A deep dive into Zlatan Ibrahimović’s formative years in Serie A, revealing how Fabio Capello’s uncompromising coaching style at Juventus didn’t just teach the young striker respect, but molded the “animal” mentality that defined his legendary career across Europe’s biggest clubs.
When Zlatan Ibrahimović arrived in Italy at age 22, stepping into a Serie A locker room filled with titans like Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, and Gianluigi Buffon, he acknowledged it felt like a “fantasy world.” The retired Sweden superstar, now an advisor at AC Milan, reflected on this pivotal period during a recent European Football Clubs assembly, crediting the Italian league with shaping him into one of the world’s elite strikers.
Ibrahimović openly admitted, “When I came to Italy, it was the biggest competition in the world and all the big players were playing there. I was young. I didn’t have a lot of respect, to be honest, because I wanted to prove myself.” This desire to prove his worth would soon clash with, and ultimately be sharpened by, one of football’s most demanding minds.
The Juventus Crucible: Encountering Capello
His transfer to Juventus from Ajax in 2004 placed him directly into this star-studded environment. “The first time I came to Juventus was a little bit fantasy world for me because I came from Ajax. I came in a locker room to Juventus where I saw (Lilian) Thuram, Buffon, (Fabio) Cannavaro, Del Piero, Trezeguet,” Ibrahimović recounted. “One week before I used to play PlayStation with these guys. One week later I was with them in the locker room.”
It was at Juventus that Ibrahimović first encountered Fabio Capello, the legendary coach renowned for his strict discipline and winning mentality. Their initial interaction became a defining moment. Ibrahimović recalled a breakfast table scene where Capello, engrossed in the Gazzetta dello Sport, completely ignored his greeting. This cold reception was Capello’s calculated method of instilling a crucial lesson.
Capello’s Masterclass: Taking Respect
The young striker eventually sought Capello’s wisdom, asking, “How do you gain respect from a group that he had? Because he had a team that was world-class players and everybody was like, ‘I’m the best in the world.’ And they were the best of the world.” Capello’s response was definitive: “I don’t ask for respect. I take the respect.” This philosophy, embodied by his breakfast table silence, was Capello’s way of triggering Ibrahimović.
Capello’s coaching approach was intensely demanding. He consistently challenged Ibrahimović’s limits, alternating between praising him as the world’s best one day and the worst the next. This psychological warfare, a cornerstone of Capello’s renowned coaching philosophy, was designed to extract maximum performance from his players, as detailed by Goal.com’s analysis of his methods. Ibrahimović affirms, “He shaped my mentality. From a normal human being, I became an animal.”
Forging an Animal: The Serie A Legacy
This transformation was evident on the pitch. Ibrahimović scored 16 Serie A goals in his first season under Capello. Throughout his career in Italy, he went on to win Serie A five times – three with Inter Milan and two with AC Milan. However, the two Italian league titles he won with Juventus under Capello were later stripped due to the infamous Calciopoli scandal, a controversial chapter in Italian football history.
Beyond Juventus: A Gallery of Mentors and a Singular Path
While Capello laid the foundation, Ibrahimović’s career was also shaped by other managerial giants. He played under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan and Manchester United, Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, and Carlo Ancelotti at Paris Saint-Germain. He acknowledged, “They made a change in football. They changed the game in their own way. Because I changed a lot of clubs, I had a lot of coaches.”
Zlatan’s impact extended beyond Italy. He proudly declared himself the “architect” of Paris Saint-Germain’s modern era, being one of their first high-profile signings under Qatari ownership in 2012. Despite never winning the Champions League, a common talking point among fans, Ibrahimović humorously noted, “Everybody knows I didn’t win the Champions League, so it’s no secret. But the people will remember more that I didn´t win it than the 90% that won it.”
His illustrious career, spanning nine different clubs from his hometown Malmö to the LA Galaxy before retiring with Milan in 2023, is a testament to his unique approach. According to Transfermarkt’s comprehensive career statistics, Zlatan consistently delivered. He emphasizes a core belief: “It was like a survival mode and I brought that with me. I say always 50% is in your mind. It’s not only about the talent because the talent makes you over-confident. But the hard work makes you succeed and if you don’t do the hard work you will not arrive. The talent is not enough.”
Unlike players who spend decades at one club, Ibrahimović relished the challenge of proving himself anew in different environments. “The challenge is (when) you bring your zip pack and you go to the garden of somebody else to prove yourself. That’s different, because then you come to a different country, different culture, different club,” he stated. In typical brash fashion, he concluded that if he could start his career over today, he’d be “a billionaire, not a millionaire,” highlighting his enduring ambition and self-belief forged in the fires of Serie A and under the demanding gaze of Fabio Capello.
