Zlatan Ibrahimović, Senior Advisor at RedBird for AC Milan, recently gave a long interview to the podcast (Ne)uspjeh prvaka ("(Un)success of the Champion"), where he explained how he feels today:
"Everything I experienced as a player also shaped me as a person. Everything I learned, the environment around me, the mentality, the people who surrounded me, that's what made me who I am today. I move forward with that same mentality, that same discipline. Everything is the result of who I was as a player and the goals I've always had. I've always looked for a winning mentality. It's not that I don't know how to lose, I have lost and I will lose again, but it's not in my nature. I have to win, I want to win, and I know how to win. That's who I am. I can't do things like a normal person. I always try to be at the top, I don't settle for less, I don't have it in me. I want to be different from the others, and that's why I'm the best. That's how I see it. And that applies to everything."
Ibrahimovic, would you ever become a coach?
"No. When you've been a top-level player, it's not the same… Coaching is a completely different world. It helps a little bit, but many people make the mistake of thinking that because they were great players, they will automatically be great coaches. I suffer because I can no longer play, help my teammates, make a difference, play and win. I felt alive. I stepped onto the pitch and someone had to win. For me, losing was hard, but we're not superheroes. When I didn't win, it felt like I wasn't alive. The hardest part of my job now is that I can't help the players, the coaches, the fans, the club the way I used to. I'm learning to do it in a different way, but it's difficult because I lived that adrenaline for 25 years. I'm getting better at it, but if a player wants to become a coach, he has to learn and start from zero. The problem is that they can't, they bring their ego and they start straight at the highest level. That's the biggest mistake you can make. If you start from the bottom, the consequences aren't the same as when you start at the top. People will judge you later by your results. You learn from mistakes, you have to make them. I would start with kids. If you have a big name, the professionals will pick you straight away, but then you make mistakes and everything becomes very difficult. Today in the big clubs you don't have to do very much. Many people see football as a science, but really you just need to choose eleven men, get inside their heads, motivate them. In smaller clubs you actually have to work much more, but too many today want to reinvent football, want to be the main character. The main actors are the players. Some coaches overthink, as if everything can be programmed. A coach improves with experience. His career isn't like a player's career, there is stress, there are catastrophic moments, but it's the result of experience that shows how intelligent you are and how much. Everyone wants to invent football."
How would you compare Zlatan the player with Zlatan the executive?
"I'm the same person, only now I look at football from a different perspective. Before I didn't have answers, now I understand why certain things couldn't be done. You have to look at the whole package, we are a business. To bring in players you need balance, sponsors, television, fans, selling rights… I'm learning all of this now and I'm more humble. I'm not aggressive, I observe. But when it comes to talking about football, I'm more direct, I know what I'm talking about. They are two completely different worlds."
What do you think of modern football?
"I played football. Anyone who has played knows that even 50 years ago you could play the same way as today. The only difference is that now it's faster and the players are real athletes. Tactics have changed, but the way of playing hasn't. A player has quality, the coach has to build the team. Now I'm patient. Before, nobody could stop me or hold me back, I wanted everything immediately. If I had to go headfirst into a wall, I would do it."
What differences are there between you and your children?
"I have more money than my parents ever had. Money definitely makes things easier, but it doesn't bring happiness. I teach my kids discipline, respect and independence. My children didn't have phones until they were 13. Even today they don't have Instagram, the oldest one only for football, the other one doesn't have it at all. Until 14, nothing. We lived in Beverly Hills, everyone had drivers, I made them ride two bikes. One day it was funny, it was raining and I told them: 'You're going by bike anyway.' I was hard, strict, tough, but it's for their own good. I was very protective, maybe I isolated them too much, but I'm a well-known person and I wanted to avoid anything bad happening."
Tell us something we don't know.
"I had to finish a treadmill session after I'd injured my knees. Six times two minutes of fast running with 3-second breaks. I was near the end, I really needed to go to the bathroom, but I couldn't stop. I kept running, and running… and I sh*t myself. But I continued running. I had decided in my head that I had to finish. If I cheat, I cheat myself. I lose, not you."
Ibrahimovic, what do you hate seeing today?
"The worst thing at Milan is when I see young academy players treating other kids differently. They're all equal. One may be more talented, but everyone must have the same opportunities. At PSG I was supposed to walk onto the pitch with a kid, then a man came and told me to go with another one because he was more important. I said no, because we're all equal. That's in my head. After that, it's up to you."
