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“We were like oil and water,” is how Sir Alex Ferguson described when he met Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, in 2012. “I distrusted him from the moment I met him.”
So why, eight disappointing years later (and seven since Fergie left), is Raiola still allowed to pour oil into Manchester United’s turbulent waters?
The blame for United’s latest car accident is still shared among the usual suspects. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer manages quite a bit with his team’s selection in Leipzig, as well as with his tactics. Was there any?
The same goes for a cheeky David de Gea, a bewildered Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and a hesitant Harry Maguire. And, of course, Ed Woodward and the Glazers.
But a significant number of fingers point to the man Fergie saw as an agent provocateur, and who now counts Al Capone’s old Florida lair as one of his holes.
Raiola’s claim on the eve of United’s biggest game of the season that Pogba “needs a new team, a change of air” undoubtedly released toxic fumes in the locker room.
The Frenchman had just put in his best performance in two seasons in the win against West Ham, and a fabulous goal. Some even wondered if it was a turning point.
He could have been if he had condemned his agent’s comments, but a player who rarely hits with his weight on the field would never make fun of the man who made him rich.
Solskjaer put himself in an impossible position. Pogba was seen as crucial for United to advance to the commercial final of the Champions League.
And we know how important business is to Woodward and the Glazers.
The manager’s natural instinct was to drop the player and download. But, since Ole is Ole, he came up with a half-baked solution of leaving him in the bank. “Purely tactical,” of course.
To be fair, Pogba, in his unusual cavalry role, came close to performing a rescue. But United’s social distance defenders had given the German team an impregnable three-goal start.
And now Solskjaer finds himself in the worst of both worlds: out of the Big Boys tournament and his authority diminished.
That Raiola chose this moment to amplify his player’s discontent was just what Fergie had feared he would be capable of in 2012.
Even though the manager saw Pogba as a future star, he opened the boil before he could rot infected, dispatching the Frenchman for a token fee in a typically ruthless manner.
It cost United £ 89 million to bring him back in 2016, but the damage of forging the kind of spirit and consistent drive on the pitch that were the hallmark of the Fergie era is many times greater.
To add insult to injury, Raiola somehow negotiated a £ 20 million cut in the fee. If that had been on Fergie’s watch, the hair dryer would have broken a gasket.
As would happen throughout the last five seasons as United have been playing with ten and a half men.
France’s World Cup winner isn’t a troublemaker in the traditional sense – the most outrageous thing he’s ever done was insisting on traveling back from Burnley, not on the team bus, but in his new chauffeured Rolls Royce.
Even José Mourinho couldn’t get him out of second gear.
The rot started once Woodward decided that Raiola was too big to ignore and brought in Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. But since then United have played handicap.
Not all can be blamed on the Italian-born Dutch wheel dealer, of course, but his lasting influence is a prime example of how Fergie’s modus operandi has been abandoned.
If they had introduced a modern structure, it could have mitigated the loss, but there is still no football director and a former banker (Woodward) presides over the transfers.
The Glazers, whose tenure has taken £ 1 billion out of the club in interest and dividends, look on like feudal lords, periodically raiding the box.
Woodward was lucky to pick Solskjaer as his caretaker, but a hard-nosed soccer player wouldn’t have given him the permanent job.
The Norwegian “gets” United, gives the youngsters a chance and tries to attack. But his résumé is successful at Little Molde, an abject failure at Cardiff and an inconsistency of rank at United.
He may be the greatest caretaker of all time, but there is nothing to suggest that he is prepared to lead a club of this stature.
One third of the 27 goals United have conceded in the EPL and Europe have come in the first 20 minutes. Either the defense is not ready, it is not configured correctly or it is not good enough.
Bruno Fernandes has led the team this year, but the promise up front is undermined by a lack of defense and Pogba’s mess.
Neither that nor the inconsistencies can continue and, with the Manchester derby looming (at 1.30am Sunday in Malaysia), United’s fragile season cannot afford a hideout from the neighbors.
Surely it’s time to sell Pogba and bring in Mauricio Pochettino, before Real Madrid or Barcelona catch him, to stabilize the boat.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
