Zlatantråden (version 3)

Leo Beenhakker: Yes. We paid Malmö €9m to buy him. That was a record for Ajax. I spent hours trying to convince our finance director. And yet I’d never actually seen Ibrahimović play in a match. Only at training. I’d received a phone call from a contact of mine who said, “Hurry up, come us see this youngster at Malmö.” The team was on a winter training camp in Spain, near Alicante. I watched him and thought, “Jesus Christ, I’ve got to have him!” So we splashed the money after an almighty battle with Malmö. The first week was a disaster. Then after three weeks, the 50,000 supporters at the Arena started whistling him. The coach, the rest of staff, the directors… everyone started avoiding eye contact with me. In the end, there were only two people left who believed in Ibrahimović: Zlatan and me. Then he exploded in to life. But my word it was tough. Everyone wanted to kill me.

Joachim Barbier: Did he already have a big ego?

Leo Beenhakker: Yes, and that’s why I adored him. I loved him, I still love him — I love his personality. I always told my bosses, “Give me 11 arseholes like him and we’ll be champions.” Great players are always strong characters. Do you think it’s easy to manage Hugo Sánchez or a guy like Bernd Schuster? Of course they’re arseholes! But they’ll never let you down on the pitch. They’re capable of changing the course of a game. From the start, Zlatan was a silly sod. In the dressing room, on the pitch, at training, I used to think, “Fucking hell, who is this guy?” That’s why I loved him, because of his nature.

http://www.thefootballramble.com/indepth/entry/beenhakker-on-zlatan