Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn't know who Jesse Marsch was. While co-hosting a Canada match analysis for a US audience on Fox Sports, one of football's most recognisable figures drew a blank on the American coach leading one of the tournament's host nations. That's not a great look for anyone billing themselves as a World Cup expert.
The Athletic have gone after the Fox Sports setup with some force, calling the dynamic between Ibrahimovic and former USMNT defender Alexi Lalas 'awkward', and suggesting the show would improve with "less Zlatan, less Lalas." Their advice: let Zlatan talk about goalscoring and on-pitch intelligence — the things he actually knows — and cut Lalas's airtime significantly. That's a fairly polite way of saying neither is currently earning their spot.
The timing makes it worse
The backlash from Milan supporters isn't just about the quality of the punditry. It's about what Ibrahimovic left behind to do it. When Fox announced he'd be joining their World Cup team, Milan were without a head coach, a sporting director, a technical director, and a CEO — all simultaneously. The summer transfer window opens in less than a fortnight. Ruben Amorim was only confirmed as head coach on Tuesday.
Ibrahimovic serves as a senior advisor to RedBird, the investment firm that owns Milan. He's not technically a club employee, but the lines of responsibility at San Siro have always been blurry around him. When things go wrong — and right now, quite a lot is going wrong — the ambiguity doesn't protect him. It just makes him look absent.
The comparison to Thierry Henry hasn't helped either. Henry is reportedly coming across as considerably more measured and credible in the tournament's studio coverage. Being outshone by a peer in a role you chose to prioritise over a club in freefall is exactly the kind of optics that stick.
What Milan's chaos means beyond the headlines
A club without a sporting director, technical director, or CEO heading into a transfer window is genuinely exposed. Decisions will either be delayed, made by committee, or pushed through without proper structure — none of which tends to produce smart recruitment. Any Milan-related transfer market odds this summer should be treated with caution until the front office situation is resolved.
The Athletic's verdict was blunt: Fox should use Ibrahimovic for what he knows, and minimise the rest. Whether Milan's ownership reaches a similar conclusion about his broader role is a different question entirely.
