gza the genius
Full Member
This was actually the most damning performance for Pogba, as it shows that he could have played a deeper role under Mourinho, and actually he wasn't putting the effort in at that time. After about 70 minutes, Neville noted that "he'd really put a shift in"; that sort of shift was conspicuous by its absence earlier in the season.
Many people on here then stated that the reason for this was that Mourinho had played him out of position, thereby not getting the best out of him. But we've seen in this game, when asked to play out of position by Solskjaer, the level of effort Pogba made was quite tangibly higher.
I would certainly agree that Mourinho managed him poorly, but it should always be incumbent on every professional footballer to try his hardest, particularly at the very highest level. It was already pretty obvious that Pogba wasn't doing this under Mourinho, but this is even more obvious after this game.
I'm sure this won't bother the people who make it their life mission to defend everything Paul Pogba does. There is no doubt that he's an excellent player, but the jury is certainly out on his attitude and maturity. Hopefully he has turned the corner in this regard now.
There's a difference between putting a shift in when the teams need you and having to do it week in week out. Pogba and Mourinho both handled the situation poorly but in the end I think given Pogba'd stats (and the team's) since Mourinho left it's pretty obvious who was right.