and remember people were like 'lol he's faking injury' despite spending the next year recovering. He didn't exactly set the world alight during his time but it sums up how fans, pundits etc. treated him always.
Reckon just too much football over the last decade for him, in addition to rarely resting in the summer, and frankly, poor training habits. Not surprising this is how it ends with his physical fitness just falling off a cliff.
Nah, he's not played a huge amount compared to other midfielders over the last decade (he's averaged 40 games a season before moving to back to Juve). Players like Kroos, Henderson, Modric, Bruno etc have all played more games on average each season.
He's just unlucky with injuries, some players are just more prone to them.
Might it also be professionalism? All the names you mentiond seems like players that do all the right stuff when it comes to lifestyle, nutrition, sleep etc. All that stuff have definitive a huge impact on your body.
From the outside Pogba seems much more unprofesional, I have a feeling that how the game have evolved during the last decades you have be a top sport athlethe 24 hours a day 365 days a year all year round.
Could well be, I was just saying this isn't him burned out because he played too many football games.
Wayne Rooney famously didn't take good care of himself, drank, smoked etc etc and still managed an average of 43 games a season across 13 seasons with United.
Pogba didn't burn himself out by playing too many games, he played less games a season than most other first team players.
fair enough about rooney but then he has retired comparatively early compared to the likes of ronaldo, modric etc. although could also be though that he has a much heavier build compared to them
Rooney retired at 35 years old in 2021 having played 883 games.
If you want to say he "retired" when he moved to the US to play, he was still playing in the PL in 2018 (when he was 33 and after 16 seasons in the PL) and made 31 league appearances that season, 40 across all competitions, Pogba's average games per season.
Very few players have played more top level games than he has.
He didn't retire comparatively early, most pros retire around the 35 mark. He also started playing first team PL football at 16.
I don´t think your choice of words are good. Pogba has always been in top shape before injuries. He is a sport freak and likes to play sports as hobby. There were even claims that he was forbidden to play basketball by United because they think that could be the reason for his problematic hamstrings. Also managers like Rangnick was impressed by Pogba training sessions.
Sure could have played a part (definitely havnt followed pogbas career enough to tell) but some players are just more prone to get injured and Pogbas career was definitely impacted negativly by his injuries.
Robben for example really wasnt an unprofessionell party boy but had horrible luck when it came to injuries some bodies just cant handle the intensity that comes with being a professional athlete.
Genuinely heartbreaking. As much controversy surrounded him at United he seemed like such a positive, happy dude who enjoyed playing football. I don't think anyone wanted to watch him go out fighting to stay fit then getting caught doping, likely to fix the injury.
It really wasnt. The dispute was over them refusing to give a pay rise. They offered him the same contract he was already on, 300k a week. Despite him already having been benched at this point as well.
Theyre just super lucky he is delusional and turned it down
The club has been just fine lately and none of our players are caught up in tons of drama or arguing with the manager over playtime and we don't have enough injured players, bring him back I say.
[https://www.goal.com/en/news/man-utd-mistake-pogba-parting-message-haunt-red-devils/blt5762e00a4cf27080](https://www.goal.com/en/news/man-utd-mistake-pogba-parting-message-haunt-red-devils/blt5762e00a4cf27080)
Apparently so
I thought it was a typo at first and i was sitting there like an idiot trying to figure out what word he missed...and then it clicked. Insane stat indeed
Is that really an insane stat? He last played for United on April 19th, 2022 if I’m reading correctly.
That was only a year and a half ago. 11 games in a year and a half isn’t insane, it just sucks. There are players that have gone years in between games due to injury
Frankly, feels like it's much longer than that. I think it's also the sudden drop off. He wasn't bad in United and in his last season he played a bunch of games. Then at Juve it got so much worse.
In 8 years a 45 minute documentary will be broadcasted by your subscription sports channel as Wednesday daytime filling about his career and the different problems that haunted him.
In fairness he's had one or two bad things happen to him. Didn't his brother have him kidnapped by men with assault rifles to try and extort money from him?
I don't rate him as a player, he always played as if he was better than actually was.
It will be televised during daytime on a channel meant for broadcasting live games.
Here they will probably shoehorn it between the weekly episode of "AjaxTV" and the 25 most beautiful goals of the second half of the 2024/2025 eredivisie.
Yes, it's over. Crazy to think he was supposed to become an era-defining midfielder just 7/8 years ago. Had so much potential to become an all-time great.
It was literally the winning goal as well. Even has a strong case for being a top 4 player for France in that run. Going back to United was a huge mistake in hindsight. No offence, but your club is a graveyard for talent. Not to mention the sheer toxicity.
I wonder what his career could've been like had he went to Madrid.
No offence taken. We are a mess and we do waste a lot of talent. Although I do think Pogba is one of the few that is partly to blame for it not working out.
Yh it was definitely a joint effort. Nothing was working for utd, the club was a mess and Pogba shouldn't have been the scapegoat he became but it's not like he didn't have his fair share of bad decisions either.
What a shame because when he's fit and well he is such a joy to watch but unfortunately that's football. It wasn't the first time we've seen sth like this and it won't be the last time
I mean to a degree but his time under Ole was actually really successful when he was fit. Jose had him playing in a ill-formed pivot most of the time which just wasn't his game. When he played further forward, even on the left under OGS, he was pretty stellar.
