“He hasn’t got a basic understanding of his position, I can’t see that changing.”
Regardless of what Paul Pogba achieves in football, Graeme Souness will never be a fan. The former Liverpool midfielder just doesn’t seem to rate Pogba, and never misses an opportunity when on punditry duty to remind the audience of this fact. Even when the Manchester United midfielder plays well, as he did during the team’s 2-1 victory over CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night, Souness seems incapable of offering praise.
The Scot appeared on TV3 for coverage of the Champions League tie, and stuck the boot into Pogba again before kick-off. The former Blackburn Rovers manager called out Pogba for making “basic” errors.
“He hasn’t got a basic understanding of his position, I can’t see that changing,” Souness said.
His comments didn’t go down well with the watching public.
https://twitter.com/TomWrynne/status/938130104584167424
Souness is high up on his soap-box over Pogba's challenge. Has he totally forgotten how he use to 'play' football???#TV3 #ChampionsLeague https://t.co/8M3rdVL01T
— Mr. Musk (No Relation) (@MythAddict) December 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/StephenFox92/status/938129945955627008
Souness using clips from a game where Pogba was playing as a 10 to show how often he's out of position as a cm says all you need to know about his ability as a commentator
— jb8521 (@jb_8521) December 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/ManLikeMeyler/status/938169773476675585
Graeme Souness HATES Paul Pogba!! Im not the biggest fan myself but Jesus you'd swear he was the biggest waster to ever grace a pitch the way he goes on.
— Eoin Scully (@Eoin_Scully1) December 5, 2017
#tv3 Souness and Lennon talking rubbish. Lennon downplaying pogbas lovely weak foot clipped assist for the equaliser says it all.
— Shéaiyne (@Shayninho) December 5, 2017
Of course, this isn’t the first time Souness has criticised Pogba. He has called the French midfielder a ‘YouTuber’, and went on the following rant following United’s victory over Ajax in the Europa League final last season.
“I don’t see him doing enough things, you spend that kind of money to make a difference in the big games. I don’t see him this season changing any of the big games because of the ‘brilliance’ he’s shown.
“He does eye-catching stuff, which with all due respect to people who don’t understand the game so well, (they) go ‘wow, wasn’t that great play?’ What I see as a midfield player, an old midfield player, is someone that’s not really got a great understanding of the game… I’ve never seen him run a game.”
Souness must have missed many of Pogba’s outings for Juventus and quite a few of his games for United this season and in the latter half of 2016/17.
