Paul Pogba‘s missed penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers had punters frothing at the mouth. It was another opportunity to criticise the Frenchman. The media loves a scapegoat and Pogba is a name that will generate a lot of clicks and attention. As a society, we don’t care when people are praised, we care when they are vilified.
Paul Pogba Criticism Driven by Agenda
Different Standards
People like to hate Paul Pogba. It isn’t a racial issue, either, because team-mate Marcus Rashford is idolised in the media. His performances tend to fluctuate but people are too often looking for a mistake. People want to bring him down because he is a worldwide name and that is wrong.
A missed penalty can happen to anybody. He didn’t even attempt the three-year-long run-up which we have seen in the past; his technique was one which just wanted to score the penalty without any showboating shenanigans. The real drama came from the fact that Rashford had scored last week’s penalty and so people believed he was upsetting the order.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had already stated that he didn’t have a designated penalty taker, indicating that he felt many players were capable of taking a spot-kick. Rashford won the penalty against Chelsea and so he stepped up to take it.
Pogba won the penalty against Wolves so it was of little surprise when he was the one who wanted to undertake responsibility. It really was something and nothing but what got very little praise was the excellent save from Rui Patricio! What also gets little attention was the overall performance of Pogba in that match.
Pog-Boom!
Pogba was brilliant in that match. He was calm, confident and quite clearly better than anyone else on the field. His performance oozed class. Gone were the showboating flicks and tricks with the Frenchman choosing to dictate the tempo of the game in an impressively mature manner.
It highlighted Pogba’s importance to United. He is the only midfielder that can control the pace of a match. His superb range of passing means that he can be a significant threat whilst playing on the half-way line. When Pogba’s game is stripped back to the basics he is far more effective and, when you compare Pogba with his team-mates, his qualities are even more important.
Scott McTominay is a workhorse and a player who bleeds Manchester United. But he doesn’t have the ability to run a midfield. He can’t unlock a deep-block. On balance, the Wolves midfield is probably better than United’s. Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho are tremendous midfield generals while Leander Dendoncker is a powerhouse.
Pogba’s importance to Solskjaer couldn’t be greater. The English transfer window has now closed so United are unable to bring in any new recruits. Pogba has a desire to leave Old Trafford but, without the ability to sign a replacement, selling him would be suicidal. The midfield is the weakest department at the club.
Paul Pogba God?
Like it or not, Pogba is like a godly figure at Old Trafford. He is their key to having a remotely decent season at Old Trafford. Ideally, he would have been moved along for big money and the club would have used that money to recruit wisely.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen so the club must do their utmost to keep their star player happy. If he becomes upset and he loses his enthusiasm to play then United really are in a mess!
Main Photo
Embed from Getty Images
