Originally titled “‘IbracadARRRGGHHHH how could he scuff that one?!’ A culé considers requesting a refund,” I decided that was too harsh and not really what I’m arguing. But I miss Sammy, and I’m getting tired of watching Ibra pout on the field. So I went looking for constructive criticisms….
The same thing that makes football the most beautiful sport in the world also makes it very difficult to win an argument about a player. There are few statistics in football, and fewer still that do anything to capture a player’s value to his club. So I am waltzing into very subjective territory. Clearly, many of us enjoy these arguments — but let’s accept that there’s no winning to be done by anyone here. That job belongs to our players.
Let me add to that disclaimer a confession: I have waffled back and forth on the subject of Zlatan Ibrahimovic more times than Sergio Ramos runs a brush through his hair each morning. Even at the time of this writing, I am not sure precisely how to feel about the man. He is our striker and I know he can succeed here. Eto’o is gone and not returning, and I hope Ibra can look to his legacy to help raise his form.
1) He is simply massive.At 6′3″ and 185 lbs (1.91m/84kg), he simply has a much larger frame than Eto’o, making him (at the very least) a more dangerous target from set pieces.
2) His ball skillsare of the very highest level, meaning he should be able to hold the ball up in the rare situations where opponents– British ones, probably– smother out our normal flair in midfield and make possession harder to maintain. Samu is certainly an accomplished settler and dribbler of the football, but those skills are not what made him such an assassin. More on this in a moment.
3) Wizardry:Ibra has the same reputation for cold-blooded finishing — a phrase which Eto’o should probably put on his business cards — but in the past he has always seemed to make something from nothing, and to create chances for himself and others. And he makes individual plays that rip culés out of our seats, even when they come to nothing. In a Liga game this season, for example, he was whistled for a high boot after using an impossible little Tae Kwan Do kick to bring the ball away from two defenders while it was well above his head height (and I wet myself in awe and cursed the referee).
But over the course of the season, as we wait patiently for Zlatan to find his place in the side, he has proven to be an inconsistent performer. His shortcomings also contrast sharply with Eto’o — though this time the comparison is not flattering to the Swede. Consider:
A) Lack of focus:Ibrahimovic fails to hustle back onside when possession is lost or his run forward does not earn him the ball. He certainly does not lack the pace and he is experienced enough that he should know better. He shows a tendency to dwell on misplayed balls, and is often seen shaking his head and walking/jogging back toward an onside position. I can’t count how many times this has happened this year, and I’m sure Eto’o was not perfect in this regard — but I know he worked harder to make sure he was in the right position as quickly as possible. And the one word that embodies his play, even when his form slips, is “hustle.”
B) Easily frustrated:This is related to the above point, as I think Ibra has very high standards for himself and he has not often reached them this season. He is a passionate player who wants nothing less than excellence from himself and his teammates, and that is a good thing. But he lets his emotions get the better of him on a regular basis. Sometimes that affects his focus (see above), but sometimes it seems to lead him into rough challenges and ugly verbal exchanges. Even when he does not accumulate cards or do something unsportsmanlike, that sort of behavior affects the whole side. It is unprofessional and it distracts teammates from the game at hand. Eto’o is not immune to frustration, of course, but makes a habit of channeling his frustration into running farther and working harder to repossess the ball. Thus far, Ibra has not found a creative outlet for his angst.
C) Inconsistent effort: It was always going to be complicated to fit a lone-striker type into the “total football” or Pep-ball system that raked in the hardware last season. Indeed, the only part of Rakun’s piece that I completely agree with is the notion that Pep deserves much of the blame for failing to put Ibra in a position to succeed. But I also think that a professional athlete in a slump has one thing completely in their control: ”How hard am I going to work?” We have seen the Swede be brilliant when he puts in the work — If he played each week as he did against Zaragoza on Sunday, we could applaud his effort just as we lament his finishing. It is that up-and-down performance that frays my nerves. At times, he does fight for possession, he does sprint everywhere and he does show with each touch that he’s ready for the ball. But only at times. Too often he is starved for the ball, and it shows in sloppy touches or scuffed chances at the goal mouth.
So we return to the notion that Eto’o and Ibrahimovic are completely different types of players. Lord knows Samu missed his fair share of so-called “easy chances.” (Heck, somebody even made a video compilation of his misses.) But because he is a different kind of striker, and because he is constantly engaged in the game whether or not the ball comes to him, he always found himself with multiple chances per game — and so the misses fade in our memory.
Zlatan, on the other hand, needs the ball at his feet; he needs to be a target when Pep leaves him high and alone; he needs to be a part of the buildup when the strategy calls for multiple players to share the high striker role. We need to find a way to set him up for success (and again, we have not done so very often this year). I suspect we may need to let him run free much as Samu always did, but I’m no strategic expert.
Here’s what we really need: the Swede must improve the things he can control, regardless of what happens in each game. We need him to follow the Cameroonian’s example with his mentality about the game, and surely that will allow his natural creativity and skill to shine.
