How will Paul Pogba be remembered at Manchester United?

Part 4: The Second Fiddle  

The Pogba rollercoaster was in full swing right from the get go in 19/20. Two assists in the first game against Chelsea, but a missed penalty in a draw with Wolves two games later. Then came a long standing ankle injury that pretty much kept him out of action until after lockdown.

With the likes of Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira shouldering creative responsibility, Pogba’s absence was very noticeable. Until January. Manchester United signed Bruno Fernandes in the winter transfer window and he has been the main man at Old Trafford since the moment he walked through the door.

In Fernandes, United have a player that is the creative force that Pogba was supposed to be. His stats speak for themselves and the Red Devils are a better team with him in the side by almost every conceivable metric.

Suddenly with Fernandes in the team, the prospect of a United without Pogba doesn’t sound anywhere near as daunting. There was hope that the two could coexist in the same midfield, and their impressive run of form after Project Restart seemed to suggest that was possible.

But one thing was made clear – Fernandes was now the star, not Pogba. Bruno’s flair and output made him the cornerstone, and the Frenchman had to be slotted in to compliment him rather than the other way around.

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Coupled with the security offered by any combination of Nemanja Matic, Fred or Scott McTominay; it gave United a solid platform on which to build upon. Summer signing Donny Van de Beek has shown himself to be another midfield alternative for Solskjaer to call upon. For the first time since he arrived at the club, their success wasn’t tied to Paul Pogba.

All in all Paul Pogba at Manchester United hasn’t worked out how we had hoped. Every step forward was met with two backwards.

His ability as a footballer has never been in question. Pogba is one of the most talented footballers on the planet, but more often than not he’s used that ability to decorate games rather than dominate them. By all accounts he is a well-liked member of the dressing room and an all around good guy, but it’s probably best for all involved to pull the curtain down and move on.

It seems that the conversation around Pogba at United has always been around what can do, rather than what he has done. And therein lies the core problem.

The one word that summarise Pogba’s second United career – talk. Talk from fans, talk from pundits, talk from agents, talk from the club and national managers, even talk from his brothers. The greatest shame about The Frenchman’s second stint at Manchester United is that not enough of that talking was done on the pitch.