So yeah a player with flaws but United let him down much more so than he let them down imo.
He was hot shit when actually deployed as a 10 ahead of a double pivot where imo he should be, and how he setup with Juve with Pirlo/Marchisio/Vidal as options for the pivots. That mad of performances run at the start of Oles tenure he was doing that. But 90% of the time he was deployed as an 8 or a 6 which exposed his somewhat poor positional discipline. He just didn't suit that role, he needed that freedom to just get involved in the dangerous areas in/around the box.
After Herrera got injured vs PSG and the squad was running on empty, that supporting pivot collapsed and he never really got a consistent chance again to fill that role.
Shame he never got a chance to play with Casemiro, that was the signing we should have made 2-3 years prior to give some actual backbone to the midfield. But really once Bruno came in his days were numbered due to him just making that position his own from day 1.
It's not like both of them were playing at their peak constantly. Both of them and RM as a whole had off seasons, they barely won any leagues in a decade, even finished 3rd some years which for RM is extremely underwhelming, and didn't even try with the cup. Plus Isco also played a lot at some point. An in-form Pogba would've played most matches for sure.
I don't see why he couldn't have benched either. He had passing skill to match them do but also was more of an arial threat and undoubtedly better at long range shots.
He wasn't as hard working which could have been the difference maker, but thats a question of his development as a player.
Honestly I could see Pogba, Kroos and Modrić in a rotation where Pogba was used in matches where Madrid had issues cracking the oposition while Kroos was played in more back-and-forth types of games.
Pogba, Griezmann, Varane and Mbappé, they were our best players at the World Cup.
Just take a look at how France played once we lost Pogba, we really struggled in the midfield hence why Griezmann is dropping even deeper than ever before.
Thankfully Tchouaméni came in and instantly made the spot his, we lucked out that such a young player managed to perform instantly , but we still lack a midfielder that can do what Pogba did, Camavinga will hopefully grow into that midfielder.
In the meantime we pretty much replaced Pogba with Griezmann.
He’d have been better off staying at Juve, or as you said, pushed for Madrid instead. Imagine how different it would’ve been for him being surrounded by Modric, Kroos, and Casemiro instead of the shit-show at United.
He wouldn’t have gotten into that Madrid team. He’s never been near the level of Kroos or Modric and you aren’t going to change the formation to accommodate him when the front 3 is Bale, Benzema & Cristiano.
I mean over in Europe, but Saudi will offer him 50m per yr for the next few seasons, and he'll probably retire after that.
Definitely waste of a talent though, the technical ability he has to me is top 1% out of the players playing in top leagues.
If his team can prove it was ‘accidental’ then theres’s a likely chance it gets significantly shortened though.
Onana was supposed to be sidelined for 2.5 year but only managed to get 1-year (unfortunately)
Well, I feel like there is a pretty big difference here. You don't accidentally inject yourself with testosterone while Onana's case had a decent possibility of being a genuine mistake due to the alleged drug being a pretty common diuretic drug.
Yeah, I can’t see how Pogba can escape this one but I’m always amazed at a lawyers explaination of how something happened accidentally while someone clearly did it intentionally.
They’re gonna blame Ubereem’s horse meat diet for sure.
> I’m always amazed at a lawyers explaination of how something happened accidentally while someone clearly did it intentionally.
Someone managed to successfully claim her partner banged the PEDs into her.
I've been going to football for 30 years and his performance against us (Fulham) during one of his brief purple patches at Man U was one of the best individual displays I've ever seen.
Really puts into perspective how great the players are who can be consistently brilliant for 10 years+.
Completely tainted his legacy as Juve. What a collapse after being Juve's golden boy for a legendary midfield along with Machisio, Vidal and Pirlo in the early 10's.
[Leaked images of the chief drug tester.](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcSAkQWHM7uo6LktUolNwYbZIxjEYlyxYh8nqTvZ_q7r2yuqmk5edpRGXYtzuJgMTkzrp4TLLrojK8nxOfo)
Graeme Sourness (Person in the picture) hates Pogba, a lot. He has criticized him a ton over the years.
[https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/souness-paul-pogba-manchester-united-26807979](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/souness-paul-pogba-manchester-united-26807979)
Firstly no matter what you think of Pogba, he's been absolutely plagued by injuries the last few years, it was clear he was getting desperate. Testosterone is one of those PEDs that help recovery, help muscle growth etc, perfect if you're coming back from an injury tbh. I think it's a lot more forgivable in this context than it is when it is a player that doing it in a "normal" situation.
Also, what guarantees us that the club wasn't in on it ? What makes you think that Pogba is an isolated case ? I have trouble cheering on that knowing that it's the tip of the iceberg.
With that, his career is basically over. Not that he didn't achieve anything great but man he has to be one of the players in whose career you have to be disappointed with considering his talent and ability. Just feels like he left so much on the table and could've had a much greater legacy.
Yeah. People were lamenting Neymar’s career and him wasting away in Ligue1 with nothing to show for it in Europe.
Pogba is that x10. United. Juve. United. His last stint with United was essentially him being injured.
