I don’t care about reliance on Ibrahimovic – Mourinho

 Zlatan Ibrahimovic.


Jose Mourinho has said that he does not care that Manchester United have been relying on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goals recently.
Ibrahimovic scored both of United’s goals in a 2-0 win away against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, meaning he has netted 10 goals in his last nine appearances for the club.
The striker also rescued United on Wednesday with a late winner in the 2-1 victory away to Crystal Palace, which followed the 1-0 win over Tottenham on Dec. 11.
When asked about the reliance on Ibrahimovic, Mourinho told BT Sport: “No, I don’t care. We need to score more goals than the opponents and we managed to do that in the last three matches.
“We took nine points in a period when we really needed them. We were tired of playing well and drawing matches.”
On former Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain striker Ibrahimovic, he said: “I keep saying that, for me, it is not his body — it is more up here [in the head].
“It is a pleasure to see him play, his happiness. It’s fantastic for a 35-year-old guy.”
The United manager added on BBC Sport: “I’m so pleased for him [Ibrahimovic]. He is the kind of player who doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone but when he decided to come to England for the last period of his career — to the most difficult championship in the world — I think he proved he is a superman in his mentality.
“What he is doing at 35 is a dream for every striker of 25 in the Premier League. I need to give him a rest. Now we have a little rest for the first time. It is not just him but everybody.”
Mourinho said the performance of his team in general was “very good” on Saturday.
He added: “We played really well at Crystal Palace and today, even better. We were always in control against a very difficult team. We could have scored the second goal earlier, when Rooney hit the post and Lingard missed a chance, but we still showed our maturity and consistency, and we defended well. I’m very happy for them.”
United went ahead in the fifth minute when Jesse Lingard produced an impressive run and cross for Ibrahimovic to head in. The Swede added his second in the 56th minute when he flicked the ball up, found space and scored with a deflected strike.
Ibrahimovic said: “It went good. It was a difficult game, which we were prepared for. We said it would be even more difficult than Crystal Palace and the guys did a fantastic job. This game, we won collectively.
“I’m feeling good. At the end, I felt a little bit tired. When the team is doing good, it is easier, but the most important thing is the three points.
“We work hard. We are always doing sacrifices for each other.”
United kept a third clean sheet in four games in all competitions, with Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo again impressing in central defence. With Chris Smalling coming off the bench at The Hawthorns, United also have another option to choose from.
Jones said: “I think we controlled them [West Brom] very well, right from the first whistle. We knew it was going to be a fight here.”