Paul Pogba’s most devastating humiliations of Graeme Souness as bitter bitterness escalates

After years of criticism, Paul Pogba hit back at Graeme Souness this week and escalated the notorious dispute between player and expert.

The Manchester United midfielder stated that he had “heard that [Souness] He was a great player and things like that ”, but he does not know who is the three-time Scottish winner of the European Cup.

This led to a stubborn outburst by Souness in which he asked the World Cup winner to “put his medals on the table.”

However, these recent developments only limit the story of great Liverpool’s animosity towards the former Juventus player.

In fact, Souness’ first open criticism came about three years ago and has since slammed the 27-year-old for his actions both on and off the field, though there have also been some rare moments of praise.

Topics the Sky Sports expert has questioned range from the £ 89 million United paid for Pogba to his flamboyant style of play.

Without further ado, here’s the Mirror Football timeline of Souness’s most notorious criticism of Pogba …

United’s “pants down”

Souness first questioned the price the Red Devils paid for Pogba in May 2017.

The £ 89 million disbursed to bring Pogba back to the club where he had risen in the ranks as a youth player was a world record rate for a footballer.

And a challenging 2016-17 campaign in which United won the Europa League and League Cup, but finished sixth in the Premier League, caused the Frenchman’s performances to be beaten at times, and Souness was one of the most vocal critics .

“United has to pay a premium,” he said. “For United, keep 25 percent on the price. Because it is Man United and they have the money. In my opinion, they took off their pants paying [near] £ 100 million.

“I still haven’t been convinced by that. He may be a player someday, but now that we are sitting here after a year in our football, I am still waiting to be convinced. “

“A little YouTuber”

Souness resumed in the 2017-18 season where he had stayed in the previous season, this time criticizing Pogba’s elaborate style of play of being style over substance.

While in Italy, Pogba proved he could be a match winner for Juventus and dominated Serie A on occasion, but he failed to convince Premier League fans that his skills and tricks could be adapted to the English game.

And Souness claimed that Marouane Fellaini was a more effective option for United than Pogba after the latter was injured after 19 minutes against Basel in the Champions League in September 2017.

“I want to see Paul Pogba do what Fellaini does: get him out in a nice and simple way,” Souness said.

“I’m not saying that he [Fellaini] it is a better option, what I am saying is that it is a greater threat, it is more effective. He’s not easy on the eye, sometimes he’s a bully, which doesn’t make him a bad guy.

“That is the question mark I have against him. He has technique. He is a bit of a YouTuber, isn’t he? When he is on the ball, there are many things to admire. He is powerful, he has good technique, he can mistreat to people, you can hit the ball.

“This is not me being a former Liverpool player attacking a United player. I thought the same thing when I was a Juventus player. That’s a basic thing you learn on the youth team. When will you get it?

“He hasn’t taken a great game by the neck and he’s mastered it. He doesn’t have a basic understanding of his position, I can’t see that changing. “

“Like a boy running after the ball on the playground”

“He will be absent”

Souness echoed his comments from the previous September in February 2018, writing in his Sunday time column that “United simply cannot trust the Frenchman to do his job properly in midfield against the best teams.”

The Red Devils had been defeated 2-0 by Tottenham Hotspur two weeks earlier in a game where Pogba was taken out of his own 63 minutes and Souness criticized his performance as immature.

“When you are asked to do a job centrally, you are always deviating towards the ball,” he wrote. “A central midfielder should never be in areas wider than the penalty area, unless they are out there to face danger defensively.

“When your side is in possession, you should always think, ‘If it breaks, I’m out of the game.’ Pogba empties that center area too easily. He’ll do something smart in the last third, but he’ll be absent when his last four are under the cosh ”.

The same day the Souness article was published, United were defeated 1-0 by Newcastle United.

“He is not being unfairly judged”

Souness reiterated his stance two months later, before United faced Arsenal, maintaining that Pogba could be “much better.”

Speaking on Sky Sports, Souness said: “He is not being unfairly judged. The relationship with José Mourinho is not perfect, if he were handling it he would be frustrated. It can be much better, it has a lot of skill, a wonderful athletics.

“He sees himself as a game maker, I don’t see him as a 25-year-old at the peak of his fitness levels, he should go from box to box.”

“He just needs instruction and sometimes a harsh word, I get frustrated by him. A little flamboyant for my taste, but I accept that this is the modern world. “

Pogba scored when the Red Devils beat the Gunners 2-1 at Old Trafford.

“I see a different Paul Pogba in this competition”

In a move that stunned fans, Souness praised Pogba after his dominant displays in midfield France brought Didier Deschamps’ men to World Cup glory in the summer of 2018.

He stated that he had been enthusiastic about Pogba, adding: “I have been a critic of his return to the UK and I would not reject the things I said about him while he has been a Man United player, but I see Paul Pogba differently in this competition.

Criticism # 1: “You have a” fast forward “team when you are attacking and when you lose, you don’t back down as fast as when you try to do things.

