COMMENT: Zlatan went into this with his eyes wide open. He knew the score. Swapping Paris for Manchester was always going to be a gamble.
At PSG he remains revered. They still miss him. At Manchester United, well, they say, all he does is miss. 70 shots in ten games. 12 alone on Saturday against Tom Heaton in Burnley's goal. And nothing to show for it in the last six.
And it doesn't end there. His assist for Juan Mata's EFL Cup winner against Manchester City was his first for the season. He's been more lumbering than livewire. By any stretch, when you look at it all on paper, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not pulling his weight...
But hang on. He has four goals from those ten games. Not a bad record. That one assist did come against City and kept the club's trophy hopes alive. And for all the accusations leveled at him, he's no dead weight. He's contributing. 37 shots United had at Heaton. That's 37 chances created. And Ibrahimovic was part of that. The one assist he boasts doesn't tell the story of how United's attacking play has improved with the ball being pinged into and around the Swede.
We're not seeing the rapid demise of a once great talent. This isn't Radamel Falcao all over again.
His head's not down. He's still showing. As he did right at the death when picked out by Paul Pogba. He should've scored. Yes, he should've scored. But he was there on the end of the chance. It just hasn't been falling for him.
But he'll come again. Now 35, Ibrahimovic knows he can shake this off. He's done it before. At both Inter Milan and Barcelona. He's endured desperate spells. Where nothing would go right for him. But he came out at the other end intact. This is no Falcao repeat.
Before getting to United, the Colombian's career had enjoyed a positive trajectory. He'd never been forced to confront the doubts that he experienced at Old Trafford - both internally and from his manager. Ibrahimovic is a different animal. He's seen this before. Not in England. Not with the scrutiny the Premier League generates. But he has endured such spells in his career and found a way of working through them. At United, while outside they're queuing up to write him off, he'll come again.
Mino Raiola midweek discussed how he sold Zlatan to United's decision-makers. It wasn't about stats. Not goals nor assists. It was about taking the pressure away from a very green attack. And about being a positive force in the locker room. For his current struggles, no-one can claim the striker hasn't matched Raiola's claims.
In Zlatan's defence, Saturday was the first time this season that his 35 year-old body had been asked to play three games in a week. That he managed to actually step up his performance in the second-half does him credit - as it does Marcus Rashford. With the teen pushed closer to Ibrahimovic, both players improved on their opening 45 and really should've finished the game winners.
Which is the dilemma for Jose Mourinho. The idea that he should withdraw his centre-forward from the frontline, just for a breather, flies in the face of a team performance that produced 37 goalscoring chances. Why would the manager mess with such a system?
Listening to talkback in the aftermath, the chasm was clear between those at Old Trafford. The season ticket holders. And those listening at home. This was no Louis van Gaal stalemate. The idea that Mourinho's United are devoid of passion or attacking intent is a farce. To a man, those calling in wanting to discuss the game they'd just attended were behind the manager and what he is trying to do. Yes, the result was frustrating. Beating Burnley, for the money spent on this transitional United team, should be a given. But after the previous three years, the improvement is blinkin' obvious.
Mourinho is still working his way through this squad. Oh, how he'd have wished to have had a certain Chicharito still available to get on the end of one of those 37 chances. Or balanced defensive stocks, where he's not having to field three left-backs across his back four. Michael Keane would've slipped nicely into that United defence Saturday. However, like Javier Hernandez, the England prospect was discarded by Mourinho's predecessor.
Ibrahimovic's drought isn't the problem. There's much greater hurdles Mourinho and United need to overcome to return them to where their fans believe they belong.
INJURY TIME
How could anyone call Saturday boring? Indeed, how could anyone claim this 0-0 draw spelt trouble for Jose Mourinho?
This was fantastic. The football produced by both teams absolutely top drawer.
A five minute spell in the second-half encapsulated it all: Paul Pogba sprayed a stunning cross-field ball for Matteo Darmian to take in his stride and cross for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to have his shot blocked by a desperate Michael Keane.
A minute later, Pogba took the breath away. An incredible piece of footwork set up Juan Mata only for Keane, again, to dispossess the Spaniard.
And then came Ibrahimovic's moment. The Swede catching his scissor-kick absolutely flush, but somehow Tom Heaton produced the save of the season, leaving him in agony - but only after the ball had been cleared. Courage, skill, flair. This game had the lot.
If those watching couldn't get excited about that, then they don't have a pulse...
