Manchester United’s striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic gestures during the English Premier League football match against Bournemouth March 4, 2017
LONDON, United Kingdom, Apr 8 – Ryan Giggs has urged Manchester United to follow the lead of arch-rivals Liverpool and spread goalscoring responsibility throughout the squad.
The Red Devils have become increasingly reliant on star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the former Paris Saint-Germain man providing by far the majority of their goals so far this season, an issue Giggs feels needs to be resolved.
Ibrahimovic, who only signed a one-year contract with United and is likely to depart at the end of this season, has netted 27 times for the club, with only one other player, Juan Mata, reaching double figures.
The lack of goals has seen United suffer their second consecutive season of poor performances. And Giggs believes that the solution to this problem lies in the entire team being accountable for finding the back of the net.
“They’re getting in those positions, but it’s concentration when it falls for you,” Giggs told the Daily Mail in reference to Liverpool’s remarkable feat of having scored 66 league goals already this season. “Jose’s said it, hasn’t he?
“It’s frustrating. You’re dominating games and have so many draws. You look up and it’s like ‘what could have been?’
“There’s luck too. Pogba’s hit the bar nine times. If he scores those then he’s got 15. It’s that, it’s confidence – all of those need to come together.
“You can’t just rely on one person because they can have an off day. Leicester last year. OK, Jamie Vardy scored a lot of goals, but Riyad Mahrez got 17. That’s what you need,” the Welshman added.
“That’s how the United teams I played in were like. I’d chip in with seven or eight, Becks would, Scholesy would. Four centre forwards would. The centre halves. Denis Irwin too. The goals came from everywhere,” he continued.
“You only have to look at Liverpool. I questioned them — they’ve not got a centre forward who can score 20 goals. But they just come from everywhere and they are the leading goalscorers. That’s what United need to get back.
“My target was always to get double figures and then 15 assists. That’s 25 goals. If Becks is doing the same, you’ve got a lot there.
“Sir Alex Ferguson would say ‘this is what I expect from you’. It put pressure on but you knew what the expectations were. If you were left out, you’d know why.”
