04 Mar 2017 14:38:03
This may be an unpopular opinion however, I feel after today it needs to be said. All season we have watched Ibrahimovic, and he has scored a lot of goals. However I must say I think his performances have been appalling. In all these draws at home he's probably missed 15-20 clear chances and I think that is being kind. Look at his performance today, he should have had a straight red card, a player of his experience should not retaliate.
Now I want to talk about his movement. He does nothing special, he actually hardly moves. It's really poor. He may have scored 26 goals and he will score more than 30 I'm sure this season. However, I honestly don't think it would be a bad thing if he went elsewhere in the summer.
Now before this is branded as an overreaction, we should all have a look at the big clear cut chances he has missed. He is not the only one, pogba today was abysmal. He was signed to dominate games, and let's be honest he's not doing it. It needs to improve and I feel we would be a lot better with a new striker.
I'd like to hear the rest of your thoughts.
{Ed004's Note - I'm siding towards agreeing with this. He didn't look fit enough to start today looked slow and sloppy. He will probably now get a ban as well so it'll be interesting to see how we cope without him. I don't think Mourinho fully trusts Rashford to lead the line either and if this is the case we may need to look at a replacement for Ibra to share game time with from next season. From Jred review, his stats and what a few others have said Belotti might be a serious option this summer. In games like this we don't need Ibrahimovic just a competent striker.}
04 Mar 2017 14:47:50
Ed004 could you have imagine chicharito in a game like that? He would have had a field day. Bournemouth are shocking defensively yet by playing a big slow lump up you play into their hands. I was literally going crazy when we hoofed the ball long. They would have loved that, we should have been getting out wide and trying to get dangerous crosses in. Poor performance overall. We deserve everything we are getting at the moment.
{Ed004's Note - I agree it was a shocking performance and times like this were I hate that we let go of Hernandez}
04 Mar 2017 14:55:02
Great post, been saying similar most of the season. Probably shone in 2-3 games all season (like our other supposed superstar) . key thing with strikers is their job is to score and he has done well in that regard Stats wise. Problem is when playing with 1 up top, you need more from a striker, otherwise you end up with little coming from other players that rely on that striker creating space and opportunities.
He gives the ball away more than any player I think I have seen, he works less hard as well. I don't care if he is 35 or 15, the job of a lone strike has evolved to more than just goals and he is nowhere near clinical enough with the volume of chances he gets. Media don't help with their hyperbole. Both Ibra and Pogba need a reality check, comes from the manager ideally but he seems more up their backsides than anybody unfortunately.
04 Mar 2017 15:03:19
It sounds like the craziest thing to say, "I want this season's 30 goal man not to be there next season", but I'm also tending towards Caolan and Ed04. We will only play a certain way with him (which is not that great in my opinion, although much better than the last few season) ; He will always be the focal point, free kick taker, penalty taker and so forth as long as he's here. But we will not develop as a balanced, varied team.
The inevitable response would be where would we be without his goals this season, which is of course totally right, but no one knows the answer. And i am talking about next season in any case.
If he and his agent are now playing silly buggers about an extension, we should probably think about letting him go.
Ps This is not a knee jerk response to today's debacle either.
{Ed004's Note - Well if we sign Griezmann and another attacker I'm sure we would replace his goal output. Martial will/should be a consistent performer come then and Mkhitarian will have had a year to settle.}
04 Mar 2017 15:14:23
Shocking amount of chances missed. Unacceptable for players who are paid so much.
04 Mar 2017 15:14:57
would hernandez have been happy on the bench? we already have rashford on bench.
{Ed004's Note - Probably not but he would have gotten plenty of game time}
04 Mar 2017 15:32:17
I posted some statistical analysis for Kane, Belotti, Lukaku and Ibra on the others page. Belotti scores a goal every 4 chances, Ibra has 4 chances per game therefore on a purely statistical level Belotti would theoretically score a goal per game at Manchester United. Belotti + Griezman would solve the goals issue.
04 Mar 2017 15:33:27
Common sense moyes, I probably should have stated a striker like chicharito. Whilst he lacked in the build up areas his finishing was up there with some of the best in the club. We've always had prolific strikers at this club and I garuntee someone like Ruud or solskjaer would have had a hat trick at least today. Ibrahimovic should have 40 goals this season by now.
04 Mar 2017 15:45:41
Ibra is our main man we set up around him .
He has done well this season but not as well as some make out imo .
15 league goals in 25 games for a number 9 is good but not great imo .
Some strikers could get away with that but they tend to bring other things to the team, workrate, link play etc i'm not sure ibra does .
Thats also 15 goals from a lot of chances, as a team we have played quite well and create a lot .
But have struggled a bit to put the ball in the net .
Depends who is available in the summer and if there is a better option available.
{Ed004's Note - Well Aubameyang and Belotti look available as does Sanchez}
04 Mar 2017 16:04:19
Ed 4 if you look at them 3 players
Auba has 19 goals in 20
Belotti 19 in 22
Sanchez 17 in 25.
But all 3 bring more to the team than goals, all have good work rate, pace can play more than 1 position . Giving you more than 1 option .
But it may take a player of that level to replace ibra, it may take a player like that to make a difference between 6th and top.
{Ed004's Note - Ibrahimovic has had a great season by all accounts so far but he won't last forever and games like Stoke, West Ham, today etc have cost us in the race for top 4 and potentially even the league so I think a forward will come in to act as his understudy but eventually replace him like what has happened with Rooney this season. That's why I think it'll be someone like Andre Silva or Belotti}
04 Mar 2017 18:37:07
What if we sign griezmann and he doesn't score enough? Do we all get on his back as well?
04 Mar 2017 19:24:56
Sepp, it's not just the goalscoring. If greizman came and didn't score as many but his all round play was better no one would complain. However if he just stood still wanting the ball dropped on his foot then there would be an issue.
04 Mar 2017 19:33:59
I think Jose was wrong here.
Zlatan looked immensely tired in the league cup and that's the reason he struggled today. And he'll do the same again against Chelsea, Rostov.
He will not drop Zlatan and we'll continue to suffer.
It's difficult to play so many games for a 35 year old in such a difficult league. He should have been substituted at half time. I think apart from Rooney's finishing he was leading the line well.
Mkhi's performances and Zlatan's goals have papered over a lot of cracks in our team. And Bailly's defending.
04 Mar 2017 23:08:01
On average, he covers as much ground as alexis sanchez per game.