Paul Pogba Discusses Manchester United Ambition After 2-1 Win vs. Crystal Palace

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba still believes his team can challenge for the Premier League title despite trailing leaders Chelsea by 13 points.

The Frenchman played a starring role as the Red Devils beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Wednesday, scoring himself in the first period and then laying on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late winner.

Afterwards, Pogba spoke about the team’s ambitions for the rest of the season and refused to put a ceiling on them, per SFR Sport (h/t Ian Holyman of ESPN FC):

"

We don't want to be in the top four, we want to be at the top.

But to get there, we have to take that step first. We're going to keep working and not give up on anything.

We have to continue on our good run as we did in the Europa League and with Tottenham last week. We have to keep going. Chelsea are putting games together. To be at the top, you have to put together games, put together wins. We're in a good spell, we have to keep it going.

"

It’s an audacious claim from Pogba, especially looking at how the top of the Premier League table shapes up:

R	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	16	13	1	2	34	11	+23	40
2	Liverpool	16	10	4	2	40	20	+20	34
3	Arsenal	16	10	4	2	37	17	+20	34
4	Manchester City	16	10	3	3	34	19	+15	33
5	Tottenham	16	8	6	2	27	11	+16	30
6	Manchester United	16	7	6	3	22	17	+5	27

After failing to find his best form in the early weeks of the season following a world-record transfer from Juventus, the 23-year-old has slowly started to add consistency to his game.

Indeed, not only did he make two crucial contributions in the final third at Selhurst Park on Wednesday, he was a colossal presence in the middle of the pitch throughout. Pogba’s strength in possession, inventive passing combinations and turn of speed allowed United to get a solid foothold in the contest.

Daniel Harris of the Guardian can understand why Pogba may have taken time to get up to full throttle:

It’s little surprise that as the Frenchman has grown in stature in recent weeks, so too have United. The win over Palace was their second in succession in the Premier League, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. While Jose Mourinho’s side remain sixth in the league, the green shoots of recovery are beginning to show for the Red Devils.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

The linkup play between Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been central to their upturn in form. The latter missed the match at Selhurst Park with an injury, although the former duo continue to show signs of affinity both on and off the pitch.

As we can see here courtesy of BT Sport, there’s a camaraderie that fizzes between United’s two big stars:

That’s vital to a functioning setup and, as noted by Miguel Delaney of ESPN FC, when the Red Devils attack clicks into gear, there aren’t many teams in the division who can match their firepower:

Even so, United have a massive gap to make up on Chelsea, who have swaggered their way to 10 consecutive wins under the stewardship of Antonio Conte. Additionally, if there was just one or two teams between the Red Devils and the summit, a successful chase could be plausible, but with five sides ahead, it’d take a succession of unexpected collapses.

Pogba’s ambition will embolden United supporters, though, and his mood is reflective of the positivity that’s building at Old Trafford. While this season may be too soon for this team to challenge for the biggest honours, plenty are getting excited about the Red Devils’ future prospects again.