Paul Pogba was on the verge of leaving the club this summer with Real Madrid interested in signing him. But somehow, Solskjaer seems to have convinced the midfielder to stay and commit to the cause.
During the first four games of the 2019-20 season, Paul Pogba has received mixed reviews titling mostly towards invalidating especially after the Frenchman failed to convert an all-important penalty vs Wolves.
And while speaking about the midfielder’s commitment, Gary Neville seems to have thrown a major challenge to the World Cup winner.
“Paul Pogba is now the obsession because he’s the biggest player at the biggest club, he’s a World Cup winner and it should be a compliment that people are talking about it,” Neville told Off The Ball(as reported by Goal).
“When I criticised Paul Pogba after the penalty incident at Wolves, I don’t see it as being any different than the criticism of Roy Keane or David Beckham or Wayne Rooney.
“The best player, the leader, the captain in the team, will stand up and he will take the brunt of the criticism. Just as the manager will and the coach will.
“It won’t be the assistant coach, it won’t be the left-winger or the right-back or the left-back, it will be the player who is the number one player in the team and that’s never changed.
“I speak to people, apparently he’s a great lad, he trains well, he’s a really good person – to be fair, I was at the club with him when he was a young lad,” Neville added.
“So when people criticise him or put the pressure on him or apply the pressure to him, it’s because he’s the best, he’s the shining light.
“He’s the Bryan Robson of the 80’s now. United were in trouble, people hung everything on Bryan Robson, everybody now hangs a lot on Paul Pogba.
“But that’s the pressure that he wants, he wants to be the best player in the world. So now go and show us you’re the best player in the world.
“Carry this team, which is young, inexperienced, hasn’t got the most know-how, needs leaders and characters on the pitch. And I said two weeks ago on television, wouldn’t it be great if he thought of himself as being the Player of the Year this year.
“What does he need to do that? Carry Manchester United into the Champions League, win the Europa League, drive them forward. Take it as your responsibility, you’re at this club for 12 months and you’re going to be the best player in the league and one of the best players in the world.
“That’s what I want from Paul Pogba, that’s what I want from him because I believe he’s capable of doing it. I have faith in him to do it.
“But then I see an incident like Wolves, and that disappoints me. So he has to take the criticism for that.”
VERDICT:
Paul Pogba obviously has the ability to be the best in the league but ever since his return back from Italy, the midfielder has failed to call Man United his home.
And while Gary Neville thinks the Frenchman can emulate the leadership qualities of Bryan Robson but for that to happen he would have to remain at the club for a long time.
