Football News

Arsene Wenger delivers verdict on reasons behind Paul Pogba’s dip in form

By Mohamed Moallim

Published: 20:30, 7 October 2019

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Paul Pogba’s poor form this season is down to his desire to leave Manchester United combined with the club’s current predicament.

The 26-year-old French midfielder has missed United’s last two games due to a troublesome ankle injury.

Pogba’s predicament: Five key things to know…

  • Paul Pogba returned to Manchester United in 2016 from Juventus.
  • He’s since gone on to make 145 appearances in all competitions, scoring 31 goals and registering 31 assists.
  • However, the Frenchman has come under scrutiny for inconsistent performances.
  • Arsene Wenger believes Man Utd’s inability to challenge for top honours is a reason behind his poor form.
  • Pogba was keen to leave Old Trafford in the summer but would ultimately remain.

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However, even when he’s played for the Red Devils this season, Pogba hasn’t pulled up any trees. Across six appearances in all competitions he’s produced just two assists.

It’s been an issue for the best part of two seasons, with the Parisian performing inconsistently, which has led to heavy criticism from supporters and observers.

Wenger, now a pundit, feels the reason behind all of this is nuanced. He feels it’s a combination of many factors with him not being allowed to leave in the summer being one of them.

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“First of all, I think Paul Pogba since the start of the season has never been completely fit injury-wise,” he told beIN Sports.

“He doesn’t look completely confident physically and he’s the type of player who has a huge physical power. He needs to be perfectly fit physically.

“After that, when a player wants to leave and you stop him from leaving, you know you go through a process of rebuilding the relationship that the first thing that suffers is the performances.

“I personally think he behaves as well like he knows that Man United at the moment is not the team to compete for the championship. And, plus the fact that he was stopped from going away, it looks like the two together a little bit tarnish his performances.”

After eight games in the Premier League this season, Manchester United currently sit 12th in the Premier League with two wins, three draws and three defeats – five points behind fourth-placed Leicester City and only two outside the relegation zone.