Manchester United: 7 reasons why Paul Pogba is underperforming

Paul Pogba was headline news a few months ago when he returned to Manchester United. However, things are not going as expected so far after his Old Trafford return.

Paul Pogba’s move back to Manchester United smashed the world transfer record in the summer, when his move from Juventus cost the club a whopping £89 million. United fans expected an immediate impact from Pogba, but the Frenchman has underperformed so far as Manchester United have continued to struggle.

There are numerous reasons why Pogba has failed to make an impact. Here we focus on the seven main reasons:

1) Hefty price tag

Although the club and Pogba himself tried to minimize the ”most expensive footballer in history” tag, you can see that Pogba focuses more on proving his worth than on teamwork. He makes unnecessary dribbles, shoots long-range shots and tries to play attractive football all the time.

Of course, powerful shots and fancy dribbles are part of his player profile, and one of the numerous reasons for that hefty price tag. However, there is a time and place for every move and is not getting that right at the moment.

2) Premier League isn’t Serie A

Although many football fans will question the supposed superiority of the Premier League in comparison to Serie A, it is easier to play in a dominant team in Italy, without any real threat, than to play for a Premier League team who have struggled to make an impact in recent years.

In addition, the Premier League is loaded with clubs that have a warrior-like mentality and are hard to play against, even if some lack pure quality. Paul Pogba has already learned that when he played against Watford, Stoke City and Burnley.

What about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, you may ask? He played for the dominant team in Ligue 1 – which is certainly weaker and even less competitive than Serie A – and yet he had a much better start in Premier League.

That is true, but Ibrahimovic has been playing for top European clubs for decades and he is one of the most experienced top footballers left in the game. Which leads us to…

3) Paul Pogba Inexperience

Paul Pogba has been playing at the top level for several years, but he is only 23 years old. In addition, he was always accompanied by ultra-experienced players in Juventus, both in defense and midfield.

He benefited greatly from the mentorship of Andrea Pirlo, who helped him develop into the player he is today. Now fans expect him to step up and be the undisputed leader of Manchester United, which is much easier said than done.

4) Manchester United playing style and formation

Mourinho’s formation with two central midfielders and a defensive approach, is clearly not suitable to Paul Pogba’s playing style. At Juventus, Pogba was part of a midfield three, which allowed him more roaming space down the left flank and to run between opponent’s lines, where he poses the biggest threat.

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So far he has failed to do that at Manchester United, with Mourinho restricting him to a more defensive role. However, even when he played in an attacking midfield spot, Pogba failed to utilize his biggest strengths because United’s build-up play isn’t fluid enough at the moment.

5)    Midfield partners

In the Premier League, Pogba has mostly played with Marouane Fellaini as a pair in midfield. It is unclear why Mourinho keeps on pairing them together, since these players are obviously not the best match.

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Both like to roam and both are better when attacking than when defending, even though they are suitable for the defensive midfielder role in principle. If we look back at his time at Juventus again, it is clear that Pogba is the best when he has an exceptional passer with great positioning behind him.

When that is the case, he can roam more freely, read the opponents easier and torment them by making more forward runs. Alongside Fellaini, Pogba is passive and when he tries to make a breakaway, it mostly ends with an error.

That is why Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera or even Bastian Schweinsteiger would be better partners for him. So far, the best matches Pogba played for Manchester United were in the games against Leicester City, where he played with Herrera, and the game against Fenerbahce, in which he played with Carrick. So the path for Mourinho should be clear.

 6) Undefined position

Pogba is widely regarded as one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the game. As mentioned above, Pogba is best when he isn’t restricted to a defensive midfielder role. But Mourinho also gave him an opportunity to play as attacking midfielder in several games,  and that didn’t look good for the majority of the time either.

The biggest quality of Pogba is his ability to cover vast parts of the pitch and to find opponent’s defensive cracks. If we look at his best performances in Juventus, we will see that he mostly found himself attacking down the left flank, although he never played as a classic winger.

That was possible because he played with two holding midfielders, who covered for him defensively. Pogba also struggled to make an impact for the French national team at Euro 2016, where he also played with only one partner in midfield.

If Dimitri Payet or Antoine Griezmann hadn’t performed superbly, it is unlikely that France would have reached the final of the competition.

7) Lack of authority

At Juventus, Pogba had more freedom and he was the go-to man. At United, he is playing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic – a very strong character, who was the leader in almost every team he has played for.

He plays with Wayne Rooney, who is certainly on the decline, but he is a team captain and has great authority in the Premier League. We must not forget that even though Pogba played for Manchester United before, he failed to make an impact in the first team, so he must prove himself all over again.

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So, in summary, it is clear that Mourinho will have to make some changes in order to utilize Pogba’s qualities better. However, knowing that Mourinho sticks with his plan, tactics and playing style no matter what, it is more likely the Portuguese will continue to bench players rather than change his formation and tactics.