Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Sunday said that manager Jose Mourinho can take Manchester United back to the top of English football, but feels the Portuguese has been handicapped by a team that is not “good enough to be No 1”.
United are on a 20-match unbeaten run but that has not stopped fans from criticising Mourinho.
Ibrahimovic feels Mourinho is doing all there is within his powers to aim for the win, but is being held back by a squad which is not up to scratch.
“I think the coach is doing the absolute maximum with the team he has. 200 percent,” Ibrahimovic told the Daily Mail. “If we were good enough to be No. 1, we would be No. 1 in the table.
“He still has the same winning mentality, because that you don’t lose.
“When you have it, you have it. It is nothing you learn or can try to be. Either you are, or you are not.”
Ibrahimovic felt Mourinho’s straight talking personality is what turns off many people, but believes it is this facet that has made their partnership work well.
“I know him very well. He is direct in his work,” Ibrahimovic added. “He likes to look into your eyes and tell you if you’re s**t or not. I prefer that.
“He sends you the message he is thinking and he is the boss, he decides and controls the situation. It is the way it works and I am from the old generation, which I think was more like that.
“At half-time against Everton he told us we were not good enough. We should hear it because we were not.”