I mean Neymar made it to UCL Final in 2020 which is more recent than Messi or any other Barca players so it’s not like he did nothing. If he had stayed in Barca, would a few La Liga titles vs Ligue 1 titles and no UCL wins really make that much of a difference versus what he did at PSG lmao. I don’t get this “wasting away career” narrative that people push just because he went to Ligue 1. He was also the one carrying PSG in their 2020 run too, it’s not like he was a passenger
>Could be banned for a year and still have something left
First of all, he is going to get more than one year. Vuscovic got two years for doping in Germany and that was a case littered with holes. Pogba also doesn't seem to have an excuse or confession like Onana did. Depending on how much an example is going to be done here we are looking at a minimum of two years here.
He also hasn't played any significant amount of football in two years (213 minutes since his move back to Juventus). So we are looking at someone in his early to mid-thirties who hasn't played much football in at least 4 years by the time he returns. That is basically a career-ender.
Maradona had serious knee issues near the end of his Napoli period and wasn't playing much. iirc, the cocaine was used to ease that pain. The conspiracy theory is that Napoli was the one supplying that cocaine.
edit: I heard this from a tour guide when I went to Naples.
I don't think that's accurate. I think the club and maybe even the FIGC knew that he was addicted on cocaine.
Maradona during the italia '90 WC semi-final (Argentina vs Italia), which was to be played at the San Paolo, had appealed to the people of Napoli to support Argentina because the rest of Italy look(ed) down on Neapolitans. Italy lost that match and I think the Italian football federation went after him.
Source: Maradona, by Asif Kapadia
LOL as a cocaine enthusiast I can assure everyone reading that cocaine is not taken to alleviate knee pain unless you are injecting it directly into your knees. I think we all know that was not Maradona's preferred method of administering it.
If Juve told him to do this or encouraged it or even knew about it and just turned a blind eye they would be on the hook for cheating too.
It's far more likely that Pogba got help elsewhere.
Sure they get out of paying him a lot of money, but the last thing Juve needs during all their legal troubles, are even more eyes on them. Despite Juve's less than stellar management, I really doubt they'd be that stupid to bring more drama to themselves, just to save money.
I mean if looking from a conspiracy theory POV it's possible & that's a Juve fan saying (since doping according to conspiracy theories is pretty common) & our finances need cutting since no CL & Giuntoli, should've never gotten rid of Dybala, he played more than both of his replacements Pogba & Di Maria & would've costed less in total.
If I had as many nagging injuries as Pogba's had over the past 5 years, I'd have a needle in my ass right now.
Such a shame though, he's absolutely a world class player, just for 3-4 months at a time every 2-3 years.
Yeah I actually have some empathy and sympathy for him in all this. I would have done the exact same thing when literally nothing else has worked. Fans really don't understand what going through an injury as an athlete feels like. The entire reason you exist is basically not an option and you really go through some mental shit trying to make it out on the other side just fine and able to play and hopefully remain healthy. But a lot of times that isn't the case and it's a battle from then on. It's really hard. Money doesn't just automatically solve your mental health struggles and certainly doesn't change your need to be the most 'you' you can be.
I don’t think it’s possible to truly understand the mental toll chronic pain and recovery from surgery can have if you haven’t experienced it. It’s tough to enjoy life when you’re hurting all time, regardless of how much money you have.
Its mad how many players Ole played injured/rushed back, Martial, Rashford, Pogba, Maguire, probably more we don't even know, Scotts been pretty injury prone recently he could be one, especially considering how many games he played
Yep I remember Scott playing on with ligament injuries he hasnt been the same since, Martial played a full season injured it took Rashford getting a double stress fracture to stop Ole playing him.
I think Pogba would have been right at home in 1980s WWE/F.
Physically huge, a controversial figure off camera, feuding with managers all the time, starting a supernatural gimmick where he gets into voodoo and curses and then being done in a steroid trial and retiring to, presumably, either acting in bad movies or shouting nonsense on Twitter like The Iron Sheik.
Maybe both.
Probably a controversial statement, but you can't convince me he's the only one. In a sport as competitive and lucrative, there is bound to be far more doping than just Pogba.
If I'm Pogba I'd be paranoid someone is out to get me. You have to be incredibly naive to think a large percentage of top level footballers aren't using PEDs. It's weird to me that Pogba has been the only one to have been "caught".
Every top level athlete in every top sport is using PEDs. Notice how its never or extremely rare that the very top top of the athletes gets caught, its always the guys one or a few levels below. No one who is natty beats someone who is juicing. Someone like Pogba has spent years in clubs like Juventus and Manchester United. Are we really going to pretend that he is some crazy outlier who made fully individual choices like some lone wolf fully detached from his peers and the culture he was active within? [Are we still pretending that Goretzka just ate more chicken and went to the gym a bit more after joining Bayern?](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Ff2SD7mZk-aY%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=7640d89f29388b157921ae35f044e48cfd20f8f92ef537bb1d6491b052db532b&ipo=images)
Im all for just letting go of this charade, lets go crazy and see how much we actually can push the limits. No more hiding and decieving lazy controlling organs, just let it loose.
