The TEEN MACHINE

Koeman: I managed 19-year-old Zlatan at Ajax. His talented bunch drove Ferraris & Porsches.. and they were hard work!

RONALD KOEMAN will have a reunion with Zlatan Ibrahimovic this evening... to remind him what a nightmare he was!

The Everton boss gave Zlatan his big break at Ajax in 2001 and the big Swede became a key part of the side that went on to win the Dutch title that season.

Koeman fondly remembers those days when he was developing as a coach – and he revealed that the Manchester United star and his young Ajax team-mates certainly gave him an education!

“I managed Zlatan – he was young, funny and sometimes difficult, but he wasn’t alone in that,” Koeman said.

“We had a lot of young players at that time, like Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Nigel de Jong, Johnny Heitinga, Mido, and Zlatan. We had really big talents but they all were around 19 and driving Porsches or Ferraris. I could tell you some stories!”

Koeman has met Ibrahimovic several times since his move to Manchester and has joked with the striker about the headaches he caused in those early Amsterdam days.

Asked if he fined the Swede, now 35, a few times, Koeman replied with a smile: “We had some really strong talks with him, yes!”

But Koeman added: “He is still one of the best and I still admire him.

“For his age he is still doing really well but I’m not surprised because he really has talent and he’s so strong. Mentally he’s one of the strongest players I know.”

Koeman believes his Everton striker Romelu Lukaku can learn from Zlatan, and was quick to defend the big Belgian after critics took him to task for a subdued performance at Anfield on Saturday.

The Dutch coach believes Lukaku has the same mental strength as Zlatan.

“You can’t compare a 23-year-old boy with Zlatan now,” he said. “But I don’t have any doubts about Rom mentally.

“He thinks a lot about football and he’s honest in his performances. Rom knows when it’s good and when it isn’t good. On Saturday he did not perform like he can.

“But it was difficult for him. He was travelling back from Russia at 5am and he’s a human being.”