Well, I wouldn't certainly agree that it was rubbish what he said.
The basic argument that 'he doesn't sign to be on the bench' is already flawed.
If you know Zlatan, then you know he'll want to play. Maybe not every minute of every game, but he is not a kind of person to sit behind in a shadow.
Making the assumption that he is a diva who will pout when not chosen for every game as the starting number 9 is just a load of rubbish.
He never said that.
The argument that United don't need him because we've won two games 4-0 without him is also quite rubbish.
He also never said this and you are just turning it around, in order to make it look bad.
Not that I want to defend Merson. As I said, I often don't agree with what he says, but you gotta admit he said some things right this time, even if you don't like it.
First of all, he said some simple facts and you don't have to be a genius or ex professional player to see those. For example, Ibrahimovic did slow us down and we do look much better now with Lukaku upfront. Zlatan did score lots of goals (and missed a lot more) last season, but the others did not always look too good around him. Now, with Lukaku upfront, we look clearly better
as a team and we play faster football, as all the attacking players have pace and look very compact. I don't see a reason to make big changes to that. It is surely not because we won two games against WH and Swansea, but because we finally seem to be clicking upfront and playing as United should play.
I know very well all the positive sides of Ibra (winning mentality, great in build up play, etc.) but I think you (and lots of people generally) are exaggerating and overlooking the negative side.
Looking at the technical and tactical side, the only way that his comeback can be acceptable is if he plays a bit part role as an impact substitute, when we need to add a striker, especially against teams that defend deep. Or as a number 10 in certain games.
I hope that was José's plan, but at the same time I am afraid that he didn't bring Zlatan back just for that role. Therefore, I am afraid that he will be playing lots more than we thought, once he gets back to fitness.
I also hope Zlatan will be used more as a number 10 than a number 9, and his "upgraded" :) shirt number gives me faith it's going to be the case.
Moreover, I can just hope he will be more prolific this season in front of goal, as last season he often missed those chances you wouldn't expect him to miss. You will now say that no one can score in every chance, but you know well he did miss a lot last season. Don't just look at number of goals he scored. You, at least like to look at statistics, so remember that his percentage of turning chances into goals was not impressive.
Anyway, my main point is that I like the football we are playing now and I don't want any player to slow us down. I know well that we only played two games against weak opponents and we cannot play the same against every team, so I repeat - if Zlatan has been brought back only for a certain role, then it is OK and I can live with that.
But, if José has a plan to play him often in the first 11, it is not what I'd like, especially as it would mean pushing some great young players to the bench or out of the team. Said that, I still think last season we could have been better off without Zlatan, had Martial and Rashford played more as a number 9 and if Depay stayed as a left winger. With the arrival of Ibrahimovic, Martial and Depay were pushed out, while now it can be the same Martial to receive less playing time, maybe Rashford and maybe Pereira. United should raise and cherish those young talents, that was always in our DNA.