GdS: Referees, renewals, Leao and Conceicao – how ‘Ibrahimovic 2.0’ was born | OneFootball

Since coming back to AC Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been criticised heavily. However, in recent weeks he has begun a redemption arc as such, and now, there is hope again for his future.

Assessing Ibrahimovic is a really difficult thing to do. In some ways, the Swede will always have the ‘boost’ of being a former Milan player, so there will be a bit more love for him than if it was someone else.

Whilst this has a high ceiling, it also has flaws. Ultimately, there is the flipside that Ibra, as a Milanisti, should be doing everything to have the Rossoneri at their best, and be a projector for the fans’ ideas in some ways, rather than being a voice for RedBird.

In every aspect, there are positives and negatives, and the first 12 months were largely negative from the perspective of the fans, but recently that momentum is slightly switching it seems.

Gazzetta dello Sport writes that the most crucial part of his role is timing, and Ibra is still working on that, but progress is being made.

It starts with the false premise of no problems, Ibra has often repeated that there have been ‘no problems’ this season, despite almost everything else suggesting that there have been. Of course, there was backlash to this, and whilst he may believe this mantra, there is a time and a place.

Next, there are the issues to solve everything. On the pitch, Zlatan’s work was narrowed to just ninety minutes, but off it, we assume his clock is much longer. Unfortunately, winning a Scudetto cannot be done behind a desk in a short period. It requires extensive time and planning.

Referees cannot be fixed by the management, renewals can be, but there are other parties also involved. Then, there are the issues with Leao, which also cannot solely be sorted by Zlatan, and then Conceicao and results, which also cannot be fixed with a snap of the fingers.

Whilst he can speak on matters, as he has done regularly, his words must have meaning, especially in his position – they cannot be empty.

The report also includes a fitting reference to Spider-Man, though the Swede would probably prefer Lion-Man, anyway, ‘with great power comes great responsibilities’ and Ibra must learn this, just as Peter Parker did.

If he fails to, he will only harm his own legacy.