During his recent appearance on The Athletic’s ‘Talk of the Devils’ podcast, Laurie Whitwell discussed the likelihood of Paul Pogba starting for Manchester United in Friday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
Manchester United are set to compete in their first Premier League game since the eighth of March this Friday when they face Tottenham Hotspur. Prior to the Premier League’s postponement back in March, Pogba hadn’t featured in a Premier League game since 26th December. However, Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently confirmed to MUTV, via Sky Sports, that the French midfielder is fit and training alongside his teammates ahead of the return of England’s top flight.
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During his recent appearance on The Athletic’s Talk of the Devils podcast, Whitwell discussed the likelihood of the World Cup winner starting in Friday’s fixture, saying: “The word that I’d got back was that United [and] Solskjaer were looking at playing the match against Tottenham with Pogba on the bench which, necessarily, wouldn’t be a surprise really, because he has not played since Boxing Day, has had this troublesome ankle injury – albeit he’s come back and trained very well and seems reinvigorated by having, perhaps, Bruno to bounce off and by having this period of time now, where you know he’s going to be fully fit and can play fairly frequently.
“But I think there’s a few considerations aside from the fitness issues, it’s also the fact that United were on an 11-match unbeaten run prior to lockdown, so is there an element where Pogba has to earn his place back a little bit?
“Is it crazy for me to even say that? Given how talented he is as a player – World Cup winner and all the money that he was bought for and obviously the salary that he commands – but I do think that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to have a team where you have to earn your place, so it’s not necessarily a given that you walk straight back in, in my opinion.”
Do you think that Paul Pogba should start versus Spurs?YES, OF COURSE
NO, I DON'T THINK SO
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TIF Thoughts…
Pogba has achieved plenty of success in his career, with honours such as a World Cup winner’s medal and four Italian Serie A winner’s medals to his name.
With that in mind, as well as the fact that he became Manchester United’s all-time record transfer signing when the Red Devils brought him back to the club from Juventus in the summer of 2016, it may be fair to say that the Frenchman has got a reputation that can precede him and it might be understandable if some United supporters would expect him to walk straight back into the starting 11 once he is fit.
However, as Whitwell stated, United were on an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions prior to lockdown and Pogba didn’t feature in any of those games. As a result, it could be arguable that there is no need for the Red Devils to change what has been a successful formula.