Paul Pogba, a 27-year-old French midfielder, currently plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League. He is incredibly talented, creative, and combines a strong physique with excellence in creating chances and taking on opponents, and was tipped to be on track to become the world's best midfielder as early as his youth. He helped the French national team win the 2018 World Cup and also won the Europa League during his time at Manchester United, even finishing second in the league in the 17-18 season. However, he was often criticized for his lack of concentration, lack of consistency, lack of defense, and sometimes his strength was even questioned and controversial.
So, what's all this really about? Putting aside the purely negative comments, it seems as though the discussion about Pogba has stayed on the surface, making it difficult to give a reasonable and comprehensive explanation. In fact, the myths and misconceptions surrounding Pogba are so baffling that it's difficult to predict his performance. After his agent, Raiola, made his departure announcement, fans and pundits attacked him, portraying him as a lazy player who doesn't give a damn about the team, and even calling him a "cancer". However, he has turned the tables on them time and time again and has been the key to his team's victories, such as scoring the only goal of the game against Burnley in 1/13 and the winning goal in the 2-1 win against Fulham last week.
So far, there are numerous factors that are thought to potentially affect Pogba's performance, including field position, personality, attitude, departure fiasco, injuries, etc., and even hairstyle (?). . Some of these factors are trivial and some are complex and difficult to understand, so this article will simply begin by sharing my own views on Pogba's character, which I hope will help answer the above questions.
People who have watched the documentary on France's 2018 World Cup win know that Pogba is not the captain of the team, but plays a role comparable to that of the captain. In the documentary, he was in the knockout stage many times in the locker room to his teammates for pre-match mobilization, the content is simple, concise, but enough to move the hearts of the people, especially in the final to face the Croatian one pre-match mobilization is impressive.
Before the final, he gathered his teammates around the table, his tone low and serious, unlike his previous pep talks.
There's nothing more to say. The final is all we have right now. It's on the road we traveled, in your hearts and eyes, and I see it clearly.
...... In 90 minutes, we have the potential to write history.90 minutes, one game; we don't know how many games we've played in our lives, but this one will change everything. Two teams, one trophy; opponents as eager to win the World Cup as we were. We had lost in the final (European Nations Cup) and that hurt is still in my heart, still in my mind .......
Tonight, all the French people watching the game, their children, their grandchildren, we're going to be part of their memory. It's in these 90 minutes that history will be written. Now, I don't want to shout, we go into the stadium, as warriors, as leaders, to win the war.
Pogba also seems to have a sense of the role he plays in the team, having said in interviews that he can't say if he is a leader or not, but if he has to go out and encourage everyone, he won't hesitate to do so.
We've probably all met someone like him at one time or another, energetic and dynamic, good at enlivening the team's atmosphere and occasionally enjoying a good joke. There's definitely no shortage of fun to be had in a team with someone like that. And judging from Pogba's interactions with his teammates, both in the national team and at the club, he maintains a good relationship with his teammates. Some people or the media have criticized him for being the black sheep of the team, but that can only be nonsense.
However, people get tired. There will be times when such a person will have a low point, or diverge from his usual performance. You can't expect him to always be energized and motivated. Of course, it is difficult to avoid the positive or negative effects that follow. Excitement, decadence; highs, lows; peaks, valleys. That's just who he is.
He does not have the legendary predecessor Zidane's calm and low-key, not like the rival Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne field field as a robot-like play, and even more can not do C Luo's hard work and self-discipline. He is what he is - Pogba.
Maybe he can't reach the desired "maturity" after all, but fortunately, he has one advantage: he doesn't shy away from big games - even big games are more likely to inspire him to perform well. In the World Cup final, he scored a crucial goal for his team to extend the score to 3-1 and seal the victory. From launching a long pass, inserting himself, to shooting left and right footed consecutively, in one go, he almost took charge of the attack of that goal. In the end, he was named the man of the match. In the Europa League final, he also opened the scoring for Manchester United in the 18th minute, helping his team eventually beat Ajax 2:0.
At this moment in time, with Bruno Fernandes, last year's four-time Player of the Month for the month, in a slight dip in form, it is Pogba who has stepped up at the right time to push United to the top of the Premier League table for the time being. Whether United can move forward steadily on the road to title contention may depend on whether B Faye or others can also jump out in time to lead the team forward when Pogba's form falls back.
