Former France and Bayern Munich star Bixente Lizarazu has come out and stated that Paul Pogba needs a hand around the shoulder and a “soft” approach after the midfielder’s dip in form this season.
Pogba was expected to be a powerhouse in the midfield for Manchester United, however, he has not lived up to the heights that he had reached with Juventus. The last time the Frenchman had played full 90 minutes of a match was against Crystal Palace in the first week of March.
The former Juve star played just 30 minutes in the 2-1 home loss at the hands of Sevilla that sent us packing from the Champions League and Lizarazu believes that Pogba still has time to turn things around ahead of the World Cup, even though his relationship with Mourinho is not great.
The former France international was quoted by the Manchester Evening News as he spoke to BBC’s World Service.
“I see that the relationship with Mourinho is not good.”
“When he was in Juventus, he was really improving a lot; my feeling, at Manchester United, is that he is not improving so this is a problem because the potential is so big that we don’t want for him, for the French national team, that he stays at this level. He can make better.”
Lizarazu also said that Mourinho is not easy to work with and that someone needs to talk to Pogba as the World Cup is close.
“Why he don’t make it? It’s difficult to say what’s going on in his brain. Someone has to talk to him. Of course, Mourinho is not an easy manager.
“He is using the strong method – he can be hard with the player. Some players need that but others need something more soft but you have to be focused and sometimes he is not focused enough. Sometimes he is making too much and so he has to control that.
“He has to react now. This is the moment he has to react because it’s three months until the World Cup.”
I feel that Lizarazu has a point. Sometimes, the players need to be backed by the manager. Yes, they have to be mentally strong to bounce back from situations like this but they are humans after all and a pat on the back could go a long way in Pogba turning things around for himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmZAoPDxBZs
Pogba is not 15 years old anymore, he should be focused on nothing but football on the pitch. If he can’t cut it for whatever reason then he should be shipped out. I have no sympathy whatsoever for these pampered over rated so – called stars sulking for attention.
also good articles here http://www.thesportsbank.net/