Why a Move From His Comfort Zone Could be Exactly What Ibrahimovic Needs
Fantastic in Italy, average everywhere else. What is it that prevents Zlatan Ibrahimovic from truly fulfilling his potential on the big stage, and what can be done about it?
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Time and time again the man dubbed as ‘best player in the world’ by some, is something of an anti climax on the big stage. Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Italy is a magical player, sometimes referred to as ‘Ibracadabra’ because of his enigmatic style of play. Often his own team mates can’t keep up with what he’s doing because he’s so full of flair and unpredictability. If you’ve only ever seen him in Champions League and international football however then you probably won’t know what on earth I’m going on about. So why can’t this truly gifted footballer become anything more than average outside of his comfort zone?
In all likelihood the answer is probably because he puts too much pressure on himself. He knows how talented he is and also knows too well the expectation that comes with it. Instead of thriving on the bigger stage like fellow ‘best player in the world’ Ronaldo, he gets frustrated and lets it all pile on top of him. The result is a gritty and unspectacular performance. A similar thing happened to Fernando Torres when he was at Atletico Madrid. Torres’ talent was obvious, and his potential even more so but he just couldn’t get over the expectation that came with it. Suddenly however he found himself at Liverpool and it was all change. The fresh start turned out to be exactly what he needed. Suddenly he was no longer in his Spanish comfort zone and had to sink or swim. He swam magnificently and the rest is history, but could a similar thing work for Ibrahimovic?
A move to England or Spain could actually do Ibrahimovic the world of good. Clearly Serie A is a very comfortable league for him, and so taking him from it and placing him in another big league would suddenly make every game outside of his comfort zone. This way he would have to deal with his big stage problem or sink into the reserves. If it failed and the latter happened then he could always get a move back to Italy. In the end if he wants to leave any kind of legacy outside of Italy then he will certainly have to change something. If he can’t make the change himself, then why not put himself in a situation where the change is made for him?
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