This is what I mean about how he’s analysed in comparison to others. He will never grow out of this, and it will always be used against him, because all players are ‘sometimes sloppy over 90 minutes’. Literally all. It’s just that nobody sits down with a pen and paper counting every time any other top player gives the ball away, especially their team’s chief creator.
I can assure you that Modric, Scholes and anyone else of the mythical standard Pogba needs to reach all have the ball away or were caught in possession every single game. The day people start focusing on what Paul Pogba CAN do, and DOES do well, on a CONSISTENT basis, is the day they will appreciate that not many can get near him. Souness has fecked everyone’s head.
I’m not saying he’s perfect, or that these flaws are not there, by the way, I’m saying that they are also there for those who are supposedly better than him too. I believe literally the only difference between them is that they play for winning teams, and Pogba’s isn’t even challenging. It’s the same reason he was apparently some reborn player in the summer for France. ‘He kept it simple’, they said. Since when did was that enough for a player of Pogba’s ability anyway? I can almost guarantee that if Pogba has played EXACTLY the same way as he did for France in the summer, but they went out in the group stage or second round, that he would have been seen as underwhelming. Guarantee it. After all, he did not dribble 3 players and score. He only kept it simple. But simple is enough to draw praise when your team is the best. The focus is always on your positive contribution. Giroud came out of the World Cup with credit, as an individual. They spoke about ‘what he brought to the team’. If France hadn’t won, the focus would be on what he DIDN’T bring to the team, which in reality was far more than he did.