haters and manipulative articles are so annoying to read. Ibra is the legend! Most interesting personality in soccer ever
💪👍👍👍
Just because you like the current midfielders doesn’t mean they’re better than the ones prior. Plus I wonder why u don’t compare it to the year before that with Kessie??
Also, it seems you fall into the same folly as our current management when constructing the team. I’ll even extend an olive branch and say the current midfielders you listed are better on an individual basis than the previous one. But they are not better constructed as a whole for a team. The current one are all mezzalas and you can’t build a midfield like that. Fofana is played as DM now due to his characteristics but he’s not a DM. You even said it yourself, do we need a DM? Ofc
The prior one has a DM (Baka), a backup DM (Krunic) and mezzalas (the rest) with different traits and cost vastly less money. They can play more formations (4231,433) and has a better construction for a team.
Also current Benny is different from prior Benny so take that into consideration. When you really check it out, it boils down to Deers & Fofana vs Tonali and good Benny. The rest is a wash imo. And it could be a toss up depending on your preference.
Have you ever heard a phrase recently like “this thing makes a flop looks better”?
How these trio handling the club makes everyone looks like an expert.
If you guys can slam M&M for letting players go for free with 1 scudetto in hand. What you call this trio with 200mil spent with mid table (so far) and PE teacher at the helm
LOL
Especially when it comes it the transfer market!
They’re getting what they paid for. Simple as that.
People calling him names and generally melting down as usual should listen to that sempremilan pub chat episode on Ibra and stfu.