Zlatan Ibrahimovic did his usual thing when he arrived in MLS, declaring himself a god, so on and so forth, but now he’s grasping at straws with the LA Galaxy.
While I do enjoy Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s antics just as much as the next guy, I am finding a surprise sense of joy seeing him and his team struggle in MLS. The LA Galaxy are sputtering this year, even after having landed the Swedish behemoth, and this can’t be easy for someone like Zlatan, who doesn’t particularly enjoy being made irrelevant.
But that won’t stop the antics. No, of course it won’t. Zlatan has gone on the Late, Late Show With James Corden and “predicted” that there will be trophies in the future of the LA Galaxy. That’s cute.
Zlatan also highlighted that it was the defense that was having the most problems, and it’s easy to see that the defense is certainly not living up to needed standards, but there isn’t much to brag about on a Zlatan-led offense either.
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Since their dramatic, Zlatan-induced win over cross-town rival LAFC, the Galaxy have amassed all of five goals in five games, losing four of those five, and winning a drab 1-0 affair against Chicago.
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Zlatan has not been a goal-machine. He has not found MLS to be to loving, warm, snuggly shores that I’m sure he thought they might be. This is made even clearer by the dramatic entrance that he made, both on social media and against LAFC.
While the season is far from over, there are problems on this club that are holding them back beyond what a Zlatan can fix. He is, though he would never admit it, just one man, and this team had not yet found their feet around him.
On the bright side, the Western Conference is far more forgiving than the East, and given the playoff schematic, there is still a very high likelihood that the Galaxy can sneak into the playoffs and, from there, it’s anyone’s game. In an MLS season where any and all advantages are counted, the Galaxy can count on experience and prolificity in the playoffs, something that Zlatan will not lose.
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Personally, I enjoy seeing foreign stars, particularly ego-maniacs like Zlatan, struggle in MLS. The reputation of the league still doesn’t hold much water, but seeing someone like Zlatan, who is a larger than life personality, struggle adds a certain amount of validity to the claims that MLS 3.0 is here.