the times | Saturday April 30 2022 1GS 9
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position to which Pogba is so
unsuited that it felt less like a genuine
selection and more like a satirical
comment on United’s squad
construction. They have plenty of
attacking midfielders and left-sided
creators, but are lacking in top-class
players in the pivot, a position into
which Pogba was often awkwardly
fiddled, like a strand of hair combed
back to cover a nasty bald patch.
I can understand why Pogba
frustrated and annoyed people. He
lost the ball too often. His defensive
positioning was sometimes poor. His
pressing could, at times — especially
when things were going against
United — lack tenacity. He was injury
prone. He allowed his agent, Mino
Raiola, to speak for him far too often.
He has that infuriatingly Neymar-
esque combination of a light, prancy,
effervescent style, and a Gatsby-ish
persona, which encouraged the unfair
perception that he was more
concerned with plumping his social-
media numbers and primping his
plumage than playing football. (When
he shaved his head a couple of
months ago, it felt almost like a
belated act of propitiation). So no, I
don’t think Pogba represented himself
particularly well. But I also don’t
think the club helped him.
Just as Pogba would have benefited
on the pitch from the imposition of a
proper, collaborative pressing
structure, so he could have been
better served off it. Much has been
made, mostly by the club itself, of
United’s supposed might in the
commercial and social-media spheres,
but in truth their strategy in the latter
feels nebulous and unsophisticated.
There’s that famous quote from
United’s digital CEO about the club
having “the luxury of 25 world-class
superstars as influencers”, but therein
lies the problem: the players are seen
as disconnected content producers,
much as they appear on the pitch.
A more joined-up, collective
approach to digital storytelling, with a
clear narrative aim — like that
practised by Liverpool or the French
national team — might have fortified
the connection between United’s
squad and their supporters, made
more of Pogba’s authentic love for the
city and club, and might have averted
the acrimony directed at him now.
It is legitimate to be critical of
Pogba’s time at United, to think that
he let the club down in some of his
worst moments, to believe that he
didn’t justify his fee, and to think that
the club ought not to extend his
contract. But if United are serious
about getting good again, and intend
to approach that task with humility,
they should also reflect on the fact
that of the three teams Pogba has
represented, also including Juventus
and Les Bleus, two have been highly
successful. They are the odd one out.T
he top three assist-providers
in the Premier League,
Mohamed Salah, Trent
Alexander-Arnold and
Andrew Robertson, are
members of an adored team which is
on course for the Champions League
final and a possible Quadruple. The
player who is joint-fourth on that list,
one behind Robertson, was jeered off
against Norwich City two weeks ago,
shouts of “f*** off” ringing in his ears,
on what is likely to be his final
appearance for Manchester United.
The tale of Paul Pogba is a
reminder of just how much football
careers are a hostage to timing,
circumstance, and the currents of
institutional expertise. Pogba was
signed a year after Manchester City
bought Kevin de Bruyne, and next to
that, his Old Trafford career looks
like a tragic waste, a sad frittering.
But on the international scene, De
Bruyne’s team is the one that has
flattered to deceive, which has come
up soft in the biggest, most
pressurised moments, whereas
Pogba’s France, with a World Cup
triumph, a Nations League win and a
Euro final, have probably been the
best national team of the era.
Of the two, Pogba has been the
much more decisive, inspirational
figure on that stage, which goes to
show that absolutes of character are
usually illusory, and that performance
is more often a reflection of structure
and surrounding. The unique
Pogba has flourished with Juventus and France – United are the odd one outdynamic of his signing didn’t help
Pogba. Having been reared at Old
Trafford, and allowed to leave for
Juventus, where he established
himself as a world-class midfielder, he
was repossessed at world-record
expense: £89 million, to be precise.
The sense was of United taking back
a player who was rightfully theirs, to
take them back to the place that was
rightfully theirs.
It meant that, from the very start,
Pogba’s United career was an exercise
in justification, destined to be seen
through the lens of pure production.
There are certain players whom it
feels crude to boil down to numbers
or trophies, whom we appreciate for
the moments of beauty or grace or
artistic expression they provide.
