ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC did not take long to form his opinion of Jose Mourinho. “With him I have learned a lot, perhaps more than I had in the last five years,” reflected the striker a few months after Mourinho had taken charge at Internazionale. “He is the most complete coach I have ever had. He knows everything and has even taught me how to speak with the journalists.”

Cynics might question the wisdom of taking media-handling lessons from a man who has stormed out of more than one interview since arriving in Milan, but either way this was no faint praise. In the five seasons before this one Ibrahimovic had been coached by Ronald Koeman, Fabio Capello and Roberto Mancini at Ajax, Juventus and Inter respectively. His teams won the title in every one of those seasons, albeit that the 2005-06 triumph with Juventus was revoked because of the calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

The feeling is mutual. By December Mourinho was referring to Ibrahimovic as “the best player in the world” and blaming the press, whom he accused of failing to back Serie A players, for the striker’s failure to win the Ballon d’Or for the European Footballer of the Year. Pressed on the matter ahead of tonight’s game with Manchester United, Mourinho insisted his player was better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Such is Mourinho’s way, and it does not require a long memory to recall he used to refer to John Terry and Frank Lampard in similar terms at Chelsea. The Portuguese has always been quick to throw a supportive arm around players he relies on, and there was never any doubt he would lean heavily on Ibrahimovic at Inter.

This season the striker has scored 14 goals in 24 league games. None of his team-mates have more than five. Ibrahimovic has never come across as having doubts over his ability. In 2001, aged 20, the striker was asked whether anything could stop him from becoming the best player in the world. His response was brief: “injury”.

But such swagger has been undermined by his failure to live up to such a billing when the eyes of Europe are upon him. Despite scoring 46 goals in 77 league games since joining Inter, the striker has managed six in 20 Champions League ties and none of those have come in the knockout stages. The perception remains that Ibrahimovic goes missing on the biggest stage.

Mourinho will hope his public support can help the striker to overcome any mental block, and Ibrahimovic may never have a better opportunity to prove his detractors wrong. United are in the midst of their worst defensive injury crisis since December 1995, when William Prunier was drafted in at centre-back. Mourinho played down the absence of Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville and Wes Brown, but there is no doubt United’s back line is considerably weaker for their absence.

Getting on the scoresheet is no longer the only way in which Ibrahimovic is likely to contribute, however, and it is here Mourinho deserves the greatest credit. One of the greatest criticisms of the player in recent seasons was he had a tendency to stop trying when things were going against him, but under Mourinho his work ethic has been beyond reproach. With Adriano content to remain the forward-most point of the attack, Ibrahimovic has begun to drop deeper, battling to win possession back in midfield.

Adriano looks to be returning to the form that once saw him dubbed the Emperor, and here, too, Mourinho deserves credit. Where the Portuguese has been accused of showing insufficient patience with players, such as Ricardo Quaresma, sent on loan to Chelsea five months after joining Inter, he has been more than generous with the Brazilian.

Inter were quick to deny reports Adriano had shown up drunk for one training session in December, but when the player failed to return from his winter break in Brazil in time for the first training session of 2009 it appeared certain the club would ship him out. Mourinho not only kept him, but soon restored the striker to a starting berth.

Adriano responded by scoring in the Milan derby, albeit via a handball. He is slimmer than two months ago while retaining the power that helps him out-muscle defenders. His scoring record is not yet there with Ibrahimovic’s, but a goal tonight at San Siro would surely have Mourinho talking about him in just as glowing terms.