We need a focused, humble, hard-working and professional Zlatan Ibrahimovic — because that man is a deadly, world-class striker AND a brilliant distributor of the ball to his teammates. When he shows up, he is a joy to watch. Please, Ibra, start showing up every week.
The same thing that makes football the most beautiful sport in the world also makes it very difficult to win an argument about a player. There are few statistics in football, and fewer still that do anything to capture a player’s value to his club. So I am waltzing into very subjective territory. Clearly, many of us enjoy these arguments — but let’s accept that there’s no winning to be done by anyone here. That job belongs to our players.
Let me add to that disclaimer a confession: I have waffled back and forth on the subject of Zlatan Ibrahimovic more times than Sergio Ramos runs a brush through his hair each morning. Even at the time of this writing, I am not sure precisely how to feel about the man. He is our striker and I know he can succeed here. Eto’o is gone and not returning, and I hope Ibra can look to his legacy to help raise his form.
Big Game Sammy has struggled to fit into his new side, too-- but came up big at Chelsea
- There are several ways in which Zlatan is an improvement at CF over my beloved Cameroonian.
2) His ball skillsare of the very highest level, meaning he should be able to hold the ball up in the rare situations where opponents– British ones, probably– smother out our normal flair in midfield and make possession harder to maintain. Samu is certainly an accomplished settler and dribbler of the football, but those skills are not what made him such an assassin. More on this in a moment.
3) Wizardry:Ibra has the same reputation for cold-blooded finishing — a phrase which Eto’o should probably put on his business cards — but in the past he has always seemed to make something from nothing, and to create chances for himself and others. And he makes individual plays that rip culés out of our seats, even when they come to nothing. In a Liga game this season, for example, he was whistled for a high boot after using an impossible little Tae Kwan Do kick to bring the ball away from two defenders while it was well above his head height (and I wet myself in awe and cursed the referee).
But over the course of the season, as we wait patiently for Zlatan to find his place in the side, he has proven to be an inconsistent performer. His shortcomings also contrast sharply with Eto’o — though this time the comparison is not flattering to the Swede. Consider:
A) Lack of focus:Ibrahimovic fails to hustle back onside when possession is lost or his run forward does not earn him the ball. He certainly does not lack the pace and he is experienced enough that he should know better. He shows a tendency to dwell on misplayed balls, and is often seen shaking his head and walking/jogging back toward an onside position. I can’t count how many times this has happened this year, and I’m sure Eto’o was not perfect in this regard — but I know he worked harder to make sure he was in the right position as quickly as possible. And the one word that embodies his play, even when his form slips, is “hustle.”
B) Easily frustrated:This is related to the above point, as I think Ibra has very high standards for himself and he has not often reached them this season. He is a passionate player who wants nothing less than excellence from himself and his teammates, and that is a good thing. But he lets his emotions get the better of him on a regular basis. Sometimes that affects his focus (see above), but sometimes it seems to lead him into rough challenges and ugly verbal exchanges. Even when he does not accumulate cards or do something unsportsmanlike, that sort of behavior affects the whole side. It is unprofessional and it distracts teammates from the game at hand. Eto’o is not immune to frustration, of course, but makes a habit of channeling his frustration into running farther and working harder to repossess the ball. Thus far, Ibra has not found a creative outlet for his angst.
C) Inconsistent effort: It was always going to be complicated to fit a lone-striker type into the “total football” or Pep-ball system that raked in the hardware last season. Indeed, the only part of Rakun’s piece that I completely agree with is the notion that Pep deserves much of the blame for failing to put Ibra in a position to succeed. But I also think that a professional athlete in a slump has one thing completely in their control: ”How hard am I going to work?” We have seen the Swede be brilliant when he puts in the work — If he played each week as he did against Zaragoza on Sunday, we could applaud his effort just as we lament his finishing. It is that up-and-down performance that frays my nerves. At times, he does fight for possession, he does sprint everywhere and he does show with each touch that he’s ready for the ball. But only at times. Too often he is starved for the ball, and it shows in sloppy touches or scuffed chances at the goal mouth.
Zlatan is a warrior-- when he wants to be
Zlatan, on the other hand, needs the ball at his feet; he needs to be a target when Pep leaves him high and alone; he needs to be a part of the buildup when the strategy calls for multiple players to share the high striker role. We need to find a way to set him up for success (and again, we have not done so very often this year). I suspect we may need to let him run free much as Samu always did, but I’m no strategic expert.
Here’s what we really need: the Swede must improve the things he can control, regardless of what happens in each game. We need him to follow the Cameroonian’s example with his mentality about the game, and surely that will allow his natural creativity and skill to shine.
We need a focused, humble, hard-working and professional Zlatan Ibrahimovic — because that man is a deadly, world-class striker AND a brilliant distributor of the ball to his teammates. When he shows up, he is a joy to watch. Please, Ibra, start showing up every week.
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