Zlatan Ibrahimovic says Jose Mourinho has got maximum from Manchester United squad
Sunday 9 April 2017 12:36, UK
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says Jose Mourinho has squeezed everything he can out of Manchester United's squad this season but dropped a heavy hint that it is lacking in quality.
United headed into the Nissan Super Sunday clash with Sunderland seven points adrift of the Premier League's top four and in the knowledge their best chance of Champions League football could come from winning the Europa League.
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Ibrahimovic and Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford to much fanfare last summer, and United have only lost three games in the league all season, but a 20-game unbeaten run has not been enough to lift them any higher than sixth because of a series of frustrating draws.
"I think Mourinho is doing maximum with the team he has," said Ibrahimovic, who has scored a total of 27 goals in his first season in England. "Absolutely. He is getting 200 per cent out of the team he has.
"I know him very well from the past. I think he is older and he is calmer, but he is still the same winner as before.
"I mean the mentality is there - because that you don't lose. When you have it, you have it. It is nothing you learn, it is nothing you try to be. Either you are or you are not at winner.
"That's why I think his season has been good. We have done a good season for the team we have. We have won two trophies and I think the coach is doing absolutely the maximum with the team.
"Of course, some games you are unlucky, some games you are lucky, some games you do mistakes, some games the mistakes can be accepted but you still get a win.
"This is part of the game. If we were good enough to be No 1, we would be No 1 in the table now. So we have to be realistic - and I think this season has been great."
Ibrahimovic is yet to confirm whether he will stay at United beyond his debut season but his renewed relationship with Mourinho is one he clearly enjoys.
The pair also worked together at Inter Milan, and Ibrahimovic added: "The manager likes to look you in your eyes and tell you...and I prefer that.
"He is direct and at least he sends you the message of what he thinks. He is the boss, he decides and he controls the situation.
"He told us at half-time against Everton that we were not good enough - and it was right that we heard that because we weren't good enough.
"It is the way it works. I am from the old generation and I think the old generation was more like that."
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