'Zlatan will never be the best’: football great
Published: 8 Mar 12 07:15 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/39550/20120308/
Despite that fact that Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ranked current third best footballer in the world according to an internet sport site, there are voices saying he can never be number one.
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According to the latest ranking by the football statistics website Whoscored.com, Swedish Zlatan is ranked as number three in the world with a rating of 8.17, beaten only by Argentina’s Lionel Messi at 8.67 and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo at 8.35.
But according to former AC Milan player Laudrup, who was voted Danish player of the year on four occasions, it takes more to be the number one player in the world.
He referred to Zlatan’s disappointing performance in AC Milan's 3-0 Champions League loss away against Arsenal on Tuesday.
"You have to perform in the big away games. 'Ibra' didn't do that. It's one of the reasons why he won't surpass Messi and Ronaldo," he said, according to the goal.com.
After his team’s defeat to Arsenal, Zlatan said that the performance at the Emirates was not worthy of the seven-time European champions.
"You can lose in many ways but it's not acceptable to lose the way we did this time. We're Milan and we should be better and more stable than that,“ Ibrahimovic told Swedish journalists on Wednesday.
The big striker also said he felt uneasy with the 4-3-3-formation coach Massimiliano Allegri had opted for at kick-off, although he blamed the performance on careless mistakes.
"We were too cautious and we didn't try to play our match. Throughout the whole period of playing three up top I felt out of position," Zlatan told the gathered press.
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It doesnt take a genius to know Messi and Ronaldo are 1 and 2. I would say Ibra's about 10th at the very best. Inesta, Xavi, Rooney, Pato, Cavani, Tevez, Silva, Drogba, Gourcuff, Van Persie, Van Der Vaart, Modric....all these players are better than Ibra.
You would never have him in your team because he is so lazy. His one moment of exceptional technique is offset by the 89 mins that he doesnt show for.
Although, the local being swedish, they are probably singing their home tune. I'm going to go on USA Today now and read "Is Clint Dempsey the worlds 4th best player"!!
'Zlatan' is a big guy who will always be dangerous to defend against - but the quality of the support play is crucial too.
'Zlatan' is no better than a lot of other 'forward' players
In any event, Ibra isn't a great - all indexes agree on the current No1 (& No2)
1) S.Larsson
2) Kallstrom
3) Three Legged Pedegree Chum Donkey
Not much better in World Rankings:
1 - Messi
2 - Ronaldo
3) - Xavi
4) - Rooney
5) - Van Persie
6) - Innesta
7) - Aguero
283) Ibrahimovic
But hey don´t bring the man down, he is an effective player, he has training discipline and great condition, hate all this comparisons, he does his job and does it well, keep up Zlatan with the good work... Might act like an un educated fool however do understand his background and at the end of the day he is no danger to society and is a healthy athlete that could be seen as a role for many kids!!!
I think there are many players better than him. Cavani, Aguero, Rooney, Silva, Xavi, Iniesta. Seriously I don't understand why anyone would say he is number three. It sounds absolutely ridiculous and anyone who knows a thing or two about football would say the same.
God, I even think Seb Larsson is better than him.
Way to go TheLocal, all united against the most over rated player ever!
Zlatan is a product of the Swedish tabloids. Yes, the Aftonbladets and Expressens who are always in the need of someone who can sell more copies. Zlatan is nothing more than an overrated, an excessively valued football player, because, otherwise, the tabloids would have nobody to talk about.
Besides, in my opinion, if a player is always waiting for another player in his team to pass him the ball, sooner or later he will make a goal. Perhaps I am wrong, but I have not seen him actually planning a play in order to achieve the goal, which is what the game is all about. If he is the majority of the times (again my opinion) just waiting for the food (ball) to be served at his feet, he will suceed making goals.
Rating him above Messi, Ronaldo, Eto and others is, either a joke, or a I do not know what.
One can I can assure: His mouth is better than his feet.
There's no doubt he has amazing skills, technique and vision, I admire him for that, and he has won the league he's played in the last 7 years in a row with his last 5 clubs.
I dont think anyone else has done this, and it shows he is a team player despite his style.
Everyone knows about his attitude and perceived work-rate, but we only know about what we hear from the media and choose to see...
I'm not a fan of his, but you can't deny his achievements at club level, there's no need to be so negative people!
If you havent heard of the WhoScored index, then you probably dont have much of an interest in statistics. They do a lot of updates via Twitter covering almost all elite European football.
Trouble is these-days a lot of kids opinions come from playing FIFA 12, not from actually watching these players week-in-week-out!!