Zlatan Ibrhimovic says the LA Galaxy are not just aiming for one of the top playoff places in the Western Conference, but the Supporters Shield for the league’s best record.
The Swedish striker enjoyed a brilliant debut season in Major League Soccer in 2018, scoring 22 goals in 27 games, while chipping in 10 assists for the Galaxy.
Despite his efforts, the Galaxy missed out on the MLS Cup playoffs when they lost to the Houston Dynamo in the regular season finale.
This season has seen an excellent start by a resurgent Galaxy side under Guillermo Barros Schelotto which has seen them take 28 points from 15 games – good for second best record in the league behind Los Angeles FC.
Ibrahimovic has been a big part of their early success, having already netted 10 times in only 11 games for the Galaxy.
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And while the team has improved over last season, Ibrahimovic is determined to help the Galaxy erase their six-point gap and hunt down their local rivals for the top record in MLS.
“Our target is not top four, it’s number one,” Ibrahimovic told reporters after scoring and assisting in a 2-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday.
“The playoff games are seven places. I don’t care about the seven, I care about number one. That is what we want and what we are playing for.”
The Galaxy began the campaign in dominant form, taking 22 points from a possible 27 in their first nine games.
However, a dip in form in May saw them lose four straight matches, allowing LAFC to open up the gap at the top of the West.
The Galaxy have since bounced back with a pair of victories, but Ibrahimovic knows avoiding those dips in form are key if the Galaxy are to run down their local rivals.
“The season will be up and down,” Ibrahimovic said. “But the important thing is to keep the low performance very high, and not like we had the one and a half weeks where we were losing four in a row.
"We are aiming to become number one.”
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