Manchester United: Ibrahimovich ban could be the end of top four hopes

Manchester United have suffered a major blow after Zlatan Ibrahimovich was banned for three games by the FA.

Zlatan Ibrahimovich has paid the price for his actions against Bournemouth last weekend. The Manchester United striker elbowed Cherries defender Tyrone Mings in the head whilst jumping for a header.

Now the English FA have taken the appropriate action by dishing out a three-game ban to United’s talisman. The ban means Ibrahimovich will miss the Red Devils’ FA Cup game with Chelsea next Monday.

On top of that, the Swede will also miss two Premier League games against Middlesbrough and West Brom. Ibrahimovich and Mings had been battling all game on Saturday, and the dual resulted in two serious incidents.

Mings stamped on Ibrahimovich’s head and was also subsequently charged by the FA. However, the defender chose to appeal his charge, whilst the United striker accepted and has now been handed his three-game ban to serve.

With United currently sitting in 6th position, the ban comes at exactly the wrong time for United. The club’s top four hopes are resting in the balance, and missing Ibrahimovich is not about to help matters.

The Swede has scored 15 Premier League goals, but the next best for United is Juan Mata on just six. Of United’s other strikers, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have scored three league goals apiece, while Wayne Rooney has scored two.

Replacing Ibrahimovich is going to be a tall order. Jose Mourinho just doesn’t have anybody that stands out as being that guy to step in right now. Rooney became Manchester United’s highest ever scorer this season, but the 31-year-old stuttered over the line.

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Rooney isn’t in the kind of form where you expect he can step in at a moment’s notice and get the job done. Martial has struggled for form all season and has only shown glimpses of what he is capable of.

Rashford has put in the best performances of the three, but has been playing out wide. Now, if chosen to play centrally, all the pressure will be on the 19-year-old to deliver. On the face of it, it’s only three games to deal with.

But after those three games, United may be out of the FA Cup and a have little chance of achieving a top four position. The season would be almost over but for the Europa League. And since when has the Europa League ever been a defining competition for a club like Manchester United?

The three games Zlatan will miss are no pushovers, either. Chelsea at Stamford Bridge speaks for itself. Meanwhile, Middlesbrough and West Brom are two good defensive teams. Whilst neither will pose too much threat to United offensively, it’s defensively where the complications come in.

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Both will be tough to break down and score against. But United will have to find a way past those stubborn back lines. A way other than Zlatan Ibrahimovich, that is. Which this season, hasn’t been seen very often.

United have relied on Zlatan extensively. Overly so. Which is great when he’s in the team and firing for you. But now without him, the Red Devils might just find out how over-reliant on Zlatan Ibrahimovich they have been.

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