MLS: The defence, and criticism, of Zlatan Ibrahimovic elbow

Zlatan Ibrahimovic avoided a suspension for his elbow in El Trafico last week. There is a defence to be made for his play, but his complaints of MLS hunting him for his physical style fall somewhat on deaf ears.

Football is a contact sport. It often might not look like one. And sometimes, it is not played or refereed like one. But it is a contact sport. You are allowed to contact other players with your body to benefit yourself, as long as you abide by the rules of the game.

And there are certain players — and make-ups of physical components — that are greater aided by the game being more physical. If you are extremely strong or tall or powerful or well-balanced when being pushed or shoulder-barged you will benefit from a match being more physical.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is unquestionably one of these players. He is almost 6-foot-4, is built like a rock, and possesses deceptive explosiveness, meaning he can jump high and burst into space quickly. He is more effective when he is allowed to play in a physical manner. And so, he plays in the grey area a lot of the time, jumping for headers, pushing defenders, and generally making his imposing presence known in a very physical, sometimes illegal, manner. He has now brought this style to MLS.

This week, Zlatan was not suspended for an elbow on Mohamed El-Munir. The LAFC defender jumped for a header and as the Swede jumped higher, his left arm came crashing into El-Munir’s face, who has since undergone surgery in hospital for a facial fracture. It was a nasty clash. But was it an illegal one?

Well, perhaps not. Yes, he led with his elbow when jumping, but he did not aim for El-Munir, his eyes did not look at the defender before or during his jump, although he would have known that he was there, and he was propelling himself up to head the ball. As Zlatan said himself, these types of challenges happen in a contact sport. He did not mean to harm El-Munir; it was simply a natural consequence of the way he jumped, which is in the grey area of legal.

Nevertheless, this week, Zlatan then said this about his physical style of play and the response of MLS and those involved in MLS to it:

"“I feel like I am hunted. But when you are the best, you’re hunted. The only thing I say is I hope it’s not personal [that] everybody says this, because personal and professional is two different things. And I hope the referee has a fair view on the whole thing.”"

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And this is where my defence of the Swede ends. While I would roughly agree with not suspending him for this challenge, though I can at least understand the opposite viewpoint, Ibrahimovic cannot play in the on-the-line manner that he does without expecting some form of response or backlash, not all of which is going to be positive.

His naturally aggressive and confrontational style is what has brought him such relentless and inexorable success throughout his career. But it will also bring criticism, especially from those who pursue a more pure form of the game. And it should. Ibrahimovic does cross the line at times. He has done in the past. He will do so in the future. These instances will occur when you play in the manner that he does, and this he cannot escape from, no matter whether he feels he is being ‘hunted’ or not.

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So not punishing him for this elbow, I believe, is the right decision. But conversely, this does not give Zlatan the right to complain about the MLS response. He plays in the way that he does because it helps him, but he must also accept that there are repercussions to that.

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