- Whether you call it football or soccer, Manchester United always offers the viewer some entertainment…
A figure of inconsistency. The perfect blend of potential and proficiency. Ultimately, the personification of Manchester United’s struggles since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure — Paul Pogba.
When the French international broke the British record transfer fee to sign on the dotted line for a return to Old Trafford, it looked like a match made in heaven. Having left the club as an academy player without a senior appearance, Pogba was quickly becoming one of the best midfielders in the world at Juventus and despite losing Champions League finals and the 2016 European Championship with France, Jose Mourinho was paying the big bucks for an elite mentality. A wonderful technician that would add the finishing touches to his team in the football odds. Or so he thought.
While Pogba’s first season at United was a success, winning three trophies if you count the Community Shield victory over Leicester City, the rest of his second stint in the Premier League was a tale of what-ifs. Despite this, Pogba insists it was a learning curve he doesn’t regret.
“I believe in destiny, I am happy with all the choices I’ve made. That’s life,” he said. “Sometimes you make choices that don’t work as you expected. I am happy about these years at Manchester, I’m happy with the years I spent at United: I grew up, I learnt a lot, and I became a man.
“I don’t think I made a mistake. Who knows, had I won, choices could have been different, but now I am here and I am very happy about it.”
But just what went wrong for Pogba at Old Trafford and why were three managers simply unable to get the best out of him?
In a France shirt, Pogba has not only won the World Cup but is the figure point of the team. The midfield hub who is granted the freedom of the park to bomb about and use his physical presence to retain possession as well as use his press-resistant dribbling technique, deceptive for his size, to beat defenders and create in the final third. It was different story at United, where Pogba was restricted by the tactical nous of Mourinho, and the physicality of the Premier League.
Throughout most of the Portuguese manager’s tenure, Pogba found himself as a number six, sitting by himself in front of the defense. While this made sense on paper, with his weight of passing and vision giving United a new dimension, stylistically it wasn’t the role Pogba was profile for, and his inability to protect the back four ultimately cost United points.
Things changed very briefly under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, with Pogba used in a more advanced role, and things went well in the Champions League where he was influential alongside Marcus Rashford against Paris Saint Germain. However, the quarter-finals against Barcelona was a step up in class, and Pogba was essential a bystander as the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Phillipe Coutinho cut United open.
His fate was all but sealed under Ralf Rangnick, with injuries limiting him to just a handful of appearances last season. You could probably count on one hand the number of marquee matches Pogba had put together throughout his six year reunion at United. It’s a shame, as he’s an undeniably fantastic footballer on his day, but that inconsistency has plagued his career and the Stretford End have been wondering what could have been ever since.
Hits: 0
