LOS ANGELES — LA Galaxy supertstar Zlatan Ibrahimović, with a new contract in hand, is ready to avenge a disappointing first season in MLS.
His personal performance wasn’t disappointing, especially coming off a knee injury. But finishing in seventh place, outside of the playoffs and without a chance to win a title, was unacceptable by his standards.
“First season was more about how do I feel, and what level I am [at], especially after my injury,” he said Saturday at MLS media day. “Didn’t play soccer for one and a half years. But it took me 10 minutes and I showed the world who I was and I showed them that I’m still here and I’m still alive. That was important for me.
“It felt good individually. Collectively, we were not successful, but this is the second year I get the chance to play.”
Ibrahimović is a designated player now after spending 2017 as a Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) player making $1.5 million with the Galaxy. He was linked to a potential transfer back to one of his former clubs, AC Milan, but ultimately signed a one-year deal with the Galaxy that has been described as a substantial increase over last season.
“I still have to perform,” he said. “I performed under being the worst-paid, so imagine how I will perform being the best paid.
“I said I would play as long as I can perform. I probably could sign two years, three years, four years — that is how much [the] Galaxy believe in me, but I said one year at a time. For the moment, I feel I can give back. I don’t want to I don’t want to put the club in a situation where I cannot perform and they have me, especially under these strict rules. I said, let’s do one year at at time. If I feel good, I’ll stay and perform, so you don’t need to have me running around and I’m not performing and the budget is what it is.”
The Galaxy made some big changes in the offseason. The club hired former Boca Juniors coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto to be the team’s next head coach and brought on Dennis te Kloese as general manager.
“That’s a sign of a big club,” Ibrahimović said. “When they’re not successful, when they’re not happy, they make changes. They made big changes.”
Ibrahimović was named MLS Newcomer of the Year after scoring 22 goals to go with 10 assists in 27 appearances for the Galaxy.
“The way we ended the season was not a situation [that was] normal for me,” he said. “Normally, where I go, I win. And I won wherever I want. I didn’t succeed with that here. That, for me, was no OK. I think the fans deserve more than what they got. They deserve more credit for what they’ve done through the whole season.
“We didn’t even make the playoffs. For me, that is something new. It’s catastrophic not to make the playoffs. But, for me, to make the playoff as the sixth position is also catastrophic because either you’re No. 1 or you’re nothing.”
Ibrahimović said he’s interested in being No. 1 in the regular season – winning the playoffs is a “bonus.”