Zlatan vs. Larsson

Larsson was also respected and still held in high regard from his time at Barcelona. He had a bigger impact than Zlatan had who failed to make the grade at one of the few super power clubs.

 

A lot of people will look at zlatans record at club level. The king would have done some serious damage in all of the leagues the big man played in. He also done better at barca.

 

In addition Larsson has scored more goals at WC & Euros 9 vs 6 Zlatan. Making it to a WC semi in the process.

 

Looks like its Henrick by a landslide.

Not like were biased or anything though.

 

Zlatan has more natural technical skill than Henrik could ever have dreamed of possessing.

As a complete footballer, he still is not a patch on Henrik.

 

I'm with MON on this one.

 

I know who I'd rather have in a big game - Henrik.

 

Larsson by a country mile.

Zlatan is great entertainment - he catches the eye with some outrageous skills and the headlines with superstar arrogance.

But Henke could do everything Zlatan could... and much much more. And without any of the fuss.

 

Sums it up. I like Ibrahimovic. Super-talented footballer but if I had to choose one of them to represent Celtic, it would be Larsson with doubt.

The ultimate professional and the ultimate team-mate. He'd never make claims of being a king, a * or a legend etc...his football did his talking.

 

Larsson is better.

 

Larson is better. He can win you a game by him self. He came on to win barca the champions league, he dragged us to nearly getting the eufa. Zlatan just prances about letting people set him up. Big fairy.

Larson has a champions league, zlatan doesn't. The end.

 

Very hard to get unbiased opinion on Henrik on a Celtic forum mate, he is idolised here and rightly so.

If I was to have a bash at it, I would say that you could make a strong case for either player being better than the other. Watching them both play in the same Sweden team was cool, but I always felt Henrik was a few levels above at the time, with Zlatan being talented but also enigmatic and frustrating. Obviously that's mostly changed now with Zlatan maturing into a powerful centre forward and all round goal machine, although still being somewhat frustrating , especially in the bigger games imo.

If you were to break them down into individual attributes Football Manager style, I would say Larsson is better mentally, Zlatan physically, with both being exceptionally strong technically but for different reasons - Zlatan more likely to do the spectacular, Henrik more likely to do the ordinary (feels unfair calling it that, but can't think of a better word) far more effectively and consistently. Henrik better in the air, Zlatan stronger. Henrik better at linking up play, Zlatan more likely to beat 3/4 players and score, or fire one in from 30 yards. One thing I would highlight was that Larsson wasn't just a goal scorer. Even in his prime I remember mentioning that his goal scoring record, coupled with the fact that most people wouldn't have seen him on a consistent basis could actually diminish his overall place in terms of ranking great strikers with people tending to assume he was penalty box striker/poacher when nothing could be further from the truth. I think it's ILoveTheCeltic here that's pulled together the assist stats on him, and from memory he assisted 30/40 goals in the season he scored 50+ alone.

One things that stands out to me watching the current Sweden side, and the current Portugal side with Ronaldo to a lesser extent, is that some players really need the team to be focused around them to get the best out of them. Build the team around Zlatan and he'll score a load of goals and deliver you a domestic title at a good level (Holland, France, Italy etc) however I'm not sure you could ever build a team around Zlatan that would be good enough to win the CL. Ronaldo is similar obviously but a better player and you if you can get a side built to bring out the best in him there's really no limit to what you can win. In contrast to this Larsson is more Messi-esqe (not trying to compare them as players, Messi is the best of all time as far as I'm concerned), in that you could take him, drop him into an attacking position in almost any team, and that side would be better for him being there. He doesn't really need to side to be built around him, and arguably never really has. Even when at Celtis, he was head and shoulders above anyone else but usually part of a front 2 or 3 and playing off a big man. At Barcelona he was played on the right side of a front 3 and at Man Utd usually used just behind an out-and-out striker.

Popular opinion seems to be that Henrik is a better goal scorer but Zlataj a better player, but I actually think that's the wrong way round. Playing together in their prime I would actually expect to see them combine similarly to how they linked up for Sweden, with Zlatan being the centre forward and Henrik's playing just off him. I would also expect Zlatan to outscore Henrik more often than not. Despite that, I actually think Henrik is the more dangerous attacker, more consistent and intelligent player, better at bringing others into the attacking play and ultimately the guy I would rather have in my team, particularly in big games where he's as good as they come (2 European finals - 2 goals and 2 assists; rarely anything other than excellent in World Cups/Euro's etc).

 

King of kings

 

Probably Kris Boyd. It's a tough one though but his all round game and the world class players he's played with just edges it for me.

 

I think Swedes tend to rate Zlatan better than Larsson as Zlatan finished above Larsson in 150 greatest ever Swedish sportsman a few years ago. Zlatan was voted 2nd best of all time behind Bjorn Borg and Larsson finished 35th.

 

Larsson is the best all round player I have see at Parkhead, but as Zlatan has never played for us (yet!) then I cannot rate him.

 

The difference between them, in my opinion, is that Henke made any team he played in better (and I include Barca and Man U in that), Zlatan is all about making Zlatan look good. If his current team benefits from that it's a side effect.

I would be interested to see the number of assists they both have, I know where my money would be on who has the better record. And if I had a choice of an at their peak Henke or Zlatan in my team it would be Henke every time as he brings more than just goals (but plenty of those too).

 

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36470243

All of Zlatan's goals at the Euros. There's a common theme in the making of his goals.......

 

That's what I alluded to above

I think football has changed to focus on the individual more. Plenty of kids nowadays are fans or Ronaldo, Messi, Zlatan, Bale etc rather than clubs. I remember watching Henrik in the UEFA cup final, 2 goals, top scorer in the tournament, European Golden Shoe...and he was gutted, because despite all that the team had lost. I couldn't see Zlatan being the same, he's more interested in his own performance and record imo.