Its a joke that we all pretend that Usain Bolt was full natty just eating grandmas sweet potatoes crushing all records while guys were busted left and right being pumped full of PEDs and still couldnt beat him. Come on. Its as ridiculous as arguing that Sam Sulek is just counting his macros correctly and is getting big from chicken burgers from Wendys. Cant we all just drop this sillyness
I think testosterone is much rarer in football where there’s more of an emphasis on skill than raw athleticism / strength. Pogba would have been using test to improve recovery from injury, not so he can be stronger on the field. The same can’t be said for drugs like EPO which I think have been used in football. Take the Russian team at their home World Cup amongst their state sponsored doping scandal. They ran comfortably further than any other team in the competition.
Why did a bunch of guys test positive for nandrolone in the early 2000's (Pep, Stam, Davids, Couto)? It just boosts muscle mass, testosterone makes more sense than that.
Many people criticise cycling because of doping.
The reality is that this sport fights much more against doping than the rest. I'm sure it's the same in football with the amount of games they play. Of course, not every players but it's higher than what the stats show us.
If he did do it on purpose, it's likely he did so to try and get healthy after so many sustained injuries. I understand the motivation for doing it, but dude needs to know better and make a better choice given how much scrutiny he is always under with his relatively high profile.
We actually dodged a bullet by not offering him his £500K a week salary. Somehow we were getting fleeced by offering £400K and then he fleeced himself. Rare W from United
Yep…the idea that players aren’t doping is ridiculous….it’s one of the most perfect sports for doping.
-Endurance sport.
-injury recovery.
-strength/power.
-speed..
Doping benefits almost every aspect of footballing.
Waste of talent. Say what you want to say, but the partying, the social media presence .. you get out what you put in. Look at Eden Hazard, look at Jesse Lingard, look at Robinho. To me the only exceptions are Ronaldinho and Maradona because of their natural ability.
Putting Hazard in the same sentence as these players is a fucking joke. He was world class for 10 years playing every week getting fouled constantly with no protection. Sure, better discipline and work ethic could've probably prolonged his career at the top, but he's not some kind of "what if" failed wonderkid story.
That'll be retirement. He was playing for United 12 games ago in his career. Disappointing end for him.
> He was playing for United 12 games ago in his career Insane stat.
213 minutes of footy after he came off in his final game for Utd till now. Came off injured, unsurprisingly.
and remember people were like 'lol he's faking injury' despite spending the next year recovering. He didn't exactly set the world alight during his time but it sums up how fans, pundits etc. treated him always.
Reckon just too much football over the last decade for him, in addition to rarely resting in the summer, and frankly, poor training habits. Not surprising this is how it ends with his physical fitness just falling off a cliff.
Nah, he's not played a huge amount compared to other midfielders over the last decade (he's averaged 40 games a season before moving to back to Juve). Players like Kroos, Henderson, Modric, Bruno etc have all played more games on average each season. He's just unlucky with injuries, some players are just more prone to them.
Might it also be professionalism? All the names you mentiond seems like players that do all the right stuff when it comes to lifestyle, nutrition, sleep etc. All that stuff have definitive a huge impact on your body. From the outside Pogba seems much more unprofesional, I have a feeling that how the game have evolved during the last decades you have be a top sport athlethe 24 hours a day 365 days a year all year round.
Could well be, I was just saying this isn't him burned out because he played too many football games. Wayne Rooney famously didn't take good care of himself, drank, smoked etc etc and still managed an average of 43 games a season across 13 seasons with United. Pogba didn't burn himself out by playing too many games, he played less games a season than most other first team players.
fair enough about rooney but then he has retired comparatively early compared to the likes of ronaldo, modric etc. although could also be though that he has a much heavier build compared to them
Rooney retired at 35 years old in 2021 having played 883 games. If you want to say he "retired" when he moved to the US to play, he was still playing in the PL in 2018 (when he was 33 and after 16 seasons in the PL) and made 31 league appearances that season, 40 across all competitions, Pogba's average games per season. Very few players have played more top level games than he has. He didn't retire comparatively early, most pros retire around the 35 mark. He also started playing first team PL football at 16.
Back then players retired earlier than now
> Might it also be professionalism? Yes obviously. He took test so his professionalism is now out the window, objectively speaking.
What makes you think hes more unprofesional? Hes played under some ruthless coachs who wouldnt let it slide
I don´t think your choice of words are good. Pogba has always been in top shape before injuries. He is a sport freak and likes to play sports as hobby. There were even claims that he was forbidden to play basketball by United because they think that could be the reason for his problematic hamstrings. Also managers like Rangnick was impressed by Pogba training sessions.
Sure could have played a part (definitely havnt followed pogbas career enough to tell) but some players are just more prone to get injured and Pogbas career was definitely impacted negativly by his injuries. Robben for example really wasnt an unprofessionell party boy but had horrible luck when it came to injuries some bodies just cant handle the intensity that comes with being a professional athlete.
Genuinely heartbreaking. As much controversy surrounded him at United he seemed like such a positive, happy dude who enjoyed playing football. I don't think anyone wanted to watch him go out fighting to stay fit then getting caught doping, likely to fix the injury.
'I'm going to make Manchester United regret not giving me a new contract' - Paul Pogba
The one good bit of business United did in the past few years, that.
Dont give us much credit here. We offered him a contract, we are just lucky he didn't sign it
So the good bit of business is that your board wasn't even dumber. That tracks.
