His penalty run-up has provoked a lot of criticism.
No matter what he does, Paul Pogba is never a few hours away from a wave of criticism. He could score a hat-trick and provide multiple assists in a 6-0 win and people would still find room to lambast him for something. Probably his hair.
Criticism aimed his way this weekend was slightly more justified, though, as he had a penalty saved by Jordan Pickford after taking 11 seconds, and 26 steps, to take the spot kick. As it goes, he scored the rebound, but his failure to convert from 12 yards prompted a lot of critical analysis of his unique run-up.
24 seconds passed between Pogba putting the ball on the penalty spot, and Pickford making the save 😐#MUNEVE pic.twitter.com/fEL2tN4GfH
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 28, 2018
The thinking behind, presumably, it is that it gives the goalkeeper a lot of time to think and become unsettled by Pogba’s calmness. However, it can obviously create doubt in the penalty taker’s mind and reduces the amount of power he can get behind the shot. As seen in Euro 2016 when Simone Zaza used a similar style of run-up during a penalty shootout against Germany, when it goes wrong, you can be made to look very silly.
But while the Proper Football Men were picking apart its weaknesses, Luke Shaw blew them all out of the water with a brief, but on the nail piece of analysis from his Twitter account.
Joining in on the hashtag #ThingsYouCanDoDuringPogbasPenaltyRunUp, Shaw claimed that he could “make a comeback in his career and renew your contract.”
Make a comeback in your career and renew your contract. #ThingsYouCanDoDuringPogbasPenaltyRunUp pic.twitter.com/sxGx6C1i11
— Luke Shaw (@LukeShaw23) October 28, 2018
Shaw is alluding to his impressive comeback after struggling for form since he broke his leg against PSV.
His recent form earned the left-back a new contract at Manchester United amid speculation that he would leave due to his fractious relationship with Jose Mourinho.
He’s making a joke in his tweet about how long it took him to make that comeback, suggesting that Pogba’s penalty run-up takes even longer. Geddit? It’s funny.
