Zlatan Ibrahimovic was critical of Ronald Koeman’s approach after the Netherlands exited the World Cup in the first knockout round.
The Senior Advisor to Milan’s ownership and management is currently busy with the World Cup as a pundit for FOX Sports, for whom he covered the Netherlands-Morocco match which ended with the Oranje going out on penalties.
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The former striker expressed harsh criticism towards coach Ronald Koeman, giving him the main responsibility for the fact that the Netherlands will not go beyond the round of 32.
“This defeat is Koeman’s fault because I didn’t recognise the Dutch national team . They lost with an identity that isn’t Dutch, and that makes me angry. You lose with your own identity, that’s what you are,” Ibrahimovic said.
“They always taught me to attack, attack, and attack . This is not the Dutch identity. Today Koeman seemed like an Italian coach, who played not to lose, while the Netherlands always play to win. If you lose, let it be with your identity, don’t change it…
“It’s not the Dutch national team I’m used to. You could see they weren’t comfortable: they lost possession and their attacking play. It was all Koeman’s fault, I didn’t like it at all.
“I can’t understand Koeman’s tactics and substitutions. Why change a system that’s worked well for two years? And why leave proven attackers like Depay or Malen on the bench, especially when everything seemed like the match could go to penalties?”
While the comments may seem specific only to the game, it certainly harks back to something that Gerry Cardinale said in his comments after the hiring of Massimo Calvelli as the new CEO, which many perceived to be a dig at Massimiliano Allegri.
“The mandate is clear – we will play to win, instead of playing not to lose – in everything that AC Milan touches, but most importantly on the field,” he said. Might Zlatan have followed the same path?
I watched this live, and for once I was in full agreement with Ibra. It also opened my eyes a little as to what might have happened last season. Maybe I missed the memo, but I am beginning to think that Ibra was not OK with the signing of Allegri to begin with. This would explain a lot about why everything went down the way it with Allegri. It would also explain Tare and Furlani’s departures (on top of other things), as they were tied to Allegri’s arrival. If the way the Netherlands played was killing Ibra last night, I can’t imagine what watching Milan throughout the season must have been doing to him.
💯. It was disgusting to watch.
I thought it was clear that Ibra didn’t want Allegri. I thought that’s why Ibra pretty much disappeared and when he did show up Allegri’s friends, the Italian pundits went after him.
You are probably right. I just don’t specifically recall opposition. Allegri was signed quickly, despite Ibra seemingly having a lot of influence over Cardinale. I do know that Ibra and Allegri aren’t best of friends, but that doesn’t necessarily mean technical opposition. So the swift firings of Allegri, Cardinale and Tare make sense in light of Cardinale realizing that Ibra was right at some point during the last third of the season. It still doesn’t excuse the fact that they didn’t seem to have a plan for after these firings, even though it seems like the firing had been planned well before Cagliari. So while they got the decision to clean house right, they’re still figuring out how to run a football club properly.
All the points you make are valid.
Agreed, but the Dutch identity has been long gone.
As has the Italian and the German.
While the rule has existed since 1995 or 1997, but I think the Bosman rule is having a bad effect on many nations like Italy, Germany or the Netherlands.
To say the least…the damage has been done.
bring back the 3 foreigners rule
Ibra should go back to the Netherlands and fix them up and leave Italian football alone. To me this sounds disparaging to a national character. By saying this he insults Italian football by default. Keep the the national stuff out. Pro attack and anti defend-only are acceptable positions to take but to label countries with certain characteristics borders on bigotry.
Koeman is holding this Dutch team back – the only positive about their last match was watching Morocco play.
Ibra was right about Italian football for once, we saw Allegri playing not to lose for sure, destroying our attack and making the fans to go against Leao and others, cos the Italians don’t have the balls to criticize their own
Morocco is ranked as a top 10 team in the world. While there might be some truth to what Ibra is saying, let’s not act like Morocco is a walkover. Far from it . They’re a very good, respectable team which was able to make semis prior to tournament start. They had the ability to win against top teams by their own quality not through luck.
Now, Germany not overcoming Paraguay… That’s a shock. And they should be be winning that fixture
Ouch another jab to Allegri.
Funny he says like an Italian coach yet, Ancelotti just put on a Tactical masterclass against Japan
That was my point earlier. Look at Bologna look at Napoli Inter under Inzaghi.
I wonder if ibra was calling the Dutch players to tell them they were not on Koemans plans going forward?
He can be (is) right about this. He is also still a blight on the Milan badge and should be shaped away
koeman has stepped down!
as a Milanista & my bro a bulgrana, i was talking about this topic with him the other day. with my foggyu memory, i said i couldnt remeber barca ever playing not to lose. he said, ah you forgot about koeman
zlatan is generalising. not all italian coaches are like this – carlo, rdz, maresca, italiano, sarri, gasp
also, zlatan said the same with fonseca then got rid of him after 5 months when he should have let him see the season out at least
Ibra is much better suited as a pundit and should stick to that. He should stay away from Milan’s management