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5 Christmas gifts fans of Manchester United deserve this season

By Abdullah Mamaniyat

Manchester United FC players celebrate after scoring a goal during the UEFA Europa League football match between FC Zorya Luhansk and Manchester United FC at the Chornomorets stadium in Odessa on December 8, 2016. / AFP / SERGEI SUPINSKY (Photo credit should read SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)
Manchester United FC players celebrate after scoring a goal during the UEFA Europa League football match between FC Zorya Luhansk and Manchester United FC at the Chornomorets stadium in Odessa on December 8, 2016. / AFP / SERGEI SUPINSKY (Photo credit should read SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images) /
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5 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic playing like he’s 20.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is setting the standards at Manchester United even at 35 years of age
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is setting the standards at Manchester United even at 35 years of age /

A few years ago it was the (boy) voice inside Robin Van Persie’s head screaming for Manchester United, and this time it’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s telling him that he’s a 20-year-old boy again.

And the crazy part? We truly believe him. Whilst we all may have expected goals from Zlatan in a red shirt this season, no-one quite expected him to be firing on all fronts this easily at the age of 35 years old.

Most strikers would be enjoying their twilight year as a frontman at that age, but then again Zlatan isn’t ‘most strikers’, is he? 16 goals for United by December tells a story on its own, with him closing in on Anthony Martial’s tally of 17 in 2015/16 which earned him the right of being called the club’s top scorer of last season.

His importance to this side and to Mourinho cannot quite be exaggerated enough, with Mourinho calling him ‘undroppable’ even when he was failing to find the back of the net earlier in November for a relatively short period of time.

The only concern that there is would be the reality of Ibra not actually being 20 anymore, and resting him through certain games over the next few months will be necessary to avoid an early burnout. With this being his first season in England and no winter break unlike his other spells in Italy, Spain and France, the worry is fatigue that naturally comes with playing 5 or so games in the space of two weeks like United have, or the 4 that they will play within the next two weeks.

With each game being as important as the last, it almost becomes more and more important for Ibrahimovic to play and score since the misfiring Marcus Rashford is going through a mini-crisis of his own in his young career.

As long as Ibrahimovic is well-managed throughout the season, which having the elite Mourinho in charge will reassure, United will be just fine with the Swede star up front strutting his stuff.

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