Zlatan Ibrahimovic is arrogant. It comes from him having an incredible amount of self-confidence. We have all heard his comments, from proclaiming himself to being god, to his statement after his latest declaration that he is going to leave Paris, pronouncing, “I came like a king, I left like a Legend.”
Some people love him and some love to hate him, but one thing is for sure, he cannot be ignored. With the penchant for scoring absolutely spectacular and downright outrageous goals, he has made a name for himself as one of the most enigmatic strikers of this generation. So popular he is that Nike have used him with the ever trending #DaretoZlatan, showing the player having superhuman abilites.
And now, Carlo Ancelotti in his new book on management has revealed what it was like to deal with Zlatan during his tenure at PSG. Ancelotti is of the opinion that Ibrahimovic is a born winner, and wouldn’t take a loss even in training, as reported by DailyMail.
The ex- Real Madrid boss confessed that Ibrahimovic would always fight and give his 100% as victory was the only option. If he felt somebody was not giving their total effort and dedication he would tell them straight away.
Ancelotti described this with an incident. He said that during a training session one day Ibra felt that a youngster was not giving his 100% and told him, "Now, you have to go home and write in your diary that you trained with Zlatan today, because I think it could be the last time that you do."
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The Italian revealed that subtlety was not the 34-year-old’s strongest suit and he advised him to take it easy on the youngsters as he could come off too strong and intimidating. Instead, Ancelotti guided him to become the natural leader that he always was, trying to set an example for them.
Crespo cannot make a difference
The 56-year-old also disclosed how honest Ibrahimovic really was, narrating an interesting story. When Zlatan and Ancelotti were talking about Hernan Crespo, the Italian said he thought the Argentinian was an outstanding striker and one of the best in the business. Ibra’s reply was, "Yes, he's a striker, but he cannot make the difference. There are only three players who make the difference: Ibrahimovic, Messi and Ronaldo."
This just shows how much Zlatan believed in his abilities, having the audacity to compare himself with two players widely regarded as the greatest of this generation.
Ibrahimovic has the statistics to back it up too.
The striker has won league titles in Italy, Spain and France having been an integral part of each team he has played for. He has recorded another stunning season in front of goal this year for PSG scoring 53 goals and setting up another 16 leading the team to their fourth successive Ligue 1 title as well as the Coupe de France and Coupe De La Ligue titles.
Ibrahimovic has also spoken about his contrasting time under two of the best coaches today in Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in the book. Rumour has it that he could be reunited with ‘The Special One’ at Manchester United. Only time will tell whether it comes true.
