Everton’s coach Ronald Koeman says Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a difficult player to handle as a young man. Koeman was the coach of Ajax when Zlatan played there as a young player. Knowing the shenanigans the more matured Zlatan could be up to, like how his elbow could be at an angle where players can run into it, Zlatan as a young man is better imagined.
“He is still one of the best and I still admire the boy,” he told reporters. “I know him really well, and he is still showing really well at his age, being still so important for the team and scoring goals, showing he’s still one of the best — I have great respect for him.
“I’m not surprised [by his continued success] because he really has that talent and he’s so strong, and maybe mentally he’s one of the strongest players I know.”
Discussing his experiences managing Ibrahimovic, he said: “He was young and sometimes also difficult!
“Yeah, but, OK, it’s normal. I’m also better now to handle for a coach than when I was 19.
“And he was funny but sometimes difficult because when I was at Ajax we had a lot of young players at that time — [Wesley] Sneijder, [Rafael] van der Vaart, [Nigel] de Jong, [John] Heitinga, Mido, Zlatan. We had really big talents at that time, but all were 19, driving Porsches, driving Ferraris … eh?! New generation.
“Stories? I tell you about it Wednesday.”
Ibrahimovic is set to return to play against Koeman’s Everton after serving a three-match suspension, he has scored 15 Premier League goals so far and is Manchester United’s top-scorer..
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via GET Sportonline
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