PAUL POGBA HAS been accused of living in “a fantasy world” by Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, with questions continuing to be asked of his future at Old Trafford.
Reports of interest from Real Madrid continue to swirl around the World Cup-winning midfielder, with struggles for consistency across three seasons back in England edging him towards the exit.
Scholes is not convinced that the Red Devils should be parting with a player who boasts obvious talent, but concedes that the 26-year-old needs greater guidance and discipline.
The former United star told Premier League Productions: “There’s confusion in midfield. Is Pogba going to stay or go?
“In years gone by, United have lost top players and it didn’t really affect them. You think of Roy Keane going, David Beckham, Cristiano [Ronaldo] going, [Ruud] van Nistelrooy. All top, top players leaving the club.
“But you always had a squad of players that it didn’t really matter, you didn’t really miss them that much.
“We all know Paul, we talk about potential, but he’s 26 years of age, he’s got to start producing it week in week out.
“You’re going to be losing a player who you know can be world class.
“Can you talk about getting better players next to him? Who is out there that’s going to improve him?
“If he’s got a manager that is strong enough with him, you go back to [Massimiliano] Allegri at Juventus, and the players he was with there, he did a job in that team. He worked his absolute backside off, which he should be doing every week.
“You get the feeling now that he has come to this club and thinks he’s the big fish, he needs to be the one showing off every week, he’s doing things he doesn’t need to be doing on a football pitch.
“You see his stud roll, he needs to become more clever about what he’s doing.
“His strengths are running, passing the ball, getting into the box, scorig goals, assisting goals. Once he starts stud rolling and trying to beat men, it’s not his game, he becomes easy to play against.”
Scholes continued: “If he passes the ball forward and runs, there’s nobody in the world who can stay with him.
“It’s exactly what he did at Juventus but he had strong characters around him, he had [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Andrea] Pirlo, great players. He almost did their running for them.
“Now he thinks everybody has got to do his work for him and it’s going against him.
“We know what he can do and we know what he’s capable of. As soon as he complicates his game, he’s no good to your team whatsoever.
“Allegri was a strong manager for him and you would have expected [Jose] Mourinho to be. He left him out and didn’t have that much of an effect on him.
“He thinks he’s the big player, the one that needs to show people he’s the best in the world and he doesn’t.
“He just needs to play simple, he’s got team-mates around him who should appreciate him and do appreciate him.
“He’s a good lad, as a young player he wanted to learn, he was desperate to learn. I just don’t think he’s getting the maturity, the sense is not coming to him.
“At Juventus we saw the best midfield player in the world, without a shadow of a doubt. I think it’s because he had a strong manager, a top manager behind him and great players. Not just decent players like he’s got now, he had special players to guide him and to lead him. I don’t think United have that.
“He could be a player who needs a Bryan Robson or a Roy Keane next to him just to give him a little rollicking every now and then. If he doesn’t get that he just carries on in his own little fantasy world, thinking he’s the best.”
“He’s part of a team,” Scholes added. “It’s not about him. It’s not just about me doing tricks and being on YouTube and showing Real Madrid or Barcelona how good I am.
“It’s about being part of a team at Manchester United. That’s why it’s so difficult to say do you lose him.
“Is there anybody with the ability at Manchester United to replace him? At this point I don’t think there is.”
Pogba’s contract at Old Trafford is due to run until 2021, with that agreement including the option for a 12-month extension.
Despite the criticism which has been aimed at him throughout the 2018-19 campaign, the France international has still been named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.
That has done little to curb the transfer speculation, though, which appears set to rumble on into the summer window.
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Pretty solid analysis from Scholes there and I get the argument for wanting to keep Pogba at the club but the reality is he won’t sign a new contract, so if United don’t cash in this summer they won’t get close to his full value and he could become an even more difficult influence within the dressing room.
I believe he will go to Madrid and in the long run United will be better for it, it’s not as simple to say he’s the most talented player they have and therefore they’d be wrong to let him go, no player can be bigger than the club.
@Sean: Agree with you. Its about time United realise that for the foreseeable future they are going to be a feeder club. Similar to what Liverpool became for years. I honestly hope it doesn’t take a full 29 years (or more) to recover – but it is easy to draw comparisons with the great Liverpool teams of the 80s, and their subsequent fall from grace, all the way to obscurity.
While United are talking about how they are addressing their mistakes, they are still making more. Its not just the structure of their management that needs to change. Its the personnel. Switching job titles, and double jobbing does not equate with reform. Its barely even patchwork. Good luck Ole… you’ve an impossible job on your hands. Mourinho knew it last summer. And now he laughs every time he looks at Manchester on a map.
The thing is that Matic, Fred, Martial have been 10 times worse than Pogba, but Pogba deserves the flak as he’s the one who downs tool the quickest and starts flirting with every other club as soon as things don’t go to plan.
Cut him loose.
Time to get rid of 7 players from utd
Why isn’t he dropped? Starts every game but doesn’t perform. Does OGS have any balls?
@Mike Keane:
Probably the best of a bad bunch. Feck all to play for now. Should stick McTominay in instead of him.
United Fans have started a petition.
To bring back ESPN Classic
@Mick O’Donoghue: well mike we’ve got to have somewhere to laugh at Liverpool for the moment
@David Weston: So your laughing at a team that’s 2nd in the league and in the CL semi finals. You must have serious ambitions
@Shaun Gallagher: probably laughing at lads like you that cant read
@Shaun Gallagher: bet you feel a bit sheepish now eh Shaun
Pogba said he wanted to be like Roy Keane , a long way off that yet, but like Scholes said he needs to pass, get into box, get a few goals, up and down the pitch, just like Keane in his pomp.He should watch Keane clips from back in the day, would learn a lot.
I’d be surprised if Real risked him. Serie A his standard right now and this year especially the standard there has plummeted even with one of the 2 best players in the world there. Roma or Inter could be a fit for Pogba perhaps.
@El_Monikerinho: I think he’d be grand in Real Madrid with Zidane at the helm . Otherwise it’s a risk .
@El_Monikerinho: Real Madrid are strongly interested in him . He will go there this summer .
“If he’s got a manager that is strong enough with him, you go back to [Massimiliano] Allegri at Juventus, and the players he was with there, he did a job in that team.” – that Juve side was a million miles better than this United team. Pogba had Pirlo beside him then. No comparison