Milan's Number Star...Ibra

There have been as many positives as negatives for Milan during this preseason. One bleeding obvious negative is that this team is still too old, especially in the midfield. Undoubtedly because of this the team’s play at times can be painfully slow and predictable. There is also a clear lack of creativity in the frontline while at the back when in the absence of either Thiago Silva or Alessandro Nesta cracks have been evident.

However, there have been some real positives too and one of the best is that the team has not suffered one defeat, penalties aside. And, it is not like there has not been some tough opposition. Contrarily, the likes of Bayern Munich (at home too), Internacional and Inter are strong sides, at least for now – Inter could soon be a very different side (referring to possible departures of Sneijder and Eto’o) – so the team has done very well to record one win and two draws over these fixtures.

The ever sturdy display of our central defensive pairing of Alessandro Nesta and Thiago Silva, though the former’s age is starting to tell more, has also been a positive. Ignazio Abate seems to have continued where he left off last season. An Azzurri call up cannot be far away now – come on Cesare.

However, there can be no disputing that there has been one clear highlight for Milan this season and his name is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Big Swede scored in each of the games against the aforementioned teams. He got the opener against Bayern after crisply placing the ball past Manuel Neuer. Against Internacional he got the first and contributed to the second while in the Super Cup against Inter he displayed his excellent positional sense by being in the right place at the right time to head home the equaliser on the night.

Ibra has simply been in sensational form and it is hoped that he will continue this form into the new campaign. Last season he was the driving force behind Milan’s early title push and he could well be again come the new season.

Ibra’s good form continued into the new year during the season past as he contributed eighteen goals in all competitions. It was only from February onwards that his form nose-dived and his numerous suspensions did not help his cause or Milan’s either for that matter.

Many have claimed that Ibra’s form tends to fade away come the latter stages of the season. This is certainly true in the Champions League as his measly return of three goals in twenty three appearances attests to. However, this is not true when it comes to the league.

Rather, Ibra’s problem is his tendency to let his attitude and self-belief drop when things are not going his way, specifically, when he is not scoring goals. He seems to take it out on himself and his team suffer along with him. This was evident last season when after February he seemed unable to buy himself a goal and as a result of his frustrations he got himself stupidly sent off, twice in a row. Luckily, Antonio Cassano, Pato and Robinho were able to do the business in his absence.

Ibra’s erratic form and volatile nature, especially evident when he is suffering from a loss of form, has invited numerous criticisms which do little to help alleviate him from his own personal plight. He may be a mountain of a man, strong and standing at 6’4, but, seemingly, his mental strength falls below what his physical appearance may suggest.

If this were not the case, Ibra would score more goals and he would earn more comparisons with players of similar ability, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Earlier this week, Gennaro Gattuso came out and said that his Swedish team mate should score more goals. The combative Calabrian did not mean this as a criticism though it may have come across this way. Rather, it was intended as a compliment. Ibra’s incredible ability is not reflected in his statistics. Hopefully, he will take this the right way and we will be relieved of hearing that he has gone and kung-Fu kicked another team mate at training. Remember the incident last season involving the poor and somewhat perplexed Rodney Strasser, if you do not then click here.

Despite Ibra’s inability to maintain good form throughout the campaign and not just in patches, historically this seems to not have affected his team’s ability to clinch the domestic league title. After all, he has won eight straight domestic league titles with no less than five different clubs which is an astounding record and one that may never be matched again.

Nonetheless, it would be nice to see Ibra bang in the goals throughout this coming campaign, from start to finish. If he does so than perhaps he will record a tally of goals that is a better reflection of what he is capable of. Team mate Rino Gattuso will also be happy and given his fiery temper, Ibra may be doing many others a favour too by keeping him happy.

Most importantly, Ibra this year needs to make it count in the Champions League. His failure to perform on Europe’s biggest stage has always been the source where most of the criticism of him has come from. Like him, players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are they themselves volatile characters – it is not hard to find such players in football today – yet as an example these two players have produced the goods in Europe whereas Ibra has not.

Time is running out for the Swede to deliver in Europe too as this October he will turn 30 years old. He simply needs to make a bigger impact in this coming Champions League edition. Adriano Galliani has made it clear that the club’s intention is to better last season’s disappointing first knockout round exit at the hands of Tottenham. Ibra, as the talisman of this Milan, therefore has much responsibility on his shoulders if the club is to achieve this aim.

For now, however, let us enjoy the entertainment and pleasure of watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic play at the peak of his ability. He remains a truly gifted player who is capable of more than most. Watch the video below if you need reminding.