Jose Mourinho defends Zlatan Ibrahimovic amidst goal crisis

11/05/2016

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has defended the form of his summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic stating that the Swede is creating chances for others even if he is not scoring himself. Ibrahimovic has not scored a single goal since his goal against Manchester City early September.

Ibrahimovic is now on a seven-game barren run for the red devils after scoring three in his first three games for the club. The former Sweden captain, who played under Mourinho when the Portugese managed Inter Milan, has come under a lot of scrutiny recently, but the United boss says that his impact on the game cannot be judged on goals alone.

"He is playing well for the team. He's creating a lot of chances, he is missing a lot of goals," Mourinho said ahead of the clash against Swansea.

"If I remember Stoke, Liverpool, Chelsea, Burnley, he missed a lot of goals but he was fantastic in his dynamic, his working, his building up for the team, he was fantastic."

"In every match in the Premier League, even not scoring goals he's being fantastic. His attitude is always brilliant. He's not a guy afraid of his responsibility, so no problem at all."

Mourinho also issued a rallying cry before the Swansea game asking his players to show stronger attitude in games. The former Chelsea boss, who had criticized his players after the loss to Fenerbahce, added that the players had to act like leaders in the field if they want to turn their season around.

"It can happen everywhere," Mourinho said when talking about the number of early goals the club had conceded lately.

"There are so many examples in football where people score goals in the first minutes. Nobody is free of that. But with a stronger attitude, leadership on the pitch, defenders in control of the emotion and the organisation, it's easier to be strong, it's easier to be solid."

United will hope to end their four game win-less streak when they face Swansea at the Liberty on Sunday.