Manchester United Fans' Views on How Best to Cope Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Manchester United career so far brings to mind a Simpsons quote.

Homer Simpson once described alcohol as "the cause of...and solution to...all of life's problems." Not an accurate statement, of course, but a funny one. And very relevant to Ibrahimovic.

He has been United's player of the season, almost without question. He has scored 26 goals, 15 of which have come in the league. That's nine more league goals than the next highest scorer, Juan Mata.

And the total goals comparison is even more ridiculous than the league goals comparison—Ibrahimovic has 17 more in all competitions than the Spaniard, who is No. 2 in the rankings.

He scored the winner in the League Cup final, guaranteeing Jose Mourinho silverware at the first time of asking. His absence for three games through suspension is thus surely an enormous blow to the Red Devils.

And yet...

It could also be an opportunity. Because while Ibrahimovic has been magnificent plenty of times so far this season, he has also cost United dearly in a few key moments. In league draws with Stoke City home and away and Liverpool, Burnley, West Ham United, Hull City and Bournemouth at home, Ibrahimovic took a total of 37 shots from which he scored twice, per WhoScored.com.

Of course, those two goals earned United a point each, but United's team is so set up to get the best out of Ibrahimovic that when he underperforms, the whole endeavour suffers. The Red Devils are sixth in the league at the moment almost exclusively because they have not done a good enough job of taking the chances they have created.

Unfortunately, circumstances have not been kind to United's manager. Because fate has dealt a pretty cruel blow when it comes to the availability of his alternative options. Ahead of Monday's FA Cup clash with Chelsea, Marcus Rashford is out with illness and Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney are both injured, per Sky Sports. 

If Rashford does not make some kind of miraculous recovery, then Mourinho's choices boil down to using Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Mata as a false nine, deploying Marouane Fellaini as a battering ram up front or calling up someone from United's youth ranks. And while that worked brilliantly when Louis van Gaal did it, it would be a real surprise if Mourinho took that option. 

Before the news about Martial, Rooney and Rashford broke, we invited the people of Twitter to have their say about how he should handle matters, starting with a poll on who should directly replace the Swedish striker.

"

How should Mourinho compensate for Ibrahimovic's absence? [Poll 1 of 2]

— Paul (@UtdRantcast) March 8, 2017"

This one was pretty definitive.

Fully 77 per cent of the 1458 respondents favoured the deployment of Rashford in Ibrahimovic's absence. The youngster is hugely popular at Old Trafford, of course, and has hardly any time at centre-forward this season. Ibrahimovic has been selected on almost every occasion he could have been and plays 90 minutes every time he starts.

Thus Rashford has been largely played on the flanks, with mixed results.

The chance for him to play regularly at centre-forward could be invaluable. It is the kind of extended run in that spot that a striker needs to get his targeting systems fully functional again.

There were dissenting voices, of course.

The decent chunk of votes for Martial are interesting to consider. If there was an obvious choice to play on the left of the attack were he moved infield, he would perhaps have amassed a greater share. He has been so effective coming in off the left, and Rashford so much less so, that the obvious move is to keep him where he is and play the young Englishman centrally.

It is certainly a reasonable possibility, though, that Martial's best position might be centre-forward in the long run, though this injury could not have been less timely in terms of giving him the chance to prove that.

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@UtdRantcast Rooney needs this to show he deserves respect at United, Rash ain't ready to lead the United line & Martail is better out wide.

— Gareth Hughes (@GariiHug) March 8, 2017"

As long as day follows night, as long as birds chirp and rain falls and as long as Rooney is in United's squad, there will still be those advocating he should be played up front—in spite of what can only reasonably be described as a mountain of evidence that he is no longer cut out to do it.

But while his advocates still exist, they number fewer than ever before.

Replacing Ibrahimovic with Rooney would be a hugely regressive step, and the fact that United's captain only received 5 per cent of the vote shows just how far his stock has fallen. Of course, his injury now renders this point moot.

We also asked Twitter in which formation United should line up in the Swede's absence, though again, that was before the injuries hit.

"

What system should United use? [Poll 2 of 2]

Feel free to reply with who you think should play behind the striker or on the flanks!

— Paul (@UtdRantcast) March 8, 2017"

Sixty-four per cent of respondents preferred a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1, a pretty heavy margin in favour of the notionally more defensive option.

This is an entirely reasonable concern.

Chelsea destroyed United at Stamford Bridge in the league earlier this season, though a lot has changed for Mourinho's side since then. However, Antonio Conte's men have been almost all conquering during this campaign, and playing them away from home on a Monday night after a trip to Russia on the previous Thursday will be an enormous challenge, even more so given the decimation of their attacking options.

This specific construction of a 4-3-3 could be devastating, if everyone is on form. A great deal will be asked of the full-backs, of course, given they will have to provide width and take on a heavy defensive burden. But the sheer counter-attacking verve available to the Red Devils with this selection could be a joy to watch.

With the midfield three all abundantly able to feed the front three, and the front three all blessed with blistering pace and huge technical ability, the possibilities would have been enticing, and it is immensely frustrating not to see it come to fruition.

This is one of the key reasons 4-3-3 could have been particularly beneficial in Ibrahimovic's absence. A front three with a preference for receiving the ball in space in front of them, rather than with their back to goal, could be particularly suitable away at Chelsea, where counter-attacking opportunities are likely to be found. Sadly, we will not now get to see what that would look like.

This, of course, would have been the other key option, though Mourinho has often played Mata out wide when playing 4-2-3-1 rather than through the middle. An extended run for the playmaker at No. 10 would be intriguing to see, particularly given how much pace he would be surrounded by in this formation.

And Mata at 10 is perhaps a theoretically better option with Rashford up front than it would be with Ibrahimovic there, given the latter's proclivity for dropping into deep areas, clogging up the space in which Mata would naturally operate. 

"

@UtdRantcast i would actually play a diamond midfield with mhyki at tip & martial & rashford up top.

— stephengenockey (@stepgen) March 8, 2017"

This is an interesting wrinkle on the idea of the 4-3-3. Mkhitaryan would operate as a No. 10, and Rashford and Martial could both drift wide to create space. Jesse Lingard is a step down on Martial but could possibly do the job. Again, lots of pressure would be put on the full-backs—less of a problem on the right where Antonio Valencia is in fine fettle, but issues at left-back remain unsolved.

When this was first proposed, it was done so as a joke. The concatenation of circumstances, though, means this is now a genuine possibility.

Ultimately, while Ibrahimovic's presence has been an issue on plenty of occasions, Mourinho and United will be pleased to have him back, whatever happens with the rest of the attackers. The break might do him some real good, too, given how much football he has played this season.

But in his absence, there is no doubt opportunity has been created. Assuming he can recover from his illness in the wake of the Chelsea game, Rashford is the player most likely to be given the chance to step up, offering us a glimpse of the future, given Zlatan will only be around for a little while longer.

Whatever happens, it will be fascinating to see how Mourinho handles the next few weeks. The rest of United's season hangs in the balance.