It’s fair to say that Paul Pogba has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride since arriving back at Manchester United in the summer of 2016.

The French World Cup winner has been seen as the focal point to this current United team. He has scored vital goals and created numerous assists but interlaced in those virtuoso performances has been low key and frustrating outings.

Reports seem to surface during every transfer window that the midfielder is keen to leave Old Trafford, this was especially true during Jose Mourinho’s tenure in charge of The Red Devils.

Some in the media and some amongst the Man United faithful also complained and left perplexed that Paul seemed to give more assured and disciplined performances for his national side!

Injury has curtailed much of Pogba’s season but it hasn’t stopped rumours linking the player with a move to Real Madrid (Source The Metro).

Yet the twenty-seven year old has returned post lockdown and looks to be more disciplined and just as influential.

A big reason for this, in my opinion, has been the arrival of Portuguese maestro Bruno Fernandes.

People often thought that the signing of defensive minded Nemanja Matic was to give Pogba license to roam and flourish as a creative talent.

But in truth, Paul Pogba likes to be more of an number eight who can do both at any given time. So playing in a midfield three with Scott McTominay/Matic and Fernandes seems to suit the Frenchman.

He doesn’t need to stick completely to one role. He can help out in the engine room when he’s needed and move forward when the opportunity arises.

With Fernandes making an instant impact at Man Utd, he has taken away the need for Pogba to feel he constantly has to be chief creator and be on the front foot.

In Man United’s 3-0 home win over Sheffield United (BBC Match Report), the game in which Fernandes and Pogba started in their first game together, both were terrific and helped ticking the game over in United’s favour.

Pogba gave one of his most disciplined performances in a United jersey. In the main he stuck to the right side of his midfield’s righthand side, pushing forwards to help the attack when possible.

Paul made the most amount of successful dribbles, made sixty-six key passes and was very good in the air too. (Stats Via Whoscored)

The midfield partnership excites current Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who also stated that having Bruno at the club will allow him to move Pogba around:

“I’m certain they can play well together, yes,”

“They’ve both played well in training and in the games they play together it’s exciting. There will be rotations and there will be times that Paul will play up with Bruno, sometimes it’s deeper, sometimes we will play with a diamond. It’s encouraging to see them together.” 

Via ManUtd.com

The future is starting to look a bit brighter for Manchester United. Their now seems to be a more balanced squad and the players seem hungry to succeed at the top level.

If Solskjaer and his club’s hierarchy can add a few more top class new recruits this summer and keep Paul Pogba happy at the club, then maybe just maybe The Red Devils can mount more of a serious challenge on significant silverware next term.

Posted on June 28th, 2020 by scott
Filed under: Article