Ibrahimovic talks when he is playing poorly, says Benarbia

The striker branded France "a s**t country" after the loss to Bordeaux and the former midfielder says his form is contributing to his frustration

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's latest outburst is due in part to his poor recent form, according to former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Ali Benarbia.

The Swede launched into a tirade after Sunday's 3-2 defeat, branding France "a s**t country" and slamming the performances of the officials.

Benarbia, who also turned out for Manchester City, believes the 33-year-old's lacklustre displays are contributing to his frustration, especially given his red card against Chelsea in midweek.

"Zlatan needs to talk. When it's going well, he has to talk. When it's not, it's worse," he told RMC.

"At the moment, it's clear things aren't so good on the pitch. He left his team with 10 this week [against Chelsea]. Today, it didn't go as he wanted and they lost to a Bordeaux team who are not exceptional.

"When you lose and things aren't going well, everything is said automatically. When you look at the game, I don't see where the referee was wrong."

Bernabia also believes Ibrahimovic's comments betrayed his anger that the French Football Federation (FFF) refused to move the Coupe de France semi-final, which falls between the Coupe de la Ligue final, and a league meeting with Marseille, while the Champions League quarter-final first leg will be only a week later.

"Concerning his comments about France, I think we was referring to the postponement of the Coupe de France match [against Saint-Etienne] that the FFF won't accept," Bernabia added.

Ibrahimovic has since apologised for his comments.