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Zlatan Ibrahimovic proving his worth at United already

David Nugent in Editorial, English Premier League 20 Aug 2016

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made a promising start to life at Manchester United

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made a promising start to life at Manchester United

Manchester United have started the Jose Mourinho tenure in good form.

The Red Devils won the Community Shield, before recording a win at Bournemouth and on Friday night a comfortable 2-0 win over Southampton at Old Trafford on Friday night.

A key aspect of the Red Devils campaign so far has been the performances of veteran Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has started his United career with four goals in his first three competitive displays, including a brace against the Saints.

Proving his worth despite his age

The Swedish superstar has been lauded in every league he has played. He is not one for hiding his light under a bushel. He likes to tell everybody how good he is, but when you are as good as he is then you have a right.

Zlatan may talk the talk, but he also walks the walk. Nobody can complain about somebody lauding their abilities if they produce week-in-week-out. Ibrahimovic has been at United for just over a month, but his performances have been impressive so far.

At 34-years-old, some believed that he was too old to play in the Premier League, but his performances have belied his age. The striker is accustomed to a winter break, so may start flagging later in the season, but he is looking as fit as a fiddle at the moment.

For all his skill and technical ability, his experience and know-how of being in the right position has seen him score two very good headers. The headers were typical of a towering centre-forward, which shows that he can also do the simple things well.

A good team player

For all the talk of Ibrahimovic being a superstar and an individual Ibrahimovic is most definitely a team player. He will work hard for his team and chase back in an effort to win the ball. The veteran is not one for ball watching and will drop deep if the team needs him to.

In his post-match interviews, he has talked about the importance of the team and unexpectedly credits his teammates for good performances. It is something that you do not expect from a player who is so often associated with individual moments of brilliance.

Ibrahimovic has yet to get to know his United teammates that well, but I am sure when he does he will be more vocal on the pitch.

A contender for the golden boot

As we all know Ibrahimovic has been a prolific scorer of goals in every league he has played. The Swede already has three Premier League goals to his name and no doubt will add many more goals this season, as the Red Devils seek the Premier League title.

Last season for big-spending PSG, Ibrahimovic scored 38 goals in 31 appearances in Ligue One. The striker also recorded an impressive 13 assists for his teammates in the top-flight, which given his performances so far this season is not surprising.

Ibrahimovic was always going to be one of the favourites for the golden boot in the Premier League this season and is odds of 21/5 to achieve that personal accolade this season.

The striker will no doubt keep talking about the team and that’s all that matters, but a guy with an ego the size of the Swede will definitely be looking to win that individual accolade.

It has taken a long time for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to arrive in the Premier League. For a long time, people questioned why he had not tested himself in the English top-flight.

However in the twilight of his career, the experienced forward is proving that he is very capable of making a major impact in the Premier League. No doubt the Swede will continue to impress for United and may just be the man to help United rediscover past glories.

Will Zlatan Ibrahimovic win the Premier League golden boot?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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