MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYER DEFEND OVERLY CRITICIZED TEAM MATE - OLE GUNNER SOLSKJAER TOGETHERNESS PHILOSOPHY PAYING OFF

It's not unusual to hear a Manchester United player defend French star and Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba from the pile of unnecessary criticism which has been brought forward against the french midfielder. 

Over the past recent years, we have witnessed current Manchester United players such as Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, and Luke Shaw all answer questions relating to Paul Pogba with each player answer reinstating the belief in the french midfielder to inject extra quality into the current Manchester United team. With that being said the point has to be made that for Manchester United to return to the level of Champions once again soon, consistent high playing standards cannot be expected from a couple of players such as Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford or Paul Pogba alone, quality needs to be delivered from every Manchester United player on regular bases. 

The bottom line is this, the level of quality found within a group of players will be preferred over expecting consistent quality from a single player. This was the message constantly relayed by Manchester United football club. Quality from every player within Manchester United squad is necessary for the future success of the club. This was the underlying message received from Bruno Fernandes's comments during the Portuguese midfielder's recent interview. 

During an interview held in the middle of April 2020, Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes gave his opinion about the current situation between current Manchester United teammate Paul Pogba and the relentless criticism Paul Pogba has received at the hands of football analysts and Manchester United fans alike. While several people have remained of the opinion that the French midfielder has served his purpose at Manchester United insinuating that the time has come for the Red Devils to part ways with Paul Pogba in the name of progress, a reasonable number of people within the Manchester United team continue to insist that progress can be achieved with players such as Paul Pogba remaining a vital part of the team. The newest player to call for team solidarity moving forward coincidentally happens to the new man who has taking Old Trafford by storm this season Bruno Fernandes. 

"We can say in football that people normally forget what you do good when you have a mistake," Fernandes told United's official website. "You can do good for 34 games, and one game you do bad and everyone will remember that. 

"Paul is coming from a bad moment, because of the situation. When he played also, the club and the team was not good, because the expectations are high for Paul. After all, Paul is a top player and Manchester United pay a lot for him, and expectations are a lot for him. 

"I think he has a lot to give, he has a lot of quality, and I think with the positive energy in the club - because we won a lot of games and we are in a good moment - everyone, the supporters and everything, will be more patient with Paul maybe." 

  

Clearly, the value of teamwork and the ability to evaluate a player's quality and determine if the players' performance on the pitch matches the level of quality expected from any Manchester United team is not lost to the current Manchester United squad. But Bruno Fernandes is not the only player in the Manchester United locker room who has come across questions regarding fellow teammate Paul Pogba. Like Bruno Fernandes, a hand full of Manchester United recent past and present players coming out through questions thrown at them regarding the french midfielder with a high volume of the response received about Paul Pogba indicating that Paul Pogba is still a vital member of the team and with most of the positive response coming from some retired and current Manchester United players in support of the idea that Paul Pogba can still play a major role in gaining success for Manchester United for a few more seasons to come. 

  

Returning back to the comments made by Bruno Fernandes, the situation at Manchester United before the resumption of the 2019/20 season appears to be that Ole Gunner Solskjaer team appear to be operating with the understanding that success gained by any team in modern football is gained as a collective and not as individuals. This implies that for Manchester United to return back to the pinnacle of success in major competitions such as the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, the level of quality expected from the team cannot be pinned down to simply demanding high consistent quality delivered by each and every player with no glitches or stops every now and then. 

At the end of the day, these players are human and the quality witnessed from the players will drop on some, occasions. But the focus should not be on the player's level of quality dropping, the focus should be can the player still contribute to the overall high quality expected from the team and how quickly is the player likely to bounce back after experience a slump in the quality of his football? That's what Bruno Fernandes was referring to and that in a nutshell should be the focus of manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer when the time comes to make decisions involving the upcoming transfer window. 

This has to be the motto for manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer moving forward. The question is not can Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, or any other Manchester United play like Messi, the question is can the player be as effective as Messi regularly within the current Manchester United? Paul Pogba's value in Manchester United might have dipped recently but the French midfielders drop in form can be argued to be a situation resulting from lack of sufficient quality within the Manchester United team to support Paul Pogba in the midfield before the arrival of Bruno Fernandes.

Effectiveness trumps quantity on certain occasions and this appears to be the philosophy Manchester United plans to build their platform moving into the future.