Confidence and the captain's armband can bring the best out of Paul Pogba for Man United

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  • Paul Pogba has found it difficult in recent seasons to produce consistently good performances for Manchester United, but in their opening fixture of the new Premier League season, the Frenchman seemed like a totally different player.

    The midfielder, who burst onto the world stage during his stint with Serie A giants Juventus, dominated the midfield under the floodlights at Old Trafford on Friday night.

    Pogba, who is fresh from winning the World Cup with France, has endured a somewhat strained relationship with United boss Jose Mourinho, with the Portuguese even opting to leave him on the bench in various fixtures last season.

    Prior to the transfer window slamming shut on Thursday evening, there had been a few weeks of speculation that Pogba even wanted to leave Old Trafford for a second time, with his agent Mino Raiola seemingly trying to negotiate a £100m move to Spanish giants Barcelona.

    However, the player put all the paper talk behind him, stepped onto the pitch and allowed his football to do the talking.

    Here are three reasons why Pogba stood out against Leicester:

    LEADERSHIP

     0614 Pogba Ibrahimovic

    With players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick out of the equation, Pogba is now United’s leader on the pitch. Mourinho showed the faith that he has in his midfielder by handing him the captain’s armband against the Foxes and he took on the responsibility in fine fashion.

    Pogba has become the teacher in this United midfield, with summer signing Fred and academy product Andreas Pereira looking up to the Frenchman and learning from him.

    Pogba was a real leader with and without the ball on Friday night and with this added pressure of being captain, it seems to have brought the best out of a player who’s never lacked confidence.

    CONFIDENCE

    pogba 1212 

    Speaking of confidence, the 25-year-old was under severe scrutiny from pundits and fans last season and this led to multiple under-par performances.

    However, after earning heaps of praise for a brilliant World Cup campaign, Pogba was brimming with confidence from the first whistle against Leicester.

    The flashy midfielder, who had two stars carved into his hair to denote Les Bleus’ two World Cup triumphs, demanded the ball at every opportunity and breezed past Leicester players with ease.

    His penalty inside the first five minutes proved just how confident he was. First, he wrestled the ball from Alexis Sanchez to take the spot kick, before nonchalantly stepping up and placing the ball into the top right corner.

     

    TENACIOUS MIDFIELD COMPANION

    Manchester United v Real Madrid - International Champions Cup 2018 

    Pogba lined up alongside Fred for the first time and it was a game to remember for the pair.

    For France, Pogba was paired with N’Golo Kante in midfield and the Chelsea man’s aggression and energy allowed Pogba to express himself on the ball. Fred did something very similar.

    The new arrival was energetic, snappy and tenacious when winning the ball back and more often than not, he was looking to pass to his midfield partner.

    The Brazilian’s performance was somewhat erratic and he clearly needs time to adjust to the power and pace of the Premier League, but he will certainly add much needed dynamism and energy to the Red Devils’ engine room.

    With Fred and Pereira sitting deeper in midfield, it gave Pogba the license to roam further up the pitch in support of the attackers and that is where he is at his best.

    Pogba seems to have found his ideal midfield partner at Old Trafford, something Mourinho has been searching for ever since he arrived in Manchester.

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