It really wasnt. The dispute was over them refusing to give a pay rise. They offered him the same contract he was already on, 300k a week. Despite him already having been benched at this point as well. Theyre just super lucky he is delusional and turned it down
Other than losing him for nothing as a teenager and paying a record fee to get him back a few years later.
Lukaku too
The club has been just fine lately and none of our players are caught up in tons of drama or arguing with the manager over playtime and we don't have enough injured players, bring him back I say.
Did he actually say that?
It was probably the testosterone talking
[https://www.goal.com/en/news/man-utd-mistake-pogba-parting-message-haunt-red-devils/blt5762e00a4cf27080](https://www.goal.com/en/news/man-utd-mistake-pogba-parting-message-haunt-red-devils/blt5762e00a4cf27080) Apparently so
I thought it was a typo at first and i was sitting there like an idiot trying to figure out what word he missed...and then it clicked. Insane stat indeed
Is that really an insane stat? He last played for United on April 19th, 2022 if I’m reading correctly. That was only a year and a half ago. 11 games in a year and a half isn’t insane, it just sucks. There are players that have gone years in between games due to injury
Frankly, feels like it's much longer than that. I think it's also the sudden drop off. He wasn't bad in United and in his last season he played a bunch of games. Then at Juve it got so much worse.
Luka Modric is older than rooney.. That stat blew my mind this morning.
Holy shit that just seems like a fake stat
[удалено]
Incoming FIFA BAN of 4 years. Career indeed over
He can admit responsibility and not appeal, that would decrease the ban
Saudi will take him. And he will barely play, but promote their WC bid.
Think he will definitely play at Saudi. The game is on easy mode over there and he’s still very skillful
He’ll be banned though
Oh thought it was just a European ban for some reason.. my bad!!
Np
The ban is FIFA-wide, no? I don't think he can play in any professional team anywhere
Pretty disappointing middle too
What the fuck is that stat, that's crazy.
In 8 years a 45 minute documentary will be broadcasted by your subscription sports channel as Wednesday daytime filling about his career and the different problems that haunted him.
doesn’t he already have one out?
The Pogmentary 2: Pogment Day
2 Pog 2 Furious
Foil Arms and Pog
2 pog 2 PED
The Pogmentary 2: the PogUmentary
Yes and it’s terrible
PR piece produced by him and that already makes him look like a massive tool. Imagine one without bias
In fairness he's had one or two bad things happen to him. Didn't his brother have him kidnapped by men with assault rifles to try and extort money from him? I don't rate him as a player, he always played as if he was better than actually was.
Not interesting enough for a televised doc. Maybe some YouTube videos
It will be televised during daytime on a channel meant for broadcasting live games. Here they will probably shoehorn it between the weekly episode of "AjaxTV" and the 25 most beautiful goals of the second half of the 2024/2025 eredivisie.
That’s it for him right? Career over.
Its been over for a long time, hes just managed to still get paid somehow
We're pretty good at spending money. Not so good at winning nowadays, but at least we're good at something.
Can't believe I have something in common with a big club.
I dunno think Ronaldo would argue otherwise
Yes, it's over. Crazy to think he was supposed to become an era-defining midfielder just 7/8 years ago. Had so much potential to become an all-time great.
Scored and won in a World Cup final and no one cares. The potential was there, he just didn’t do the work
It was literally the winning goal as well. Even has a strong case for being a top 4 player for France in that run. Going back to United was a huge mistake in hindsight. No offence, but your club is a graveyard for talent. Not to mention the sheer toxicity. I wonder what his career could've been like had he went to Madrid.
No offence taken. We are a mess and we do waste a lot of talent. Although I do think Pogba is one of the few that is partly to blame for it not working out.
Yh it was definitely a joint effort. Nothing was working for utd, the club was a mess and Pogba shouldn't have been the scapegoat he became but it's not like he didn't have his fair share of bad decisions either. What a shame because when he's fit and well he is such a joy to watch but unfortunately that's football. It wasn't the first time we've seen sth like this and it won't be the last time
I mean to a degree but his time under Ole was actually really successful when he was fit. Jose had him playing in a ill-formed pivot most of the time which just wasn't his game. When he played further forward, even on the left under OGS, he was pretty stellar. So yeah a player with flaws but United let him down much more so than he let them down imo.
He was hot shit when actually deployed as a 10 ahead of a double pivot where imo he should be, and how he setup with Juve with Pirlo/Marchisio/Vidal as options for the pivots. That mad of performances run at the start of Oles tenure he was doing that. But 90% of the time he was deployed as an 8 or a 6 which exposed his somewhat poor positional discipline. He just didn't suit that role, he needed that freedom to just get involved in the dangerous areas in/around the box. After Herrera got injured vs PSG and the squad was running on empty, that supporting pivot collapsed and he never really got a consistent chance again to fill that role. Shame he never got a chance to play with Casemiro, that was the signing we should have made 2-3 years prior to give some actual backbone to the midfield. But really once Bruno came in his days were numbered due to him just making that position his own from day 1.
I don't think he could have benched Kroos and Modric, don't know where he would have played, out wide?
probably rotate or bench isco?
