Zlatan Ibrahimovic recalls the time Mourinho made him feel 'ashamed' for winning award

What's the story?

LA Galaxy star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recalled the time he faced Jose Mourinho's wrath at Inter Milan, adding that the Portuguese manager is very direct in his criticism.

In case you didn't know

Mourinho and Ibrahimovic had worked together at Inter Milan and Manchester United, with the Swede's spectacular performance in the EFL Cup final at Wembley helping the Portuguese to his first trophy as United boss.

While Ibrahimovic has moved to MLS outfit LA Galaxy, Mourinho was sacked by the Red Devils in December last year following a series of disappointing results and feuds at the club.

The former United boss had Ibrahimovic's backing during his torrid last few months at Old Trafford, with the LA Galaxy star telling Sky Sports last October, "Everybody criticises Mourinho and I don't think it's because of the results, it's because of the character, because of the way he is."

"Mourinho just has to keep being himself, stand up for what he is doing, stand up for what he is. He is there because he did it his own way, because he is who he is and don't change for anybody."

The heart of the matter

Ibrahimovic has now revealed how he was "hammered" by Mourinho in a way that was different from all other coaches.

Speaking of the incident which took place during his stint at Inter Milan, the Swede told Bethard's YouTube channel (via Daily Star), "I remember one time we were losing a game. We came in at half time – I think it was Atalanta away. I was getting an award the next day for being the best player in Italy. But he said in front of the team ‘when you get that award, you should feel ashamed. 'The way you’re playing, you don’t even deserve half of that award'."

The former United star added, "We were there in the locker room and he butchered me. He hammered me. So I said ‘OK, I’m not doing good. Maybe I should do better’."

"We still lost the game but at least I scored a goal in the second half, softened up the critics. I still went to get the award the next day."

Ibrahimovic continued, "I’ve had situations before where I’ve been hammered by coaches in a different way. The difference with Mourinho is he likes to say it directly. He says it in his own way because that’s his personality. That’s who he is."