Ibrahimovic played under Mourinho at Inter Milan and says the Portuguese was an inspirational coach due to his man-management style and tactical nous.
"Mourinho would become a guy I was basically willing to die for," he wrote in his autobiography I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"He works twice as hard as all the rest. Lives and breathes football 24/7. 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.
"It was a while before I met him. He's elegant, he's confident, but I was surprised. He looked small next to the players but I sensed it immediately: there was this vibe around him.
"Mourinho created personal ties with the 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."
Ibrahimovic went on to make a big-money move to Barcelona in 2009 but spent just a year at Camp Nou and he blames Guardiola for his troubles.
Recalling one incident when he lost his temper after Barca lost to Mourinho's Inter in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and he had angrily shouted at his manager, Ibrahimovic said: "I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward."
No comments:
Post a Comment