When Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager of Manchester United on December 18th, the club identified a ‘catalogue of errors’ within its daily running that contributed to the departure of the enigmatic Portuguese.
One particular stores that regularly filled the back pages of newspapers was his relationship with midfielder Paul Pogba, the club record signing, sporadic captain, and a largely egotistical figure within the camp.
The regular clashes seemed to come to a head during the loss at Liverpool, in which Pogba remained an unused substitute as United were effectively lambs to the slaughter at the hands of the marauding Merseyside’s.
For all his capabilities as a playmaker, the Frenchman’s battle with Mourinho suggests he is above his manager, and maybe above the club.
Social Media
Pogba’s footballing stats this season read as such:
Games: 14; Goals: 3; Assists: 3.
Meanwhile, his social media stats are:
Facebook followers: 7.2m; Instagram: 30.9m
As a prodigious user of social media, which has garnered him this enormous following, Pogba’s movement on the internet is scrutinised. Yet too often he seems to play too close to the line of what is acceptable and what is controversial. He is set to be fined for the cryptic Facebook post in which he is smirking into the camera with the phrase ‘Caption This’, merely minutes after Mourinho’s departure was announced.
A series of posts have show him laughing, joking and playing the fool in the midst of the club’s struggles, which some have seen as a sign he does not take the failings of this season seriously; as a club player and as an individual.
They have a point. One does wonder how seriously Pogba takes his role at United when he is constantly shown to be enjoying himself far more than his situation allows.
Marketing Image
Pogba is the face of Adidas’ Predator football boot range, and possesses a certain uniqueness to his image. Again, social media is involved to display his enormous range of new haircuts, clothing, jewellery and a large quantity of fans who don his replica jerseys.
Given how United currently lie in sixth in the Premier League, and face a daunting task against PSG to prosper in the Champions League, it does beg the question of whether Pogba’s continued endorsements of his image is appropriate.
Is it the correct decorum when your team conceded a last minute equaliser away at Chelsea and indeed the same day, a new haircut is posted on Instagram? Indeed, the fact that Pogba is failing to live up to the £89million price tag and all his successes as part of Juventus earlier this decade, it could be suggested he has bigger priorities than his haircut.
But he may disagree. The Frenchman has achieved success with his endorsements, which have value on many levels in the modern football era. It will prolong his financial comfort long after he has retired. Yet the sheer arrogance he has displayed with his continued ‘show pony’ antics may prove that, although Mourinho perhaps wasn’t the man to get the best out of Pogba, the midfielder did very little to help himself in the first place.
Bigger Than The Club?
Sir Alex Ferguson always enforced the idea that no player was bigger than the club, which was the case for many a United player who achieved and thrived more than Pogba. Indeed, it was Ferguson himself who sold Pogba to Juventus for £800,000 in 2012. Perhaps the Scot saw in Pogba what is slowly becoming more obvious: that the dangerous confidence displayed does not live up to the talent.
He is good, there is no doubt. But this latest social media post seems to indicate a duel with Mourinho he believes he has won. A dangerous attitude to have, and one that new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will need to clamp down on quickly.
Ultimately, Pogba is not bigger than the club. He is just as dispensable as any of the other big names that have preceded him. Solskjær, for all the tasks he has on his plate at Old Trafford, may find the hardest one to come within his own dressing room.
Picture from the Daily Express. I own no rights.
Neptune Sports Writing 