Pogba never had the chance to be one
of those. With other players, the
statement that they were capable of
sublime moments would sound like a
celebration. Try applying it to Pogba
and it feels like a damning comment.
And yet, despite it all, in the final
analysis, Pogba’s output is impressive.
Among true midfielders, only De
Bruyne, Christian Eriksen and David
Silva (by one) beat his total of 60
non-penalty goals plus assists since
2016, and none of those three will be
remembered as anything other than a
great Premier League player.
In some ways, Pogba was a more
rounded (not better) midfielder than
those three. Since 2017-18, only on 13
occasions has a Premier Leagueplayer, in a season, recorded at least
ten non-penalty goals plus assists,
while surpassing 1.5 chances created,
six-ball wins and six progressive
passes per 90 minutes (progressive
passes, those which move the ball ten
yards goalward or into the box, were
not recorded in Pogba’s first season).
Pogba is responsible for three of
those seasons: the other players who
appear on the list more than once are
Alexander-Arnold and Robertson.
Which is not to say that Pogba is a
flawless player, or even a great one,
merely that he has an unusually
broad palette of abilities, which in theright context, with a little care and a
little constancy, could have flourished.
He never really had that, though.
While De Bruyne is a free eight and
very occasionally a false nine, and
Thiago Alcântara, for example, has
been plugged into a single, defined
role in a high-functioning team under
an all-time-great coach, Pogba has
played every position for United
except full back. He played at centre
back against Newcastle United in
2018 and gave a man-of-the-match
performance. Against Norwich two
weeks ago, Ralf Rangnick played him
as a single holding midfielder, aYes, Pogba is
prancy. But
United still
failed him
James Gheerbrant
important what Erik thinks. I know
from my time with Salzburg and Leip-
zig, and also now from Jürgen [Klopp]
and Thomas [Tuchel], if they want the
players, they are also involved. They
speak with the players — the same is
probably true with Pep [Guardiola] —
they will speak to the players them-
selves and find out about their mentali-
ty and character. Are they really the
best possible players for this club?”
While Rangnick has yet to speak to
Ten Hag, despite the Dutchman being
appointed more than a week ago, the
interim manager has hammered out
the details of his consultancy role with
the United board. And it appears that
We cannot attract world’s best, admits Rangnick
recruitment will be the main thrust of
his part-time job.
Matt Judge has resigned as United’s
director of football negotiations after
ten years at the club. His exit was said to
be entirely amicable and follows the
recent departures of Jim Lawlor and
Marcel Bout from United’s scouting
team.
“The most important bit is that we
bring in the best possible players, speak
about that and who could that could
be,” Rangnick said. “It is not only about
identifying them, but meeting them,
convincing them to join the club, even
though we will not play in the
Champions League. Also, with regard
to the top talented players from the
academy, [to] identify those players.”
With United struggling to competewith their English rivals for big-name
stars — Haaland, for example, seems
destined for City — Rangnick also
favours a policy of talent identification
and development.
“The club should try to find future
star players and try to develop them,”
he said. “Tell me five players. Haaland is
21 or 22, this is one of those players. He
has developed [over] the last two years
into one of the most expensive strikers
in the world.
“He would be one of those examples
the emphasis should be on, to convince
players who should be Man United
players for the next [few] years.”
United need to win their final three
league games under Rangnick to reach
64 points, which would be their lowest
league tally since the 1990-91 season.Jadon Sancho, the winger, may have
played his last game this season after
having tonsillitis diagnosed. The
inflammation is so severe that he may
require an operation.
The France midfielder Paul Pogba is
not expected to play again this season,
while there are doubts about whether
Harry Maguire, the captain, will recov-
er from a knee injury. Jesse Lingard
missed the 1-1 draw with Chelsea
because of “personal reasons” but the
midfielder Fred is expected to return
for Monday’s game against Brentford.
6 Mason Greenwood, 20, will remain
on bail until mid-June over allegations
he raped and assaulted a young woman.
Greenwood was arrested in January
and released on conditional bail, which
had been due to expire today.CONTINUED FROM FRONT
Rangnick will focus on recruitment in
his part-time United consultancy role