With Zlatan the Rossoneri are roaring back: How a lion helped Milan get their groove back

Take your pick.

Take your pick of any of the absurd things Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said over the years. It doesn’t matter which one, they’re all relevant.

Let’s go with his Twitter bio.

“Lions don’t compare themselves to humans.”

It’s exactly the sort of obnoxious nonsense that is eaten up on social media by like-minded people. It’s one of the many reasons that people love to hate Ibrahimovic.

But he keeps on producing the goods. Year after year, and as long as he keeps doing that he is more than entitled to say whatever he wants. Who’s going to tell him he can’t? Not this writer that’s for sure.

On Sunday evening Ibrahimovic scored a brace as AC Milan went to Napoli and won 3-1, the first time they had won in Naples since 2010. It took Ibrahimovic to 10 goals in just six Serie A appearances this season. He is the first player ever aged 38 or over to score at least ten goals in a season for a team in Europe’s top five leagues.

Ibrahimovic made his professional debut for Malmo in 1999. Between then and now he has hit double digits for league goals in all but six of his seasons. To put it another way this is the NINETEENTH time he has reached 10 or more league goals for a campaign. Allow me to give you a little more information about those six times he didn’t reach 10. One was his very first season for Malmo as a professional, where he played just six times. One was his last season for Malmo when he played just eight times. One was his last season in Ajax when he played just three times and a fourth was his last season with Manchester United when he played just five times. That means across his entire professional career Ibrahimovic has just two seasons where he played more than 10 times and didn’t reach 10 goals. Heck one of those was his first season in Holland with Ajax.

It’s absolutely astonishing. You can say what you like about him but you can’t deny his greatness. People can knock him for not winning the Champions League but it’s a shame people would be so petty as to not enjoy one of the most gifted players we’ve ever seen.

What he has done for this Milan team is remarkable. Last season from the moment he returned to Europe in the winter only Atalanta had a better points per game than Milan. In an article for The Athletic before this weekend James Horncastle documents how Ibrahimovic’s infamous agent, Mino Raiola, told him he could not retire with the LA Galaxy in MLS and he had to return to Europe. Ibrahimovic asked who needed him the most, Raiola told him Milan were interested and the rest is history.

"Ibrahimovic represented the breaking point with the past," explains Eurosport Italy's Matteo Zorzoli. "Zlatan has embraced Elliott's project as a mental leader, revitalizing players who were dominated by San Siro like Calhanoglu and leading young people like Leao and Brahim Diaz."

"Ibrahimovic's impact on Milan's results has been devastating: since he landed in Milan, the Devil has gone from 12th place to the top, inspiring a streak of 20 consecutive useful results. From this point of view, the Swedish represented the turning point for the club, which, however, was not Cristiano Ronaldo for Juve: the Portuguese also put his signature on the Scudetto monopoly, but not on Champions League."

But it’s not just Ibrahimovic. Sporting Director Paolo Maldini stressed in the Athletic article mentioned above how important it is to surround stars with talent. They certainly have done that.

Theo Hernandez looks like one of the best left-backs in Europe and centrally Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessie are a fabulous midfield pairing. Gianluigi Donnarumma remains a very young and very excellent goalkeeper, even if his contract situation is unclear. Speaking of young talent 21-year-old Jens Petter Hauge, signed from new Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt, scored his first goal on Sunday. Elsewhere players like Hakan Calhanoglu and Davide Calabria look reborn.

A lot of the praise should go to manager Stefano Pioli. He was hired in October 2019 after a disastrous start to the season under Marco Giampaolo. If you read the Italian papers you would have assumed that Pioli, who had never lasted more than three seasons at a club, was merely a stop-gap between Ralf Rangnick. However after such a brilliant end to the season, and a clear harmony within the dressing room, Pioli was rewarded with a two-year extension.

Pioli kept Milan going when Ibrahimovic was missing through injury and coronavirus. He’s led the team to their first win over Juventus since 2016, first away win against arch-rivals Inter since 2010 and first win at Lazio since 2015. To go with the curse-ending win at Napoli. If Milan continue at this pace they’re going to break their Serie A points record for a season. Even then they could be doing even better, ardent fans will tell you they were hard done by in their draw against Roma.

The entire club deserves credit. For years, in fact almost since the moment Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva were sold to PSG, Milan have been the poster-child for mis-management of a historic club. Ownership changed hand on multiple occasions and Pioli is the ninth manager, permanent or caretaker, since Max Allegri was fired in January 2014.

It’s not unusual for big clubs to falter, that’s part of the circle of the life. What’s important is how you recover. Liverpool are a good example of the right way to rebuild, Manchester United are not. It’s taken a while but it seems as if Milan are finally heading in the right direction. Their fans have heard this story before but it appears have if the Elliott Management Corporation, who bought the club in 2018, know what they’re doing. Don’t understate the role Ivan Gazidis, once of Arsenal, has played either. There is a clear plan from top to bottom, Milan are trying to identify value in the market, they’re building something for the future.

You can’t keep Ibrahimovic away from the headlines though. Pioli missed Sunday’s game after testing positive for Coronavirus during the international break. Former Milan defender Daniele Bonera took charge of the Napoli match with Pioli’s assistant also missing. Ahead of the game Ibrahimovic was asked about this.

“He’s prepared well for the game. Now and then I tell him not to stress out. There’s Ibra. I’ll take care of it.”

He certainly did.