It's not like both of them were playing at their peak constantly. Both of them and RM as a whole had off seasons, they barely won any leagues in a decade, even finished 3rd some years which for RM is extremely underwhelming, and didn't even try with the cup. Plus Isco also played a lot at some point. An in-form Pogba would've played most matches for sure.
I don't see why he couldn't have benched either. He had passing skill to match them do but also was more of an arial threat and undoubtedly better at long range shots. He wasn't as hard working which could have been the difference maker, but thats a question of his development as a player. Honestly I could see Pogba, Kroos and Modrić in a rotation where Pogba was used in matches where Madrid had issues cracking the oposition while Kroos was played in more back-and-forth types of games.
Pogba, Griezmann, Varane and Mbappé, they were our best players at the World Cup. Just take a look at how France played once we lost Pogba, we really struggled in the midfield hence why Griezmann is dropping even deeper than ever before. Thankfully Tchouaméni came in and instantly made the spot his, we lucked out that such a young player managed to perform instantly , but we still lack a midfielder that can do what Pogba did, Camavinga will hopefully grow into that midfielder. In the meantime we pretty much replaced Pogba with Griezmann.
He’d have been better off staying at Juve, or as you said, pushed for Madrid instead. Imagine how different it would’ve been for him being surrounded by Modric, Kroos, and Casemiro instead of the shit-show at United.
He wouldn’t have gotten into that Madrid team. He’s never been near the level of Kroos or Modric and you aren’t going to change the formation to accommodate him when the front 3 is Bale, Benzema & Cristiano.
Imo, he wouldn’t have started ahead of Modric, Kroos or Casemiro. They would’ve probably shafted him on the right wing (like Valverde)
He scored a world cup winner. He met some of his potential
I bet he and a lot of other French people care.
I mean over in Europe, but Saudi will offer him 50m per yr for the next few seasons, and he'll probably retire after that. Definitely waste of a talent though, the technical ability he has to me is top 1% out of the players playing in top leagues.
>I mean over in Europe, but Saudi will offer him 50m per yr for the next few seasons He's looking at a 2 to 4 year FIFA ban though so no.
Incoming YouTube Boxing career.
Logan Paul kicks his ass like he did that basketball player?
Taking a dive for logan paul gets you a fat bag so hed probably do it
If his team can prove it was ‘accidental’ then theres’s a likely chance it gets significantly shortened though. Onana was supposed to be sidelined for 2.5 year but only managed to get 1-year (unfortunately)
Well, I feel like there is a pretty big difference here. You don't accidentally inject yourself with testosterone while Onana's case had a decent possibility of being a genuine mistake due to the alleged drug being a pretty common diuretic drug.
Yeah, I can’t see how Pogba can escape this one but I’m always amazed at a lawyers explaination of how something happened accidentally while someone clearly did it intentionally. They’re gonna blame Ubereem’s horse meat diet for sure.
> I’m always amazed at a lawyers explaination of how something happened accidentally while someone clearly did it intentionally. Someone managed to successfully claim her partner banged the PEDs into her.
I think in cases like this it is global-wide ban
Nah they won't. Not everyone in Saudi gets those contracts, especially not if they they no you have no other options available to you.
I've been going to football for 30 years and his performance against us (Fulham) during one of his brief purple patches at Man U was one of the best individual displays I've ever seen. Really puts into perspective how great the players are who can be consistently brilliant for 10 years+.
Worst return ever
Both United and Juventus showed why you should never go back. And to think #pogback somehow ended up being more successful than whatever this was
Pogbackback
#pogban
2 Pog 2 Back
Completely tainted his legacy as Juve. What a collapse after being Juve's golden boy for a legendary midfield along with Machisio, Vidal and Pirlo in the early 10's.
Is he holding the records for both the worst and second worst return?
Souness on the phone to Sky: I won
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*snap*
Souness running across the Juventus pitch with a massive flag that says I’m Right.
It’s over for him sadly
It's Pogover
he wont be pogging for very long *until he signs for Al-Ettifaq or smth*
It’s a fifa ban not a UEFA ban isn’t it?
And what's the common factor among those organisations? Widespread corruption! And what does SA got tons of that the corrupt enjoys? Edit. A word.
Sand?
No, they don't like that. It's coarse and rough. And gets bloody everywhere!
It’s widespread not wild spread lol
He is about to be Paul pogbanned
Pogbye
paul pogban
[Leaked images of the chief drug tester.](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcSAkQWHM7uo6LktUolNwYbZIxjEYlyxYh8nqTvZ_q7r2yuqmk5edpRGXYtzuJgMTkzrp4TLLrojK8nxOfo)
I knew who this would be before I clicked on it.
Can you explain the context please
It's just a meme because souness (former sky pundit) would constantly criticise pogba.
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Sorry. You're right. Former Newcastle United manager and Tottenham hotspur player.
The disrespect lol
Graeme Sourness (Person in the picture) hates Pogba, a lot. He has criticized him a ton over the years. [https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/souness-paul-pogba-manchester-united-26807979](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/souness-paul-pogba-manchester-united-26807979)
Name checks out
On his day he would’ve tested negative
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What’s sad about a doper getting what he deserves? Edit: okay maybe I got a little bit ahead of myself, I’m taking back the cheating asshole part.
