While Cristiano Ronaldo was Manchester United’s matchwinner against Atalanta, Paul Pogba was dismal.
The Frenchman put in a terrible performance which was a combination of too casual and simply not good enough.
It seemed like Pogba was going through the motions, at a time when he really should be fighting for his place.
Former star Rio Ferdinand said Pogba needed to take responsibility for his poor performance.
Ferdinand told BT Sport: “He took liberties a few times. Sloppiness and slack. There comes a time you need to be told. He needs to be telling himself.”
Paul Scholes also had critical words for Pogba, suggesting that he won’t learn from his mistakes, commenting: “At 35 he will still be the same.”
What went wrong for Pogba?
Pogba has had a tricky lead up into this game, with a woeful performance away at Leicester after the October international break.
He was since dropped for the next two games, the second of which he came off the bench and got sent off after just 13 minutes against Liverpool.
United turned to him here to give Fred a rest, and it nearly backfired.
Pogba seemed out of sync with his teammates all night, blazing a cross towards Ronaldo’s head from inside the penalty area when the striker was calling for a ball to feet.
He then sailed a pass over everybody’s heads for a goal kick.
But where it really got dodgy for Pogba was when he was dribbling the ball on the edge of his own box and was dispossessed. Thankfully Eric Bailly stepped in to save the day.
Pogba continued to give the ball away and he was lucky to come out for the second half, although he was eventually substituted on 67 minutes.
The Frenchman is suspended for the weekend’s match against City, which feels like a blessing based on this performance.
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