#360view: Pogba flourishing in United midfield

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  • Justified: Paul Pogba

    If you listen hard enough you may be able to still hear them but Paul Pogba’s detractors are very much in the minority these days.

    The £89 million (Dh403.2m) transfer fee will inevitably be waved about among rival supporters whenever the Frenchman has an off-day against their club, but slowly but surely he has found his feet in English football.

    The nine-figure sum was never going to provide a fair representation of the 23-year old; he is not a goalscorer, nor a great creator, nor even a goalkeeper who makes spectacular saves and ensures clean sheets. He is a difficult player to judge in terms of volume.

    Which is what people want and assume that amount of money is for. There is no bigger bang for your buck than goals and if you’re shelling out world record fees, you should be demanding more than someone who can tackle, dribble and takes a decent shot from 20 yards – the main takeaways from Pogba’s early United’s displays.

    The era of Ronaldo and Messi has narrowed and simplified the argument a little as to what constitutes “the best”. If you’re not scoring 40+ goals a season then you must be at a level below, so how can you justify that sort of money.

    But United’s investment was a smart one. Firstly the fee amounted to just 17.6 per cent of the club’s revenue, roughly the same percentage as what Wayne Rooney’s £27m transfer represented in 2004; secondly his marketability is very much in the top tier of player in the modern age; and thirdly he’s still only 23.

    We’re right to be marvelling at what Zlatan Ibrahimovic is doing with a football right now at 35, but this is his swansong, however delayed that might be. Pogba isn’t yet in his peak, and that is still some three seasons away.

    As Real Madrid understood with Gareth Bale when they spent £86m in 2013 to sign the then 24-year-old, the Welshman’s optimum level of performance would take some time to be reached.

    That’s not to say there weren’t demands on his performance but there was a patience from within that he, now matter how good, would need time. The results are there for all to see with Bale comfortably one of the most important players at the richest club in the world.

    You spend for the statement and, to an extent, the here and now, but the bulk of that expenditure is for the future and what tomorrow should bring. A world record fee on a player who burns brightly for two seasons and then fades away would be a poor investment.

    Pogba was entering a failing dressing room, with a new manager imposing fresh systems on a muddled squad, put together by four different coaches. Now, as Mourinho discovers his best XI, formation and favoured tempo, the Frenchman is driving United.

    Six goals and four assists is a solid return for the first half of a season but it’s how he’s shaping the midfield around him which must be most pleasing to United fans. With Ander Herrera a selfless passer of the ball, Pogba isn’t being starved of possession or space or stepping on the toes of Rooney or Marouane Fellaini anymore.

    At Juventus he played his best football alongside a continuity player; the Bianconeri happening to have arguably the best in the world at keeping possession, switching tempo and always providing a passing option.

    United don’t have Andrea Pirlo but they do have Michael Carrick and the slightly more different but still technically-skilled Herrera.

    It gives the Frenchman an insurance policy and means he doesn’t have to necessarily control the flow of possession all the time, instead picking and choosing his moments when the situation presents itself.

    Mourinho’s 4-3-3 has opened up the pitch for him to operate, as a passer and ball-carrier and it’s injecting increasing energy into United’s play. His long-range distribution is becoming increasingly fluid and consistent and his teammates now know when and where to run to make best use of it.

    There is the small matter of the opposition over what has been a fine month: Everton, Palace, West Brom, Sunderland and Middlesbrough with his only average performance really coming in the 1-0 win over Tottenham.

    United may not crave goals from their £89m man but they will expect match-winning performances against the league’s better sides. That will surely come in time but for now, the chants of “what a waste of money” are increasingly becoming whistles in the wind.

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