Pogback = Unitedback: Mentality restored

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  • If there’s anyone who knows of the requisite personality needed to play for a successful Manchester United side, then it’s Gary Neville.

    Of all the players who represented the club as Sir Alex Ferguson transformed them into the Premier League’s primary winning machine, it is Neville who embodied the attitude of being a United player more than anyone else.

    What he lacked in individual ability he made up for in mentality and a dogged determination to be the absolute best player he could be. The term ‘Top Red’ was invented for people like Neville.

    Which is why when he says, “United need players who will stick their shoulders out and prove they have personality and character. It is what they have lacked”, it carries considerable credibility.

    What Paul Pogba will bring to the team is obvious, as United have missed a midfielder of his dynamism, guile and energy probably since the glory days of Roy Keane; Ferguson’s latter sides typified by a stringent defence and the presence of some of the best attacking players in world football: Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Robin van Persie.

    However, while United have clearly lacked such offensive superiority – with Rooney’s best days well behind him – the concept of character and a winning mentality has also slowly been eroded from the club with Ferguson’s departure in 2013.

    The mediocrity of David Moyes’ time in charge and the muddled logic of Louis van Gaal completely stripped the Red Devils of the fearsome aura they once carried as a badge of honour, leaving them vulnerable, even at Old Trafford. The knock-on effect was to create a dressing room unsure of itself, and a group of players no longer believing they could win, no matter what.

    Since 2012, when Pogba left United, he has won six major trophies with Juventus and played in the Champions League and European Championship final. Trying to get United back into the Premier League top four with maybe a run at the title won’t be as much of a galling leap for him as some are forecasting.

    It is, if anything, merely a continuation of a career that has been on an upward curve since he left US Torcy near his hometown of Paris as a 14-year-old to travel 200km north and sign for his first professional club Le Havre; minus a sizeable Ferguson-related roadblock on the way.

    The idea of pressure and how Pogba will cope with being ‘the world’s most expensive footballer’ is understandable, especially given how he failed to meet expectations at Euro 2016 when presented with the burden of being France’s next iconic midfielder in waiting.

    That day may still well come but throughout his career he has demonstrated his ability to cope with pressure, adapt and subsequently improve.

    The last six weeks haven’t been the first time he’s been the subject of a messy, protracted and highly-scrutinised transfer saga.

    His 2009 switch from Le Havre to United was shrouded in legal conjecture and accusations of foul play against the Premier League club.

    As a 16-year-old that only sought to dramatically raised his profile before he even pulled on a red shirt.
    But at that age, with such expectation, arriving in a new country, unable to speak the language at one of the world’s biggest clubs, it really was sink or swim.

    Because Pogba is such a competitor he did seize his opportunity in excelling for the academy side, only the belligerence of Ferguson preventing him from making a first-team breakthrough.

    It would have been easy to agree a comfortable new contract at Old Trafford and bide his time but he wanted to play, he wanted to win, and the bravery to move to yet another new country, with yet another culture and language to adapt to, to another super club, should not be understated.

    As consistently the youngest player in a starting XI of experienced and established professionals, Pogba rarely stood out as the wet-behind-the ears rookie.

    Fitting in seamlessly alongside Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and Tevez is no mean feat. It requires more than just ability.

    Now, at United, he wants to be the best player in the world; an ambition that, talent aside, can be achieved through determination, resilience and a single-minded focus, desire and belief on winning football matches.
    It’s everything United have lacked.

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