“Fuck off”
That’s the first response — from a Manchester United fan — on Twitter to Zlatan Ibrahimovic tweeting on Friday a photo of himself holding the Europa League champion’s medal after Manchester United beat Ajax in the final in Stockholm in May.
Ibrahimovic is receiving an awful lot of hate from fans of the team he scored 28 goals for last season before going down with a season-ending injury in April. His tweet was innocuous enough, with a picture and the words “Nr 33” in reference to his 33 trophies he’s won throughout his career.
Nr 33 pic.twitter.com/9tdAQMlkuv
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) August 11, 2017
The response was immediate and visceral from Manchester United fans, who apparently want nothing to do with the man who has done nothing but win trophies for a decade. This particular response was just cruel.
Swedish peter crouch I've had enough of him
— Callum (@Callummufc22) August 11, 2017
Twitter is nothing if not a fantastic storytelling platform. The responses play out like a presidential debate, where facts matter not. Don't you just love the internet?
Why do so many United fans hate Ibra?
— IKJ (@Effzehector) August 11, 2017
Missed so many chances last season and was more of a hindrance then anything
— MH (@dyballocks) August 11, 2017
He missed double that.
— Agent Pogba (@dtu_nam) August 11, 2017
Who cares it's unrealistic to expect 60 odd goals
— Ben (@benjmartell) August 11, 2017
You'd be shocked but if he didn't bottle so many chances in October our season would've been much better
— MH (@dyballocks) August 11, 2017
And there it is, Manchester United’s 2016-17 season in six tweets. Sure Jose Mourinho led his team into the Champions League (via the circuitous route of winning the Europa League), but fuck Ibrahimovic for not scoring more than 28 goals! Never mind that no United player had hit for more than 20 since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, that schmuck from Sweden should have finished more chances!
Finally someone chimed in with some sense, suggesting Ibrahimovic, one of the best strikers of the last two decades, would be great to have on the bench in case newcomer Romelu Lukaku and youngster Marcus Rashford get hurt. The response had a bit less sense, suggesting Anthony Martial, who has scored one goal every 3.64 appearances with United, would be a better option at striker in that scenario. Ibrahimovic scored once every 1.64 appearances last season.
The likely hood of them getting injured at the same time is unlikely, plus we have Martial who can play ST
— MH (@dyballocks) August 11, 2017
Ibrahimovic doesn’t need this. He’s the star of an upcoming video game. He’s on money. He’ll soon be a cyborg.
Two fans decided to have a battle of the gifs comparing Lukaku and Ibra. No offense to the Belgian, but he was never going to beat this.
Let me finish this battle of Gif pic.twitter.com/2XF5dTKfL8
— Ibrahima (@Ibraacisse) August 11, 2017
Zlatan may be an old man in soccer terms at 35, but he’s still a potent goal scorer. The last time he failed to score at least 21 goals in a season was 2006-07, his first year with Inter Milan. He’s less than two years removed from hitting for 50 goals with PSG in 2016.
But no, he’s not good enough for Manchester United. There were plenty of messages supporting a return to United, but many were like this.
still less than all your chances missed
— akamargyn (@akamargyn) August 11, 2017
Stay away from my club
— @LvGEffect (@TrademarkLukaku) August 11, 2017
— حمد الدخيّل (@HamadAldokhayel) August 11, 2017
OK, that’s a low blow.
Fu*k you
— Mohammed (@ALOLMOH) August 11, 2017
No, Fu*k you!