Premier League Football Pacy but Overrated: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Former Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes that while few can handle the pace of the game in the English Premier League, the quality is overrated.
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Former Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes that while few can handle the pace of the game in the English Premier League, the quality is overrated.
Ibrahimovic made 33 appearances is the Premier League, scoring 17 goals and assisting 5 in his nineteen-month stay which also saw him suffer a career threatening knee injury. Currently, the Swede is in the MLS where he plays at LA Galaxy.
Before his move to English football giants Manchester United, Ibrahimovic says he was warned about it being the blip in an otherwise illustrious career which had seen him play in Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
"I'd had a long career before I came -- different kinds of countries, different kinds of clubs," he told FourFourTwo. "People said: 'You don't need to go to England, because if you fail in England, people will always say you weren't good enough.'
"Everybody was against it. And guess what? That made me motivated. That gave me adrenaline. I liked the Premier League. I found it very motivating and very exciting.
"It gets a lot of attention, although I feel the quality is a little bit overrated -- the individual quality, the technical part. But the rhythm is high. Even if you are the best, if you can't handle the rhythm, the pace, then you will not succeed, because the pace is very high."
The 37-year-old first season in England saw him win the League Cup and the Europa League with Jose Mourinho at the helm. But on return from his knee injury, he failed to be as decisive.
In his inimitable style, Ibrahimovic believes that he would have had a more explosive on the Premier League had he come there at the age of 25.
"I'm super proud and super happy that I went to United -- it was the right club," he added. "We won, and I did what I did before I got injured.
"I had an excellent time -- great memories. I'm attached to United forever. The supporters are amazing: wherever I went, I saw red shirts, which was fantastic. It's a very important moment in my career.
"As I said when I was in England, you're lucky I didn't come 10 years ago, because if I did what I did at 35 years old, imagine it if I was 25. Then it would have been a different story.
"I came there and they said I came in a wheelchair. All the people that talked, in the whole Premier League, I put them in a wheelchair. That's what I did."
Ibrahimovic made 33 appearances is the Premier League, scoring 17 goals and assisting 5 in his nineteen-month stay which also saw him suffer a career threatening knee injury. Currently, the Swede is in the MLS where he plays at LA Galaxy.
Before his move to English football giants Manchester United, Ibrahimovic says he was warned about it being the blip in an otherwise illustrious career which had seen him play in Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
"I'd had a long career before I came -- different kinds of countries, different kinds of clubs," he told FourFourTwo. "People said: 'You don't need to go to England, because if you fail in England, people will always say you weren't good enough.'
"Everybody was against it. And guess what? That made me motivated. That gave me adrenaline. I liked the Premier League. I found it very motivating and very exciting.
"It gets a lot of attention, although I feel the quality is a little bit overrated -- the individual quality, the technical part. But the rhythm is high. Even if you are the best, if you can't handle the rhythm, the pace, then you will not succeed, because the pace is very high."
The 37-year-old first season in England saw him win the League Cup and the Europa League with Jose Mourinho at the helm. But on return from his knee injury, he failed to be as decisive.
In his inimitable style, Ibrahimovic believes that he would have had a more explosive on the Premier League had he come there at the age of 25.
"I'm super proud and super happy that I went to United -- it was the right club," he added. "We won, and I did what I did before I got injured.
"I had an excellent time -- great memories. I'm attached to United forever. The supporters are amazing: wherever I went, I saw red shirts, which was fantastic. It's a very important moment in my career.
"As I said when I was in England, you're lucky I didn't come 10 years ago, because if I did what I did at 35 years old, imagine it if I was 25. Then it would have been a different story.
"I came there and they said I came in a wheelchair. All the people that talked, in the whole Premier League, I put them in a wheelchair. That's what I did."