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From the moment Mino Raiola opened his mouth and some old wounds, it was always going to be like this.
Manchester United’s biggest game of the season begins under another dark cloud created by Paul Pogba and his verbal incontinence agent.
Pogba was back on the bench at the RB Arena in Leipzig, but here he was, at the front and at the center of the discussion.
Perhaps that is exactly what Raiola had in mind when he gave an interview before a decisive Champions League group match and the Manchester derby declaring that Pogba’s time at Old Trafford is up, although his contract is certainly not. .
The timing was horrible. He overshadowed preparation for a game United couldn’t afford to lose, and ensured that two of the four questions put to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before kick-off were about one of his 12 substitutes.
What effect did Raiola’s comments have on the United team’s selection? “Nothing,” was Solskjaer’s concise — and probably rehearsed — answer.
‘My decision is obviously tactical, that’s the only thing. We made the team decision long before this game because we settled on Scott (McTominay) and Nemanja (Matic) in midfield before playing West Ham. It’s a team selection. ‘
In the BT Sport studio, the reaction was far more spirited, sparking probably the most heated debate between Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes since they shared a dressing room at Old Trafford.
Voices rose and fingers pointed at each other as they spoke to each other.
“Paul Pogba is the problem,” Scholes said. He pays this man to represent him and he represents him badly because Paul is a good boy.
Everyone on the outside will think it’s a mess in the locker room. It is not. Paul has two options: tell him to shut up or fire him.
Ferdinand described the moment as “disgusting”, but had a different opinion.
“I’m going to focus more on Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ed Woodward,” he said.
How do you allow an agent to come in and talk like this? This is not the first time that Raiola has talked about a player.
“I was at United when Wayne Rooney was talking about leaving. Sir Alex Ferguson immediately said: “Listen, your agent has advised you wrong, this will not happen again” and nipped it in the bud. A couple of days later, Rooney signed a new contract.
Owen Hargreaves had to get to the heart of the matter.
“One of the most important games for Manchester United in a long time and we are talking about an agent,” he said.
‘The only person who is getting anything out of this transaction is him. United don’t have the Pogba they were hoping for, and Pogba’s stock isn’t at the level they were when they paid £ 89 million for him. ‘
Did it really influence the game? Probably not. United haven’t needed excuses to get off to a bad start lately, and the starts aren’t much worse than this one.
Two goals less in 13 minutes, it could have been worse if it weren’t for Emil Forsberg’s miss and Willi Orban’s shot offside.
Solskjaer had said his players would stand up to be counted on the big occasion, but they were in danger of completely collapsing against a team they thrashed 5-0 at Old Trafford 41 a few days earlier. Pogba was sent to warm up before the break, but it was Donny van de Beek who went into the second half instead of Alex Telles when Solskjaer abandoned his back-three.
It worked well in Paris in October, but it cost United on Tuesday night as Angelino and Amadou Haidara appeared unmarked at the back post to beat David de Gea.
It was the one hour mark before Solskjaer turned to Pogba and sent the Frenchman for Matic. United were even further behind in 10 minutes before Bruno Fernandes pushed back a penalty.
Pogba seemed like a man with something to prove. It was his excellent first pass that led Van de Beek to win a corner with eight minutes remaining.
When the Dutchman turned the ball around, Pogba wanted him more than anyone as he soared for the far post. His header hit Harry Maguire and Ibrahima Konate on its way past Peter Gulacsi, and the United captain claimed credit for the goal.
At least Pogba had provided something positive for United after another turbulent 24 hours in his career at Old Trafford.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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