OPINION
What to do with a problem like Pogba?
Jose Mourinho couldn’t handle him and the deterioration in the relationship between manager and player, so colourfully illustrated in that infamous training ground incident, was at the heart of his exit from the club.
The arrival of Solskjaer at Old Trafford worked for a short time. Pogba heralded his arrival saying “It is a pleasure to play again. Now I am always smiling.”
He repaid Solskjaer with four goals in his first three games in charge, and added another four in the following six games.
However, Pogba annoyed United fans on the recent international break when he said that Real Madrid was a dream club for any footballer. And his form has sunk back into Mourinho levels in recent weeks.
In the last six league games he’s provided just one assist, with an xGI of just 1.7 (expected goals and assists). That’s just not good enough for a player who is said to want £500k-a-week to sign a new contract.
No player is bigger than a club. And Pogba has come in for consistent criticism, with Frank Lampard saying a year ago that he makes “bad basic decisions”.
His first stint at United didn’t work out and they tried again, paying £94.5million for him. However, a United team with Pogba at the centre is always going to be vulnerable. You can’t build long-term success around a player who blows hot and cold when he feels like it.
Pogba isn’t United through-and-through and if Real Madrid do want him this summer, Solskjaer should stamp his authority on the team, sell him, and rebuild the team with the money.
When a player like Scott McTominay overshadows Pogba in a Champions League QF against Barcelona, the writing is on the wall. The question is, have United – and Solskjaer – got the strength of mind to do something about it?
So far Solskjaer seems determined to keep him at United, but that could be a decision he lives to regret.