This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
Not because there are no easy games in the Premier League, Jeff. Or that England’s top flight is the greatest league in the world, or the most intense. It also has nothing to do with Zlatan Ibrahimovic being “overrated”.
The striker’s struggles at Manchester United shouldn’t be a surprise because he’s 35-years-old.
It doesn’t matter how good a player is, he’s going to be a distinctly minimalist and stripped down version of his previous self at such an age. It’s actually something of an achievement that Zlatan is playing for United at this advanced stage of his career.
Wayne Rooney certainly won’t be at that age, Eric Cantona had long retired from United when he was 35 and Ruud van Nistelrooy was at Malaga and about to start the final season of his career when he was Zlatan’s age.
Ibrahimovic can still have an impact, but the past few United games arguably show that a change in plan is needed if Jose Mourinho’s side are to arrest their slump in form and bridge the gap on the top four.
Against Manchester City in the EFL Cup last week, Jamie Carragher said Ibrahimovic had probably the “worst 45 minutes of his career” in the first-half, and while the former Liverpool defender was exaggerating a little, the point largely stood.
Zlatan was a passenger.
This signing underlines what has been lost at #MUFC https://t.co/BlWLdL4kmK
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 30, 2016
After a bright start to life at Old Trafford, scoring the winner in the Community Shield, on the opening day against Bournemouth, a towering header against Southampton and an impressive finish against City in September, Ibrahimovic’s form has fell off a cliff.
United had 37 shots against Burnley on Saturday afternoon, Ibrahimovic had 12 of them, and they still couldn’t score. Mourinho’s side were arguably unlucky, Burnley worked extremely hard and their goalkeeper Tom Heaton had the game of his life, but there’s no escaping the Ibrahimovic issue.
The striker hasn’t scored in 42 shots and if he’s not scoring goals, it’s difficult to make an argument for his inclusion in the starting XI.
The solution appears to be staring Mourinho in the face, and was one that fell into Louis van Gaal’s lap last season – Marcus Rashford.
The 19-year-old has been starting under Mourinho, but his effect has arguably been stunted playing on the left-wing, and against Liverpool and City he was effectively used as an auxiliary full-back.
He needs to be restored to the centre-forward position, where he caused havoc amongst opposition defenders in the final few months of last season, and injected some much needed energy into a flagging United team.
Here’s how Rashford’s statistics playing up-front last season compare to Ibrahimovic’s for this season.
SquawkaRashford may have only scored one more goal in a similar timeframe, but he had taken significantly fewer shots and was a lot more accurate.
One could argue this was a purple patch Rashford was experiencing, and it won’t always be this easy, but there’s really no telling how good he can be or what the ceiling is for him in terms of development.
He really could be a world class player, whereas Zlatan arguably is no-longer world class.
Rashford can resemble Thierry Henry when he runs at defenders, he has the tricks and flicks of someone like Franck Ribery and the ice in his veins in front of goal that made Michael Owen such a phenomenon before injuries took hold.
Some of Rashford’s goals in his brief career have been genuinely breathtaking.
Zlatan, and particularly Rooney, the only other striker in United’s squad, lumber around, but Rashford glides across the pitch. Whereas Ibrahimovic has been passive for United, Rashford is active, he forces mistakes, runs at players, and gets spectators off their seats.
United have been struggling in front of goal, and the answer has been marooned on the wing. Zlatan can still have a positive impact at United, but maybe more as an impact substitute. Rashford could reignite United’s season if given a run at centre-forward, and after only gaining six points from the last 21 available in the Premier League, they certainly need something to change.
Colm Parkinson is joined by Paul Rouse for a heated debate about Sky Sports’ five-year GAA deal and an exclusive chat with AFL star Zach Tuohy on the new GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes
