ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC is fully aware what it is like to play for Jose Mourinho.
That is why he is desperate to do so again.
The towering Swedish striker looks set to be reunited with his former Inter
Milan boss as he is close to signing for Manchester United.
In his autobiography I am Zlatan, Ibrahimovic gives an incredible insight into
the man charged with taking the Red Devils back to the top at home and in
Europe.
But while he says the players will be “willing to kill” for Mourinho, Ibra
blasts new Manchester City chief Pep Guardiola as a “spineless coward” in
his book.
Describing his time playing for Mourinho at Inter, Ibrahimovic said: “I’ve
never met a manager with that kind of knowledge about the opposing sides. It
was everything, right down to the third-choice goalkeeper’s shoe size.
“But I was surprised. He looked small next to the players but there was this
vibe around him.
“He got people to toe the line and he went up to guys who thought they were
untouchable and let them have it.
“He stood there, only coming up to their shoulder, and didn’t try to suck up
to them. He got straight to the point: ‘From now on, you do it like this’.
Can you imagine? And everybody started to listen.
“Not that they were frightened of him. He was no Fabio Capello, who was a
demon manager.
“Mourinho created personal ties with players with his text messages and his
knowledge of our situations with wives and children.
“And he didn’t shout. He built us up before matches. It was like theatre, a
psychological game. He might show videos where we’d played badly and say:
‘So miserable! Hopeless! Those guys can’t be you. They must be your
brothers, your inferior selves’.
“And we nodded. We were ashamed.
“‘Go out there like hungry lions’, he added. ‘In the first battle you’ll be
like this’. He pounded his fist against the palm of his open hand.
“‘He gave the flipchart a kick and sent it flying across the room. The
adrenalin pumped inside us and we went out like rabid animals.
“I felt increasingly that this guy gives everything for the team, so I want to
give everything for him. People were willing to kill for him.” Ibrahimovic,
34, spent just one season under Mourinho at Inter as he completed a
hat-trick of Scudettos with the club.
But he missed out on Champions League glory and regrets leaving for
Guardiola’s Barcelona in July 2009, adding: “The feeling was great between
us.”
There has been much talk about Mourinho and Guardiola renewing their rivalry
in Manchester following spats in Spain. But there will be a fascinating
subplot once Ibra’s move to Old Trafford is completed.
The 6ft 3in hitman was unable to hide his dislike of Guardiola in his book and
says the Spaniard blamed him for Barca’s Champions League semi-final exit to
Inter in 2010.
Inter and Mourinho won the final against a Bayern Munich side managed by Louis
van Gaal, who has just been sacked by United.
Ibra said: “Guardiola looked at me as if it was all my fault and I thought:
‘That’s it’. After that match, it felt like I was no longer welcome at the
club.
“I felt like s*** when I sat in the locker room and Guardiola glared at me as
if I was a disturbance, an alien. It was mental.”
Then Ibrahimovic lost it when he was left on the bench until the final five
minutes against Villarreal.
He wrote: “If I’d been Guardiola, I would have been scared. I’ve done all
kinds of s***. I don’t get into punch-ups, though.
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“On the pitch I guess I’ve headbutted a few people. When I get angry, the red
mist descends.
“I went into the locker room and I hadn’t exactly planned any frenzied attack.
But now my enemy was standing there, scratching his head.
“There was the metal box where we put our kit. I gave it a kick. It went
flying about three metres.
“I yelled: ‘You haven’t got any balls!’. Then I added: ‘You’re s*******
yourself in front of Mourinho. You can go to hell!’
“You might have expected Guardiola to say a few words but he’s a spineless
coward. He just picked up the box, like a little caretaker, and left, never
to mention it again.”