“I think he’s been more of a team player in this competition. But when you play Matuidi and Kante, I think it would embarrass you if you didn’t take the same turn as them.”

“They have offered him an olive branch and he has not picked it up”

In September 2018, Souness noted how Mourinho had offered Pogba captaincy, but continued to make unclear comments about the tension between him and the manager.

“They have a very good group at United and have had a difficult start,” Souness said on Sky Sports.

“These problems have been self-inflicted. When everyone throws in the same direction they can win, when they don’t, it is very difficult.

“Pogba, saying what he did after he was handed over to the captaincy: they offered him an olive branch and he did not pick it up.”

“It just doesn’t do the basics correctly”

2018 was a very busy year for Souness and his interactions with Pogba. This time, the Scotsman returned to the norm, criticizing him for losing his man during a corner kick against Chelsea and allowing Antonio Rudiger to score as the Blues in October.

And Souness also pointed out that the manager José Mourinho was also at the end of his relationship with the Frenchman.

“I think they ran out of patience with him, as a manager you can’t keep saying” this is what you should do, “Souness said on Sky Sports.

“As Joe Fagan would say, the great Joe Fagan would say, ‘We will tell you once, we will tell you twice, and if you don’t understand, you won’t be here long,’ and it was as brutal as that.

“I am seen as his biggest critic, but his manager is not happy with him. I’ve been a manager and I say to myself, as José will say to himself, “What a player this boy could be if you just listened and learned.”

“Even at 25 you never stop learning in this game. If this guy thinks he’s the real deal at 25, then he won’t get better. “

“He is not ready for the fight”

In August 2019 and before the new season, Souness stated that he would not want to be in the same locker room as an abandoned Pogba, with Real Madrid in a tailspin for the Frenchman.

“If I’m sitting in the Manchester United locker room today, I’m glad that Romelu Lukaku is gone and I don’t want Paul Pogba to be with me either if he’s not ready for the fight and also eager to escape.” Souness wrote in The Times.

“They are as responsible as anyone for the situation United is in, but they have effectively told their teammates: ‘It is everyone else’s fault.’ No, we are going to do well, guys, you are part of the reason. why United is not in the Champions League this year.

“Real Madrid are looking to steal Pogba cheaply because they are suspicious of his form for United.”

“He made a huge difference to me”

However, Souness praised Pogba once again after United’s loss to Watford in December 2019 after the Frenchman left the bench to show some intention that the Red Devils had been lost.

“It is as if when [United] They went down 2-0 and said, “oh, this is a game for us,” and they found another team and started looking threatening, “Souness said.

“And, are you ready for this … Pogba when he came in, made a big difference to me. He actually started playing forward, rather than side to side. He was a threat when he came in. But I think the rest of the season will be more of the same for United. “

“He doesn’t want to be at United”

Pogba has been limited this season after struggling with ongoing ankle problems and illness, but once again he was in the spotlight after videos of him dancing at his brother’s wedding appeared.

Souness was shocked by the images and said on Sky Sports: “He is just the cynic in me, I’m thinking of Paul Pogba … I see him dancing at a wedding, I see him shooting hoops, and the cynic in me thinks he doesn’t ” I don’t want to be at United. How can you not want to play for Man United, if that’s the case? “

Souness contrasts Pogba’s situation with that of Everton’s Andre Gomes, who suffered a dislocated ankle but recovered in a few months. “You have Andre Gomes playing today, a horrible ankle injury,” he added.

“There are 14 bones in his … half the players out there today will play with something floating in the ankle joint. It baffles me, it really does.

“Perhaps United should be looking at the medical staff here at Goodison, they recovered Gomes in a fraction of the time for what appears to be a much worse injury.”

“It would be an absolute hitch to play”

Last month, Souness made the headlines again and reiterated many of the points he had previously made about Pogba, limiting them by saying it would be an “obstacle” to face on the field.

“Pogba has absolutely everything to be a superior player: great athletics, super technique, but his attitude towards the game is the opposite pole from mine,” he wrote in the Sunday Times.

“He comes out with one thought in mind:” I’m going to show everyone how smart I am today and be the star of the show. “

“My attitude, the way I was taught, was, ‘Get out there and work harder than the guy you’re dealing with and see where that takes you.’ It would be an absolute obstacle to playing.”

“Put your medals on the table”

And, of course, the dispute broke out again after Pogba claimed he doesn’t know who Souness is.

When asked about previous criticism he had received of the Scot, Pogba told the United Podcast: “He didn’t even know who he really was.

“I heard he was a great player and things like that. I know the face, but [not] name.

“I’m not someone who watches a lot [punditry]. I watch a lot of soccer but I don’t stay after the game to hear what they say about why they did this or why they did it. I like to focus on soccer. “

And Souness responded quickly, saying to Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports: “You know, the oldest saying in football comes to mind: put your medals on the table. I have a big table.”