A reminder that Paul Pogba is actually quite good at football

It’s a sad state of affairs that when you think of Paul Pogba, his ability as a footballer isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

If you were to just follow social media for updates on his form and performance, you’d be disappointed. You would see more of his hairstyles, dance moves, and agent than what he actually does on a soccer field.

All this despite the fact that before arriving at Old Trafford he had won four Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia crowns, and at Old Trafford he won the EFL Cup, the Europa League and a bloody Cup. of the FIFA World Cup with France.

Still, his stay in England the second time is widely regarded as a failure.

After joining Juventus for a then world record of £ 89million, Pogba entered a Manchester United squad coached by Jose Mourinho and was to be the leader in a new era for the club. Both the Europa League and the EFL Cup were held in the first season, but since then his influence at the Red Devils has waned.

The second season saw him fall out with the manager, and the third saw Mourinho leave and be replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

He ended his third season at United as the club’s top scorer, best assistant, best tackle and best creator. He was all at the club on the pitch and that was part of his downfall. With such a wide and high quality skill set, Pogba was tasked with multitasking rather than his own to make up for the lack of quality of the team.

Last season – his fourth at the club – was tough for Pogba as he missed the majority of the campaign with injury, but it wasn’t a shock that when he returned to full form after the break Forced by COVID, the Reds have regained shape and stormed their way to a third place finish in the Premier League.

This season has not started particularly well for the midfielder. Pogba suffered a recurrence of his ankle injury from the previous campaign, before testing positive for COVID-19. While he was back in the squad relatively quickly – after testing negative – the club have maintained that they never really regained their fitness until recently.

Although he had a great game in the 5-0 Champions League win over RB Leipzig, his performances had dropped noticeably immediately after returning to the first football team – he even lost his place in the eleven. starting against Fred.

However, recently he has returned to his starting role, albeit in a slightly changed position, and he has been the key to the charge that has seen United climb to the top of the table.

Since the West Ham game in particular, where he was the peerless player despite the team falling behind before scoring a screamer to equalize, Pogba has clearly turned a new leaf at the club.

He dictates play in depth, affects games in the final third, performs well defensively, and overall does everything you can ask him to.

His ability with both feet is unmatched in the United squad, he is physically imposing, exceptionally gifted with the ball at his feet in terms of skill and passing and he is a goal threat. Manchester United fans have not forgotten him and know the team are better with him than without.

The main concern is the circus around him, but when you focus solely on the footballer that is Paul Pogba, you can’t deny the talent that is there.

He’s a supreme footballer and when it clicks for him he’s one of the best central midfielders in world football.