[ad_1]
Paul Scholes was once again enthusiastic about the midfielder’s performance, which cost a lot of money but justifies the purchase price week after week. “He transformed the team,” Scholes said on the microphone of the payment company “BT Sport” after the 2-2 draw of his former club, Manchester United, in the Premier League game in Leicester City on December 26 .
The midfielder Scholes was referring to was Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese arrived from Lisbon for 55 million euros from Sporting at the end of January and has become the face of the current rebound of the record champions of England. Last season, thanks to a good second half, he qualified for the Champions League. In the current season, Manchester United, at least according to the table, is one of the candidates for the title. After the draw against Leicester, the team finished third for the first time.
Fernandes was the man of the game, helping Marcus Rashford on the first goal and scoring the second himself. The Opta data service calculated that the Portuguese had been directly involved in more than half of all United goals since arriving at England. Fernandes reminds fans of Cristiano Ronaldo’s club, which began its global career at Old Trafford, and not just because of its origins.
Another midfielder, who had come for more money than Fernandes and was in fact also tasked with transforming Manchester United, gave another sad picture against Leicester. Paul Pogba initially spent Boxing Day on the bench and after being substituted in the 54th minute, he played as slowly as if he had gorged himself on traditional sandwiches with leftovers from Christmas dinner. He did not put any accent on the front, and in the back he simply jogged before Leicester tied the final score. The performance once again confirmed the impression that the Frenchman, who was brought in from Juventus from Turin four and a half years ago for the world record sum of € 105 million, failed in Manchester.
Neither José Mourinho nor current coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have managed to coach Pogba in the long run in the world-class performances of which he is supposedly capable. In a United team that has advanced recently, he is increasingly degenerating into a fringe figure. In the 14 Premier League games so far this season, he has only played seven times from the start and was substituted four times. Currently, the strongest Scott McTominay and Fred are the favorites in defensive midfield.
One of Pogba’s problems is that his ideal position in the Solskjaer lineup does not exist. The former Norwegian striker prefers to operate 4-2-3-1. For one of the two six-spot spots, Pogba works very little backwards (and, unlike France’s world championship team, he doesn’t have cleaner N’Golo Kanté by his side). Not enough playmaker for ten.
The system question is only part of the explanation for Pogba’s sad existence at Old Trafford. The other is your achievements. Upon their return from Turin, they never lived up to long-term expectations. From the recent past, rather stupid mistakes are remembered, which led to penalties for the opponent. Brilliant moments like Pogba’s long-distance goal at 3-1 at West Ham in early December are the exception.
The consultant Raiola speaks of farewell
The fact that he remains in the headlines is owed to his advisor Mino Raiola. He publicly quarreled with Solskjaer, complained of his highly paid client’s suffering and recently stated that Pogba’s time at Manchester United had ended in a “Tuttosport” interview. Although the midfielder confessed to his club via social media afterwards (“Bla Bla is not important”), he forgot to mention that this Bla Bla is dispersed by his own agent, if not in Pogba’s direct assignment, certainly his Knowledge.
The fans were very patient with the Frenchman, but by now there should be enough fans to take him to Madrid, Barcelona or Turin in his own car. Those could be his goals if he leaves Manchester United after this season, as expected. The only problem is that in the Corona crisis, no buyer can pay as much money as the English record champions spent on Pogba. The association is likely to suffer a dramatic loss, but in return it will significantly improve the peace of mind of the company.
Solskjaer attaches great importance to discipline and is there to train Bruno Fernandes, and also Rashford, a team that is as promising as it is mysterious. If you have room for your counterattack, you can tear your opponent to pieces. On the other hand, she is mostly lost against long-standing teams. It also has a built-in self-destruct mechanism, which was particularly damaging in the Champions League. Despite victories at Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) and at home to RB Leipzig (5-0), Manchester United were eliminated in the preliminary round as Istanbul team Başakşehir suffered the most absurd counterattack in football professional and Solskjaer at home against PSG by one. Fred, who was begging to be sent off, left the field until he saw the yellow-red card.
Fluctuations in form also fall to the inexperienced coach. Fortunately for him though, the team has plenty of individual class and an obvious leader. Actually, that should be Paul Pogba’s claim. But what is meant is: Bruno Fernandes.
