MN: ‘Boss’ before the game, absent after – Ibrahimovic’s words and actions differ | OneFootball

A lot has been written about Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s absence from Italy over the past couple of weeks, and his long-awaited interview before the game against Liverpool last night has drawn further scrutiny.

As MilanNews recall, Ibrahimovic returned on Monday with Gerry Cardinale leaving the country after watching the Venezia game in person. Zlatan spoke to the cameras, but the impression – once again – was that of a director who does not want to step out of character.

“I’m in charge, I’m the boss and everything else works for me,” he said prior to the match. This is a statement that you rarely (if ever) hear from a club director. The interview with Sky was a chauvinistic discussion about being the boss, and keeping kittens under control as the lion, hardly helpful for fans.

The frostiness with Zvonimir Boban must be noted as well, the same man who contributed to his return to Milan when he was a player. In short, Zlatan might now be in a suit and tie and at the beginning of a career away from football, but his personality has not changed

Ibrahimovic said that he is the boss of everything and everyone, yet he did not show his face at the end of the match. Paulo Fonseca went in front of the media instead, as he is obliged to as head coach, facing the music from the Sky panel who picked apart the faults in his team.

Fonseca was the head coach chosen by Ibra and had to be defended a few days before a derby that Milan has already lost six times in the last six games. There were jeers and boos at the end of last night’s game, something that has not been seen this early in a manager’s reign since Marco Giampaolo.