Zlatan Ibrahimovic takes aim at ‘spineless coward’ and questions Ten Hag ‘treatment’ of Man Utd stars
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reignited his feud with former boss Pep Guardiola as well as questioning Erik ten Hag’s treatment of Manchester United’s players.
Ibrahimovic struggled to see eye to eye with Guardiola during his one-season stay at Barcelona in 2009/10, famously describing the Spaniard as a “spineless coward” in his autobiography.
In an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV, Ibrahimovic recalled the pair clashing on one of the first occasions he met Guardiola, who took a dim view on players turning up to training in luxury cars.
He said: “When I met Pep Guardiola, he told me: ‘Remember, the players here do not come with Ferraris.’
“What did I do? Of course, I brought my f***ing Ferrari. I yelled: ‘You haven’t got any b***s'” and worse than that I added: ‘You can go to hell!'”
Ibrahimovic then turned his attention from one bald-headed tactician to another as he reflected on the struggles of Ten Hag at Manchester United.
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The Dutch coach – who briefly worked alongside Guardiola at Bayern Munich between 2013 and 2015 – enjoyed an encouraging first campaign at Old Trafford last season by securing a top-four finish as well as Carabao Cup success at Wembley.
However, Manchester United currently sit 10th in the Premier League table having lost four of their opening seven fixtures, with Ten Hag’s side also losing the first two matches of their Champions League campaign against Bayern and Galatasaray.
With Ten Hag under mounting pressure, Ibrahimovic – who excelled in a short stay at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho between 2016 and 2018 – believes the former Ajax manager has underestimated the demands of managing one of the world’s biggest clubs.
He explained: “Coming from Ajax to United, as he did, is a big difference. I have been in both clubs. You have a different kind of discipline.
“Ajax is a talented club. They have the best talents in the club. They don’t have big stars. What is the experience of this coach? Young talents, he comes to United, it is a different mentality.
“The players there are supposed to be big stars. I don’t think you give the same treatment.
“How much time do you give a coach? It depends on the owners, what they want, but if you listen to the fans, you don’t have a lot of time because they want to win, and I understand them because they are used to winning and they want to still win.”
Ibrahimovic’s comments come after reports emerged that the atmosphere within Manchester United – both in and out of the dressing room – has turned “toxic”, with players dissatisfied with Ten Hag’s cold demeanour and his disciplinarian stance.
Manchester United will be aiming to get their season back on track when they host Brentford on Saturday, with Thomas Frank’s side memorably inflicting a 4-0 defeat on Ten Hag last season in just his second league game in charge.
