"I think it is wrong" - Steve Nicol slams Paul Pogba for passing 'all the responsibility to Manchester United'
Former Liverpool player and ESPN FC pundit Steve Nicol believes Paul Pogba should stand up and be counted instead of deflecting the responsibility to Manchester United.
The Frenchman came out and said he had a bout of depression when Jose Mourinho was in charge of the club. Pogba publicly criticised the style of play at United in September 2018, an interview that did not go down well with Mourinho.
Eventually, Mourinho was sacked, but Pogba has not quite lived up to his hype at United even under subsequent managers.
The Frenchman has not been consistent enough at Old Trafford and has earned criticism from fans and pundits alike for his laboured approach on the pitch.
Nicol explained that even though Pogba isn’t playing in his preferred role, he should at least try hard on the pitch and take some responsibility. He said on ESPN FC:
“There's one thing you can give him, OK he doesn't play in the position that suits him or he wants to. After that, you've got to go and give every single thing you've got; all you have to do is try hard and give your best performance. Quite frankly you look at Pogba in games where he has disappeared, is he bothered? He's not bothered."
Nicol continued:
“For somebody of his supposed stature in the game, to try and pass all the responsibility on Manchester United, I think is wrong. There have been players at Man United when things haven't been going well who would die for the club. People like Bryan Robson, years ago who played in teams that didn't win an awful lot, but I tell you what you noticed them.
He added:
“There have been loads of people who played for big clubs who haven't got quite what they wanted to. Steven Gerrard never won the PL with Liverpool; what did he do, he accepted that he had to take responsibility for his job, and he wanted everybody else to do the same.”
Paul Pogba's stint at Manchester United has been a mixed bag
With his contract coming to an end at Old Trafford, and no sign of an extension on the horizon, it’s likely Pogba will leave the club as a free agent this summer.
Pogba’s return to the club in 2016 for a club-record £89 million was supposed to galvanise the team. However, things haven't quite worked out the way fans would have expected to.
So happy to be back with the national team. The last few days obviously haven’t been easy after the burglary at my home and the Champions League exit, so it feels great to be reunited with my @equipedefrance family and concentrate on doing what I love again. Allez les Bleus!🇫🇷 https://t.co/oLHziYinDL
The Frenchman has a lot of ability, but has become a bit of a luxury player at Manchester United at times. With France, he has players with good work ethic and quality around him, so he plays in the right set-up.
That, however, hasn’t been the case at Manchester United. He isn’t a leader, nor has he led them to the trophies they should be contesting for as a big club. A return of 39 goals and 51 assists in 229 games is underwhelming for a player of Pogba's calibre.