Ibrahimovic wasn't easy to play with, says El Shaarawy

Posted Wednesday, September 05, 2012 by Goal.com

AC Milan forward Stephan El Shaarawy says that former team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic was 'never easy to play with'.

The 19-year-old striker has spilled the beans in an interview with French magazine Max, saying he never had a personable relationship with Ibrahimovic, was picked on by Gennaro Gattuso and explains the love life of a modern day footballer.

“To tell you the truth, it was never easy playing with Ibrahimovic. You have to know how to handle him. Really, what you needed to do was just pass him the ball, or else he'd scream at you, or just play tricks on you afterwards.”

Regarding Gattuso, the young Italy international explained: “Gattuso on the other hand, hated my eyebrows. The first time he saw that I trimmed them, he became furious and told me that all I needed to think about was playing and getting better at football.

“Despite this, I'll miss him very much. Also when I first got to [Milan's training ground] Milanello, they told me I needed to shave my hair, but one Milan player came to my defence and said 'If [Marek] Hamsik, Neymar and [Djibril] Cisse have that [mohican] hair, then let him have it too', and so it died down after that.”

The former Genoa man also went on to explain about his love life, saying: “The moment I got to
Serie A, my sex life multiplied by 10. I use Facebook to pick up all my women. You find so much stuff on the internet.

“People from outside the football world see footballers and think 'how can they be so arrogant?' It has been hard for me to keep my feet on the ground this past year, but fortunately I have my father to help me.”

He concluded the interview by describing the atmosphere inside San Siro on match-days: “That place is insane,” he said. “It's like a buffalo breathing down your neck for 90 minutes.”