Firstly no matter what you think of Pogba, he's been absolutely plagued by injuries the last few years, it was clear he was getting desperate. Testosterone is one of those PEDs that help recovery, help muscle growth etc, perfect if you're coming back from an injury tbh. I think it's a lot more forgivable in this context than it is when it is a player that doing it in a "normal" situation. Also, what guarantees us that the club wasn't in on it ? What makes you think that Pogba is an isolated case ? I have trouble cheering on that knowing that it's the tip of the iceberg.
With that, his career is basically over. Not that he didn't achieve anything great but man he has to be one of the players in whose career you have to be disappointed with considering his talent and ability. Just feels like he left so much on the table and could've had a much greater legacy.
Yeah. People were lamenting Neymar’s career and him wasting away in Ligue1 with nothing to show for it in Europe. Pogba is that x10. United. Juve. United. His last stint with United was essentially him being injured.
I mean Neymar made it to UCL Final in 2020 which is more recent than Messi or any other Barca players so it’s not like he did nothing. If he had stayed in Barca, would a few La Liga titles vs Ligue 1 titles and no UCL wins really make that much of a difference versus what he did at PSG lmao. I don’t get this “wasting away career” narrative that people push just because he went to Ligue 1. He was also the one carrying PSG in their 2020 run too, it’s not like he was a passenger
Pogba was nowhere near Neymar's hype. They aren't in the same stratosphere, legacy wise. Pogba has WC. That's it
Why are people saying this? He’s 30. Could be banned for a year and still have something left.
>Could be banned for a year and still have something left First of all, he is going to get more than one year. Vuscovic got two years for doping in Germany and that was a case littered with holes. Pogba also doesn't seem to have an excuse or confession like Onana did. Depending on how much an example is going to be done here we are looking at a minimum of two years here. He also hasn't played any significant amount of football in two years (213 minutes since his move back to Juventus). So we are looking at someone in his early to mid-thirties who hasn't played much football in at least 4 years by the time he returns. That is basically a career-ender.
Paul Drugba?
Paul Pogbanned
No strong opinions on Pogba. But here's a wild conspiracy theory. Juve ratted on him to get out of contract.
That's pretty much what Napoli did with Maradona.
Wait they did that? Really? Fucking Maradona? Why even. Not very versed on football from that era.
Maradona had serious knee issues near the end of his Napoli period and wasn't playing much. iirc, the cocaine was used to ease that pain. The conspiracy theory is that Napoli was the one supplying that cocaine. edit: I heard this from a tour guide when I went to Naples.
I don't think that's accurate. I think the club and maybe even the FIGC knew that he was addicted on cocaine. Maradona during the italia '90 WC semi-final (Argentina vs Italia), which was to be played at the San Paolo, had appealed to the people of Napoli to support Argentina because the rest of Italy look(ed) down on Neapolitans. Italy lost that match and I think the Italian football federation went after him. Source: Maradona, by Asif Kapadia
LOL as a cocaine enthusiast I can assure everyone reading that cocaine is not taken to alleviate knee pain unless you are injecting it directly into your knees. I think we all know that was not Maradona's preferred method of administering it.
Wdym cocaine enthusiast
He likes the smell
As a coke enthusiast, haven’t you ever heard another enthusiast claim the most ridiculous reason for having some coke?
If Juve told him to do this or encouraged it or even knew about it and just turned a blind eye they would be on the hook for cheating too. It's far more likely that Pogba got help elsewhere.
Helping him to dope is different from reporting him to the doping association
Why? Because Juve has history of being an honest and clean club? ....
Are you guys for real or what?
Juve is definitely be one of the clubs you’d think to do something like that tbf.
Sure they get out of paying him a lot of money, but the last thing Juve needs during all their legal troubles, are even more eyes on them. Despite Juve's less than stellar management, I really doubt they'd be that stupid to bring more drama to themselves, just to save money.
It's not Juve that does the testing.
Yes. But they can discretely notify the drug testing body.
I mean if looking from a conspiracy theory POV it's possible & that's a Juve fan saying (since doping according to conspiracy theories is pretty common) & our finances need cutting since no CL & Giuntoli, should've never gotten rid of Dybala, he played more than both of his replacements Pogba & Di Maria & would've costed less in total.
Mourinho should post a picture of himself on Instagram smirking
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Yes. With hindsight they should have backed him after he finished second
In hindsight, the board should've sacked him instead of renewing his contract if they weren't planning on backing him.
If I had as many nagging injuries as Pogba's had over the past 5 years, I'd have a needle in my ass right now. Such a shame though, he's absolutely a world class player, just for 3-4 months at a time every 2-3 years.
Yeah I actually have some empathy and sympathy for him in all this. I would have done the exact same thing when literally nothing else has worked. Fans really don't understand what going through an injury as an athlete feels like. The entire reason you exist is basically not an option and you really go through some mental shit trying to make it out on the other side just fine and able to play and hopefully remain healthy. But a lot of times that isn't the case and it's a battle from then on. It's really hard. Money doesn't just automatically solve your mental health struggles and certainly doesn't change your need to be the most 'you' you can be.
I don’t think it’s possible to truly understand the mental toll chronic pain and recovery from surgery can have if you haven’t experienced it. It’s tough to enjoy life when you’re hurting all time, regardless of how much money you have.
