Man Utd verdict: Pogba used as impact sub for Red Devils as Solskjaer has finally run out of patience with him
NAMES, reputations and price tags count for nothing if you aren’t doing the business.
Paul Pogba certainly knows that now.
His four titles with Juventus, club record fee and World Cup winners’ medal have been keeping him in the Manchester United team for too long.
United have waited and waited for something to happen now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is waiting no more.
This is a man not afraid to make big decisions and he has made a very brave one with Pogba.
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This is the third game in a row that he has started without him and nobody can argue, least of all the player himself.
He started the opening day defeat against Crystal Palace and the fortunate away win at Brighton but was hooked short of the 70 minute mark in each.
He played the whole 90 minutes in the 6-1 defeat to Spurs and was awful, as were the whole team to be fair.
Solskjaer’s patience has finally snapped and it has been a very different United without him.
Winning at Newcastle and PSG with two of their most impressive performances under Solskjaer.
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Scott McTominay and Fred give the midfield more energy and the back four more protection.
Juan Mata at 32 years old gets in ahead of him too and with his clever use of the ball and movement you can see why.
Now Poba has assumed the role of an impact sub, one he did well to be fair in Paris by setting up Marcus Rashford for the winner.
There was no impact this time.
He came on ten minutes into the second-half with Edinson Cavani who he then played behind.
All that served to do was push Fernandes out wide, reducing his effectiveness.
Then when Mason Greenwood came on he was pushed back in front of the back four allowing Fernandes to reassume his central role.
There was one very good tackle, all the touches were very safe, but nothing bad, nothing great, just, a bit, Pogba.
In many ways in leaving Pogba out the starting line-ups Solskjaer is proving his predecessor right.
In pre-season in Los Angeles in the summer of 2018, Jose Mourinho was asked to assess Pogba’s role in France winning the World Cup.
He was being teed up to gush with praise.
Instead he effectively said it would be nice if he turned a few of those performances in for United – he was spot on but it was seen as poor man management.
In the breakdown of relations between the manager and Pogba, Mourinho ended up the loser.
It undoubtedly contributed to his sudden downfall.
Not least when he dropped him for what turned out to be his final game in charge, a 2-2 home draw with Arsenal.
The first fractures in that relationship came back in February of 2018 when he was having an animated chat with the player on the sidelines in a 2-0 defeat away to Tottenham.
He was instructing him, and Pogba did not follow those instructions, so Mourinho subbed him.
Mourinho’s critics claimed he was stifling a free spirit with his rigid tactics.
No, he was just trying to get him to do a job for the team and he wasn’t doing it.
Now his absence from the team sheet barely raises an eyebrow.
Fans have grown ambivalent.
It is as if they and United have moved on and it is no longer an issue.
They were ready to move him on in the summer of 2019 if Real Madrid had offered enough cash.
Solskjaer had already tired of two other big names in Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez and if he was going to get the money to reinvest then Pogba could go to.
He has stayed and his performance levels have remained just average to poor …and United still wait.