Paul Pogba Is Proving to Be Worth His Record Transfer Fee at Manchester United
In the immediate aftermath of Manchester United’s opening goal in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace last week, their players all gathered around the towering figures of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to celebrate.
Amid the hugs and pats on the back, they wanted to pay homage to the pair who had just combined to give United the lead.
Even Wayne Rooney, still the nominal captain, could be seen on the outside of this huddle, desperately trying to get involved in the adulation, as if he was a mere autograph hunter.
It was an emblematic moment of the shift in power that has taken place at Old Trafford this season.
While Ibrahimovic is making a clear impact, he is 35 and will soon be gone, this is quickly becoming the 23-year-old Pogba’s team.
With every game, the France international’s influence is growing, and the team is being moulded around him and to his considerable strengths and qualities.
The former Juventus man dominated the win against Palace, scoring that opening goal before providing a wonderful assist for Ibrahimovic’s late winner.
He was crucially at the heart of everything United did at Selhurst Park, having the most touches and passes, constantly demanding the ball, always moving and always probing for a way through the Palace defence.
Four days later, he was again the quiet authority behind United’s commanding 2-0 win against West Bromwich Albion.
Pogba strode across the pitch at the Hawthorns—once more having the most touches and passes of any player—and started the move for United’s opening goal with a brilliant cross-field pass.
As Bryan Robson drove United in the 1980s and Roy Keane fulfilled the same role in the 1990s and into to the new millennium, Pogba has now become the inspiration behind this current United side.
It might be heresy to even suggest it, but Pogba has the physique and ability to become a better player than both of the former United captains.
Pogba has Keane and Robson’s drive, but he also has greater creativity and more finesse on the ball, being able to open up defences with a clever through ball, and he possesses a better shot from distance.
As an admiring Ander Herrera said, per Press Association Sport (h/t the Daily Mail): “Pogba is Pogba and other midfielders are different. We know Paul can change a game in one second. He has an unbelievable shot, he can head the ball, he can combine near the box and create something.”
When you have allowed a player to leave for a derisory £800,000 and then suffered the embarrassment of watching him develop into one of the world’s best players, the only way to heal the wound is to sign him back.
United were right to forget about the acrimony surrounding his departure in 2012 and doggedly pursue him, even if it meant having to spend £89.3 million.
No one else in the game possesses his qualities. He has the skills of a small man—immaculate close control and the ability to beat players with craft and power—but set in the frame of a large man, 6'3", who can brush players off with ease and dominate them with his strength.
United helped nurture Pogba and then lost him, but they will now have his best years.
On his return, after an impressive debut against Southampton at Old Trafford, there was a temporary—probably inevitable—malaise about him.
It did not help that manager Jose Mourinho took the curious step of playing him out of position, in a more defensive holding role in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The Frenchman was now constrained, forced to play from a deeper position on the pitch and unable to join in with attacks to show his true flair.
It was as if Mourinho had learned nothing from watching a shackled Pogba being used in the same position at the European Championship by France head coach Didier Deschamps.
This was not the Pogba who had so captivated Serie A with Juventus for the previous four years and forced United to swallow their pride and take him back.
In time, Mourinho saw sense and reshuffled his starting lineup to give Pogba the freedom and position he craved and deserved.
He is now thriving on the left side of a midfield three in a 4-3-3 formation, usually alongside Herrera and Michael Carrick, who give him the freedom to dictate United’s attacks.
Carrick performs the same role for Pogba as Andrea Pirlo did at Juventus, providing a calming influence and a sense of security.
As former United defender Rio Ferdinand astutely observed in the Sunday Times, via Metro:
"There is a long list to which we need to add Paul Pogba’s name, and that is of team-mates who have appreciated Michael Carrick.
I have spoken to Pogba about it, and Carrick has set him free.
[...]
Pogba will be the first to say that the biggest change has been the reintroduction of Carrick.
Carrick feeds him the ball early, quickly, and in areas where he can do damage before teams get set the way they were doing before.
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It is no coincidence that since this tactical adjustment, United have consolidated their form and are unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions.
Pogba has been the overwhelming reason, scoring five goals, contributing three assists and delivering a slew of man-of-the-match performances. He looks happy and settled back in Manchester; those four years in Turin were a mere apprenticeship before he was ready to return and take charge of his own United side.
Keane turned 22 in the summer he arrived at Old Trafford, but he had to wait until he was around the age of 27 before assuming control of United.
Robson would turn 25 three months after signing for United, and it took him about a season to take on the mantle as the club’s leader on the pitch.
But Keane and Robson had arrived from Nottingham Forest and West Bromwich Albion, and they needed time to adjust to the demands of leading Manchester United.
Pogba, however, arrives fresh from four years of winning titles with Juventus and playing in a UEFA Champions League final.
He is an old 23, and the signs so far this season are that he is more than ready to become United’s inspiration and main driving force.
Can he drive the Red Devils to the top of the Premier League? Time will tell, but the signs are extremely positive.
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