Latest Football news, Euro and World Soccer

Zlatan Ibrahimovic unconcerned by goalless spell at Barcelona

• Swedish striker says barren stretch is ‘normal’
• Ibrahimovic trumpets value to team-mates of ‘assists’

The Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said that he is not concerned by his recent barren spell in front of goal.

The Swede enjoyed a flying start to his Barça career following a big-money summer move from Internazionale and by Christmas he had scored 11 goals in La Liga.

Since scoring the only goal in a derby win over Espanyol on 12 December, however, he has scored once, in a Copa del Rey defeat by Sevilla at the start of last month.

“I’m not worried, this has happened to me other times. In my first year at Ajax I started very well, then things went bad, then well again … a rollercoaster,” Ibrahimovic told El Periódico de Catalunya.

“It’s normal, because you have to adapt to many things and in very little time. The same thing happened when I arrived at Juventus and at Inter, a season with ups and downs.

“Obviously, being the No9 and a centre-forward in a team like Barcelona, it’s important to score goals, but that’s not everything, at least not for me. If you participate in the play and set up team-mates, I feel just as good.

“An assist is like a goal, because you are making a team-mate happy. And this is as important for me as scoring.

“I’m not worried about this poor run because the goals will end up coming. If you play well, you help the team. If you create chances, you score.”

Reflecting on his first six months with the Catalan club, Ibrahimovic said: “My family and I have adapted well. I’m happy here. We’ve picked up three titles in six months, we are at the top of the table and we haven’t lost in the league.

“The team have won everything and want to continue like that. It’s impressive.

“I only regret what happened to us in the Copa del Rey. I think we deserved to go through because Sevilla are not better than us. But in football these things happen.”

Sunderland’s Steve Bruce expects month out for Jordan Henderson

• Midfielder injured in draw with Wigan
• Nineteen-year-old will have scan on ankle

The Sunderland manager, Steve Bruce, has confirmed that Jordan Henderson is to have a scan on his injured ankle.

Bruce expects the midfielder to be out for at least a month.

The 19-year-old picked up the injury in the second half of Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Wigan.

Henderson was carried off on a stretcher with what looked like a nasty injury, shortly after he had set up the equalising goal for Kenwyne Jones.

Arsenal’s woes and, er, Breakfast Club

In a line-up that’s every bit as unsurprising as the top four in the Premier League, James Richardson is joined in the pod by Barry Glendenning and Sean Ingle in another rip-roaring edition of Football Weekly.

The pod squad analyse Chelsea’s demolition of Arsenal, Liverpool’s bruising battle with Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur’s snoozefest with Aston Villa and ask: why are we getting another dose of the same old same old?

Also in the show – and lest we be accussed of Big Four-centricity – we discuss Hull City’s recent revival now that Phil Brown ditched the earpiece and the goatee.

Plus, we ponder whether Fabio Capello’s done the right thing in stripping John Terry of the England captaincy. And we get dewy-eyed about those Brat Pack movies of the 1980s.

Finally, our favourite Teuton Raphael Honigstein brings us news of a rift in the German national team and the latest from the Bundesliga; Sid Lowe brings us up to date with Spain’s La Liga; and Jimbo tells us about Lazio’s mounting woes in Serie A.

Have a listen and post your thoughts on the blog below. We’re also on iTunes, Facebook, and Twitter, and if you like this type of juvenile humour, get your daily dose with our tea-timely email, The Fiver.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">