Paul Pogba admits he is ‘always smiling’ under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer after being ‘in the shadows’ in the final weeks of Jose Mourinho’s reign. The World Cup winner Paul Pogba along with Belgian international, Romelu Lukaku was benched in their last games. Lukaku and Pogba both have seen the goal under interim manager, netting 7 times combining. Along with Rashford, Martial and Lingard has seen glimpses of skills and some amazing one touch football.
The attacking players have been flourishing under the new main-man and Pogba’s defence-splitting pass to set up Marcus Rashford’s winner against Spurs at Wembley will take some beating. The Frenchman scored twice in two games against Bournemouth and Huddersfield. Having started just one of Mourinho’s final four games at United, Pogba is clearly loving life under Solksjaer after previously working with him in his first spell at United.
Earlier in September, Pogba was not happy with the performance their team was putting up and it was mainly because of the former manager Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager had messed up his relationship with the World Cup winner in particular and some of the other stars at the club too, were not really impressed either.
However with the new manager taking charge in December after a shambolic 3-1 loss to Liverpool, The attacking quadruple of Pogba, Rashford, Martial, and Lingard has surely flourished. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer along with Mike Phelan and Michael Carrick have instilled the Man United way back into the players and it took only 3 minutes to put the shackles off against Cardiff City.
A happy Pogba exclaimed after the 1-0 win at Wembley stated, “It is a pleasure to be reunited with him. I knew him from the academy and the reserves, when his nickname was super sub. He is doing a really good job. As a player, he knew the mentality of this club. He has come back to help us and it is going very well. The season is long so let’s see how it goes.”
The 25 year old France international has suddenly burst into life, and can be seen being more adventurous and potent with the ball. His ability to feed players and score goals himself has got him running. Pogba’s huge transformation from what he was under Mourinho earlier in the season shows how Ole has handled him expertly, with the manager recent suggesting that he could be the new skipper at Old Trafford soon.
However, now the next key step would be if the new boss can help the team push for a title in the days to follow, as that is what every manager wants after the perfect start. He has done the hard part and his team are still undefeated, but the test against Arsenal in the FA Cup will be a big one. Though they have beaten Spurs already, the Gunners are a different side and have been playing well in the big games at least under Unai Emery. It will be a top battle between the two sides.
