When the Swedish squad for this week’s World Cup qualifiers was announced on Wednesday, there was one name that stood out from the rest: Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Although the enigmatic, eccentric and highly entertaining striker is still playing top level domestic football with Milan, he hung up his international boots five years ago.

In 2016 his retirement felt a little premature. He was still performing to the highest standards and banging in the goals for clubs most players can only dream of representing.

And it seems the striker himself has grown to regret his decision, hinting late last year he would be willing to return, and now, after talks with Sweden manager Janne Andersson, making his comeback.

His international boots have been unhung. In typically understated fashion, when the squad was announced the striker tweeted a picture of himself in a Sweden shirt with the modest caption: “The return of the God.”

At 39, some would argue his best days are behind him. And maybe his very, very best days are in the past. But then his 14 goals in 14 appearances for Milan this season suggest there is still some life in the old dog.

Yes, he may not have the legs to do everything he did 20 years ago with quite the same levels of consistency. But the skills are still intact and he keeps himself in excellent condition, which should allow him to terrorise a few international defenders in this second coming.

Possibly even more crucial than his on-the-pitch ability, however, is what he brings to the Sweden squad behind the scenes. Ibra has played hundreds of games for AC Milan, Manchester United, PSG, Ajax, Juventus, Barcelona and LA Galaxy, scoring hundreds of goals in the process. And that’s on top of his 116 international appearances and 62 goals.

Having that sort of experience and knowledge in the squad to nurture and advise the younger generation is invaluable. I can’t think of many international teams that wouldn’t love him on the training fields, dishing out hints, tips and words of wisdom to the younger lads.

Even if he is only a substitute for Sweden, the overall package of what he brings to the team makes this decision a true no-brainer. He is very much worth a place in the squad.

And for those of us without any allegiance to Sweden, just having him around will make this summer’s Euro ‘2020’ tournament that much more interesting.

If, or course, it actually takes place…

A rather pointless sacking

A few months ago I would have been reasonably happy if Sheffield United had parted ways with Chris Wilder.

Although he had done a magnificent job at his home town club over the past five years, things had clearly gone wrong this season; his tactics weren’t working and his signings were dreadful.

Having that sort of experience and knowledge in the squad to nurture and advise the younger generation is invaluable

Giving someone else a chance to fight off relegation with, say, 20 games to go and a transfer window to play with would have been a logical move.

But firing him now (“mutual consent” is just a polite way of saying “you’re sacked”) just doesn’t make sense. Any new manager isn’t going to save the club from the drop – that’s for sure – and the man best placed to bring United straight back up would have been Wilder himself.

With logic obviously not a consideration in this equation, we can only assume the deteriorating relationship between Wilder and the owners was the real reason for the parting of ways, which is the sort of idiocy that is par for the cause when you support Sheffield United.

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that we have an interim/caretaker manager who has the thankless task of guiding the club towards relegation before a more permanent successor is appointed.

Eddie Howe and Frank Lampard appear to be favourites at this stage. Well, good luck to either of those, or anyone else who takes over for that matter. What the owners appear to have forgotten is that Wilder took the team to the Premier League and a ninth placed finish when the players were nowhere near as good as that.

He made them more than the sum of their parts. Yes, his magic wore off this season, but don’t expect the likes of Howe or Lampard to be able to make the same sort of silk purse out of this collection of sow’s ears.

They would only be able to make a go of it with serious money to spend on rebuilding the team. And United’s owners are not going down that route. There is a good chance this could all get really ugly, and I wouldn’t even rule out back-to-back relegations.

That’s what you get for supporting Sheffield United – a couple of seasons of enjoyment followed by a decade or two of hell…

Your say (and mine)

I think one or two people may have got the wrong end of the stick with my piece about Steven Gerrard last week…

“What do you have against Rangers exactly? You rarely write about Scottish football at all but when you do, it is always anti-Rangers. If you don’t know the truth about Scottish football then don’t write about it!” Alan Evans, e-mail.

“Your article on Times of Malta is a disgrace. Not one mention of Rangers’ Europa League run. Topping a group with Benfica, etc. Favourites in our tie to make the quarter-finals as it currently stands. Our defensive record domestically as well. Such negative journalism. How many Rangers games have you actually watched this season?” Scott McMillan, e-mail.

For the sake of setting the record straight, my article was not even remotely demeaning towards Rangers. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I have watched several of their games this season and it is obvious that Steven Gerrard has built an excellent team that plays good football and which is thoroughly deserving of their dominant title triumph. The point I was trying to make, and I thought I was quite clear about it, was that one Scottish title does not mean Gerrard has ‘arrived’. Equally it does not make him the world’s most desirable manager.

The unfortunate, but undeniable, lack of competition in Scottish football has to be taken into account when assessing what Gerrard has achieved so far in his young managerial career.

The run in the Europa League… well yes, that had been excellent until Thursday’s unfortunate exit.

But it’s still early days for Stevie G, and I was just saying he shouldn’t get ahead of himself.

email: james@quizando.com
twitter: @maltablade