“It must be the law of diminishing returns” – Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
The mystery of Paul Pogba and his disappointing career at Manchester United that has ended after six years could baffle a clever confidence of Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Ironside and Columbo.
The Frenchman set a British record of £ 93.2m (then) to sign a coup for United when he joined in the summer of 2016. The talented four-time footballer won of the Serie A and finalist of the Champions League with Juventus and a European Championship. 2016 runner-up with France. He was two years away from the glory of the World Cup, scoring a magnificent left-footed shot in the final 4-2 win over Croatia, later images emerging from a pre-final team conversation that made him a good leader faith.
For United, there were only flashes of this brilliance and star dust. Its acquisition proved the coup it never was. Pogba certainly didn’t bomb, but he didn’t dazzle constantly like, for example, Kevin De Bruyne or Bernardo Silva for Manchester City.
In a post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, United were desperately looking for a totem footballer who could throw his teammates to the required level. The expectation was close to ridiculous: as if Pogba could be a figure almost Diego Maradona who, as the Argentine did for Naples from 1984 to 1991, would transform United into a series champion team.
Instead, the opposite happened. The more Pogba was considered the savior, the more he seemed disappointed. It was the law of decreasing returns. United were a disaster on and off the field. Pogba’s performance graph flickered up only occasionally. Because? Because he was surrounded by mediocrity. In his first Premier League campaign, a teammate of the midfielder was Bastian Schweinsteiger, 32, whose top had long since disappeared and who José Bourinho would banish to the reserves. Another, Morgan Schneiderlin, would have three appearances in the league as a substitute for the coach. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was 34 years old but scored 17 goals in the league. The next highest: Juan Mata with six and then Pogba, third set, with an insignificant five.
Was it your job to score more? Was it an attack breaker? An intriguer? A box-to-box dynamo? A ruthless and gentle killer like Silk in Silva or Silva’s namesake, David, who also honored the XI City title winners?
No one in a United dugout seemed to know. Neither the fans nor the experts. For this observer it was an X-factor act, and the killer irony of Pogba’s departure is that it occurs just as Erik ten Hag enters looking to add precisely the alpha player that Pogba may be at his best.
Paul Pogba scores for Manchester United at Manchester City in April 2018. Photo: Russell Cheyne / Reuters
Ten Hag’s priority is to raise the midfield and the team. Put Pogba next to City and he would have De Bruyne, Silva, Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, Rúben Dias and others next to him and there would be less focus on him and he would shine more. If Pogba left any other club and was available with a free Ten Hag, he would ask United’s football director John Murtough to put the 29-year-old on his list alongside Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
Except, no. United has been there, it has. Pogba leaves as a broken color, according to an unwavering group of social media experts, supporters and warriors, whose extreme criticism illuminates his inability to understand the nuance of why he “failed”.
Pogba became the undeserved poster of a poorly managed club that was nowhere near adding a record 20 league titles after his arrival or in the previous three seasons. Pogba was supposed to end this; but that was always a dream. Instead, Pogba was slandered, apparently for wearing a variety of haircuts of different colors and offering an endearing permanent smile.
It is true that he did not dominate the midfield or kill rivals from the wide left or the 10 places where he was played by Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick: three coaches who thought he could do it and went be disappointed.
When Rangnick took office last November, Pogba was injured and would be out until early February. With the player ending his contract and unwilling to sign a new one, Rangnick showed contempt. “I wouldn’t say it’s not worth keeping it,” he said. “But the players have to want to play for a big club like Manchester United.”
Manchester United fans next to a mural by Paul Pogba last October before the 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool in which he was sent off. Photography: Martin Rickett / PA
Here is the subtext. Pogba came to see that United was no longer a “big club” that could win the title or any trophy; the last had been the Europa League 2017, in which Pogba scored in the final. Rangnick’s position came in December. By February, his tone had changed, perhaps being haunted by how much better Pogba was than the rest of the team in training. The interim manager seemed amazed at what Pogba could bring. “I’ll be excited to see how Paul is,” he said. “He can show me and the team and the fans and everyone in England the great level he can play.”
It never happened. The attack on Ajax in the 2-0 victory in the Europa League final was the highlight. How was the selection for the team of the year of the Association of Professional Footballers 2018-19 (Pogba scored 13 goals, a maximum division for a midfielder): he was the only footballer who was not of City, the title winners, or Liverpool, who came in second. , voted by his peers for inclusion.
Pogba said on Instagram on Wednesday: “I feel privileged to have played for this club. Many beautiful moments and memories, but above all an unconditional support from the fans. Thank you.”
“Unconditional” was certainly a catch to those who constantly harangued him. Pogba leaves when he arrives: a top-class footballer looking for a team to match.