Paul Scholes was more than a little responsible for the early development of one of the best young players in Europe.
The former Manchester United midfielder reveals that he would often help Paul Pogba out when the Frenchman was coming through the ranks at Old Trafford but Scholes admits in his Independent column that he does not think it would be wise for United to bite the bullet and bring Pogba back.
“I don’t feel they should go back to sign Pogba for the sums being talked about having lost him for the compensation payment. I understand that Chelsea did the same when they bought back Nemanja Matic from Benfica, but his fee was nothing like the numbers quoted for Pogba. It would feel wrong to me.”
That’s not to say that Scholesy doesn’t rate Pogba as a player. In fact, the ex-England international knows Pogba’s skills only too well.
“He was a very good footballer: technically excellent, and he knew how to strike a ball. He spoke to me about improving his range of passing. So, after training we would spend time pinging the ball to each other from 50 yards’ distance. He had stronger suits to his game than his long passing – his power, his technique at close quarters, his athleticism – but he was determined to get better at what he thought was the weaker part of his game.”
And the United legend wonders if his decision to renege on his decision to retire in 2011 led to the youngster’s decision to turn down a contract at Manchester United because, when Scholes returned to the Red Devils first team that only further pushed Pogba down the pecking order.
“As I recall, the home game to Blackburn Rovers on 31 December 2011, a surprise defeat for United as it turned out, had been a key moment in Paul’s thinking. Injuries meant that the manager played Michael Carrick in defence and in midfield he selected Rafael da Silva alongside Park Ji-sung. Paul was on the bench and very frustrated that he had not started the match.
“So by the time I came back into the side in January he might well have made up his mind that he was leaving. But I don’t suppose it helped having an old boy come back into the team in front of him. The reality was that he had not played well enough to deserve a regular place before then because, if that had been the case, our manager would undoubtedly have selected him. He had no problem picking a young player once he was convinced the lad in question was ready.”
And Scholes believes that the fact that Pogba didn’t work out at Manchester United was something of an anomaly considering how often Alex Ferguson got it right with younger players.
“There was no better manager at developing young players than Sir Alex. He knew just when to bring them in and take them out, and he believed in Paul Pogba. For once, in Paul’s case it did not work out. The timing was wrong and the difference between expectation on the player’s side, and the manager’s idea of his development did not match up. And, yes, perhaps I was a small part of the problem for those five months we were both competing for a place.”
Don’t beat yourself up about it Paul.
