The very thought of Roy Keane and Paul Pogba sharing a dressing room is guaranteed to give you a chuckle.
Throughout his career, Keane stood opposed to everything that Pogba has come to represent – the flashy cars, the flamboyant haircuts, a habitual social media presence.
Pogba is the new breed of footballer, one who is more brand than athlete and it is taking some getting used to for the former Republic of Ireland international.
Keane was on punditry duty for ITV on Thursday night to offer his analysis on the reunion of Pogba and his brother, Florentin Manchester United’s Europa League clash with St Etienne and the former Red Devils captain was less than impressed by the brotherly love on show at Old Trafford.
“Yeah. The boy, Pogba, he’s a bit of a free spirit, a bit of a character. But I think it was a little bit over the top tonight – before the game and at half-time,” Keane said of the several embraces and conversations between the Pogba brothers.
“They’ve spoken more tonight than I have to any of my brothers [Denis, Pat and Johnson] in the last five years.
“It’s all a bit strange. I think when the game started they were focused on the game. But all this stuff before and after the game, a lot of nonsense – but that’s the modern player, I’m afraid.”
Somehow in spite of the few handshakes and disgraceful congratulations between the siblings, United ran out 3-0 winners in the first leg of their Round of 32 meeting with the Ligue 1 outfit courtesy of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick.
But despite the comprehensive victory, manager Jose Mourinho was not altogether impressed by the first 45 minutes turned in by his players.
“The first half we played so bad and managed to finish the first half winning 1-0 when we didn’t deserve,” he said. “So I was pretty confident in the second half we had to improve.
“It was down to a lack of concentration. I had feeling immediate in dressing room, too noisy, too funny, too relaxed. My assistants had the feeling in the warm up with some of the guys not really focused, not right adrenaline in their bodies.”
