Ryan Giggs digs back at Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Former Manchester United men Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ryan Giggs have been involved in a war of words recently, with the Swede arguing that “The class of ‘92” fuelled criticism of Paul Pogba in the past, and Giggs has responded by saying that with “over 2,000 games between us” they deserve the right to have an opinion on matters regarding Manchester United.

In an interview with a newspaper, Ibrahimovic stated that he believes the loyalty of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, along with others, towards Sir Alex Ferguson has led them to criticize Paul Pogba more than they perhaps should and added fuel to the already burning fire.

The striker, who stayed at Manchester United for one season, said that Ferguson turned on Pogba when he decided to join Juventus in 2012 while he was still manager of the Red Devils.

Ryan Giggs said in turn, “Only Nicky Butt is connected with the club now but when you play over 2,000 games between us, we are going to have an opinion. Sometimes it’s positive, sometimes negative, but it doesn’t have an effect on results.

“We are supporters. That’s what football is about, having different opinions. But he [Ibrahimovic] obviously knows more about the club than us.”

The Class of ‘92 played 3,487 more games for Manchester United than Zlatan, with the forward taking part in fifty-three matches for them, but the amount of games played does not seem to sway the opinions of supporters when debating which side they are on in this argument.

Many fans feel the same way as Ibrahimovic, arguing that former players have been overly negative when talking about United since Ferguson’s exit in 2013 with the peak coming during the Jose Mourinho era at the club.

Paul Pogba has been in stellar form over the past few months and shut the mouths of many of his doubters, with eleven assists and nine goals in the Premier League while also notching a goal and assist in the elimination of Chelsea from the FA Cup.

He will not let the negative attention get to him and if anything, he will use it as motivation to take his team forward. The Frenchman will now turn his attention to his nation’s fixtures when the World Cup winners of last summer take on Moldova and Iceland before he returns to England for United’s match at home to Watford.