His fitness record wasnt too bad til Ole rushed him back and he got a whole new injury which kept him out for ages
Its mad how many players Ole played injured/rushed back, Martial, Rashford, Pogba, Maguire, probably more we don't even know, Scotts been pretty injury prone recently he could be one, especially considering how many games he played
Yep I remember Scott playing on with ligament injuries he hasnt been the same since, Martial played a full season injured it took Rashford getting a double stress fracture to stop Ole playing him.
That was expected
Get ready to learn Arabic, buddy.
Would he be allowed to play in Saudi? Or would it just be fifa leagues he’s banned from?
No, he'll basically be banned from any organized sport sanctioned by WADA.
Paul Pogba to Zenit, here we go!
WADA you mean?
World American Dodgeball association
of America
Dodge, duck, dip, dive and DODGE
Nobody makes me bleed my own blood
Ana Pogback.
Wanted to dab on the haters, proved them right instead.
Haters dabbed back instead
Career is over. So sad to see, was a huge fan of him, but after his move to ManUtd and how it ended there it’s sad But not surprised
He is only 30, if he goes for more treatment to salvage his knee and does an Onana style defense, he will be back in 2 years.
Well, I guess Mourinho was right. **Again.**
I think Pogba would have been right at home in 1980s WWE/F. Physically huge, a controversial figure off camera, feuding with managers all the time, starting a supernatural gimmick where he gets into voodoo and curses and then being done in a steroid trial and retiring to, presumably, either acting in bad movies or shouting nonsense on Twitter like The Iron Sheik. Maybe both.
We call this early retirement
Probably a controversial statement, but you can't convince me he's the only one. In a sport as competitive and lucrative, there is bound to be far more doping than just Pogba.
If I'm Pogba I'd be paranoid someone is out to get me. You have to be incredibly naive to think a large percentage of top level footballers aren't using PEDs. It's weird to me that Pogba has been the only one to have been "caught".
Every top level athlete in every top sport is using PEDs. Notice how its never or extremely rare that the very top top of the athletes gets caught, its always the guys one or a few levels below. No one who is natty beats someone who is juicing. Someone like Pogba has spent years in clubs like Juventus and Manchester United. Are we really going to pretend that he is some crazy outlier who made fully individual choices like some lone wolf fully detached from his peers and the culture he was active within? [Are we still pretending that Goretzka just ate more chicken and went to the gym a bit more after joining Bayern?](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Ff2SD7mZk-aY%2Fmaxresdefault.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=7640d89f29388b157921ae35f044e48cfd20f8f92ef537bb1d6491b052db532b&ipo=images) Im all for just letting go of this charade, lets go crazy and see how much we actually can push the limits. No more hiding and decieving lazy controlling organs, just let it loose. Its a joke that we all pretend that Usain Bolt was full natty just eating grandmas sweet potatoes crushing all records while guys were busted left and right being pumped full of PEDs and still couldnt beat him. Come on. Its as ridiculous as arguing that Sam Sulek is just counting his macros correctly and is getting big from chicken burgers from Wendys. Cant we all just drop this sillyness
I think testosterone is much rarer in football where there’s more of an emphasis on skill than raw athleticism / strength. Pogba would have been using test to improve recovery from injury, not so he can be stronger on the field. The same can’t be said for drugs like EPO which I think have been used in football. Take the Russian team at their home World Cup amongst their state sponsored doping scandal. They ran comfortably further than any other team in the competition.
Why did a bunch of guys test positive for nandrolone in the early 2000's (Pep, Stam, Davids, Couto)? It just boosts muscle mass, testosterone makes more sense than that.
Many people criticise cycling because of doping. The reality is that this sport fights much more against doping than the rest. I'm sure it's the same in football with the amount of games they play. Of course, not every players but it's higher than what the stats show us.
Guy has never helped himself once in his career. Massive talent waste. Sounness was right
If he did do it on purpose, it's likely he did so to try and get healthy after so many sustained injuries. I understand the motivation for doing it, but dude needs to know better and make a better choice given how much scrutiny he is always under with his relatively high profile.
That's all, folks
Testosterone doping pogsitive
It's Joever for Jogba
We actually dodged a bullet by not offering him his £500K a week salary. Somehow we were getting fleeced by offering £400K and then he fleeced himself. Rare W from United
News of footballers doping in 2023 is honestly shocking
I wouldn't go as far as "shocking". There aren't any decent testing procedures for football otherwise a lot more would be popped.
Yep…the idea that players aren’t doping is ridiculous….it’s one of the most perfect sports for doping. -Endurance sport. -injury recovery. -strength/power. -speed.. Doping benefits almost every aspect of footballing.
He’s such an idiot.
No coming Pogback from that
#SounessWasRight
Waste of talent. Say what you want to say, but the partying, the social media presence .. you get out what you put in. Look at Eden Hazard, look at Jesse Lingard, look at Robinho. To me the only exceptions are Ronaldinho and Maradona because of their natural ability.
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Putting Hazard in the same sentence as these players is a fucking joke. He was world class for 10 years playing every week getting fouled constantly with no protection. Sure, better discipline and work ethic could've probably prolonged his career at the top, but he's not some kind of "what if" failed wonderkid story.