Abhranil Roy
I guess it was something that we all knew was going to happen, but no one had predicted it in the way it did happen. Eric Cantona versus Zlatan Ibhrahimovic was always going to be awesome, but the way the fight has kicked off even before the Swedish legend has taken the pitch is nothing short of an epic. The Frenchman had welcomed the former PSG hitman saying that it would be the biggest honour in his career to play in United’s red, but he will never be the King of Manchester, but can be the Prince at most. Zlatan, who has a reputation for brash words, retorted by saying that he has not come here to the be the Prince, but to be the God. The verbal war has begun, but it remains to be seen whether Zlatan can reach the levels of Cantona or not. Let’s examine:
Their careers:
While Ibrahimovic has played in Spain, Italy, Sweden, Holland and France, Cantona had stayed in England all his life, signing for us from Leeds United back in 1992. While the former Milan forward is yet to make his official debut for us, Eric has 82 goals under his belt, and had even captained us to our first league title in 26 years in 1993, and enjoyed a period of sustained dominance under Fergie’s tutelage back in the 90s.
Their charisma:
This is one department in which both these strikers match each other almost equally is their charisma. While Cantona repeatedly fell into trouble with the authorities for his brashness, Zlatan has suffered a lot of ridicule and hate for his arrogance and brashness. He even has a twitter hashtag in his name called “#DareToZlatan”. However, they are both experts in silencing their critics on the field.
Their effect:
Cantona changed the way Manchester United saw things, and he is easily one of our greatest ever players and characters. Red Mancunians still worship him and Old Trafford still sings his name, although he retired prematurely and doesn’t even have a 100 goals for us. While Zlatan may have been one of the finest centre forwards in the last decade or so, he is still yet to do something that would ignite the Stetford End, so he has a long, long way to go before he is anywhere close to the ” God” title.
Conclusion—- Fanview:
It’s obvious that Zlatan suffers from a narcissistic complex, but it obviously feeds him off. As long as he scores goals for us, like he did at all his previous clubs, no one will mind his little banters. However, at 34 years of age and on a one year contract, after suffering from a poor performance in the Euros, it’s hard to imagine him doing things that would edge him past the great Eric Cantona.
