MANCHESTER UNITED TALK : THE OVERLOOKED DUE CREDIT AT OLD TRAFFORD & THE PROBLEMS STILL HINDERING MANCHESTER UNITED FROM REACHING GREAT HEIGHTS ONCE AGAIN

So, is Ole Gunner Solskjaer's team really still missing a few more dash of quality to make the team a consistent Trophy winner?  

 

 

 

 

 

Before the emergence of Bruno Fernandes, the accusation presented against Manchester United was that the Red Devils lacked the level of quality needed to be added into the squad that will take Manchester United back to the top of the football pyramid.  

 

 

Fast forward into the middle of the 2019/20 season & a certain midfielder named Bruno Fernandes is introduced into the Manchester United squad and the team is transformed into a side that possesses a serious threat to anyone in Europe at the moment.

However, before the article moves any further, there are a few points that should be mentioned as variables that played a part in stifling the level of success Manchester United has been able to achieve over the past few seasons. 

 

 

One such variable was the lack of sufficient quality and balance in all areas of the pitch- a problem that still exists to a certain extent in the current Manchester United squad. 

  

 

 

Back during the pre-Ole Gunner Solskjaer era, the sports world witnessed a massive level of criticism di9rected at a struggling Manchester United side who were back then led by the highly experienced manager Jose Mourinho.  

 

 

The expectation placed on Manchester United during the Jose Mourinho era was that the presence of a highly revered manager such as Jose Mourinho merging with a highly talented midfielder such as Paul Pogba will be enough to result in Manchester United winning a couple more significant trophies in England. 

 

When the plan failed to manifest itself in the first season, the next expectation was that the merge of José Mourinho as Manchester United manager and the talented Paul Pogba as a Manchester United player was that the Red Devils will witness multiple trophies delivered in the second season of the Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho era.  

 

 

Clearly, that was never the case as well. With Jose Mourinho now gone as Manchester United manager, Paul Pogba appears to be the main target of criticism from football critics with large parts of the criticism alleged to be that the productivity seen from the French midfielder since Paul Pogba joined Manchester United has lacked the level of productivity expected from a world-class talent such as Paul Pogba.  

 

 

 

 

 

Simply not true! Recent evidence seen from a fully fit Paul Pogba playing alongside the talented Bruno Fernandes has seen Paul Pogba now returning to his elite level. This suggests two things: A) Paul Pogba was not fully fit and the midfielder was playing under managers who largely limited Paul Pogba’s freedom to express himself.  

 

B) The quality football now being displayed by Paul Pogba since the French midfielder started playing with talented, creative, players such as Bruno Fernandes, Donny van de Beak and Fred at the center of the park for Manchester United provides the easy  

“key to unlocking Paul Pogba” which a lot of people really saw but refused to acknowledge – Paul Pogba, like other top footballers in European football, needs other quality players around him to thrive. 

 

 

 

A simple fact that was always there to be acknowledged. Yet various sports critics and sports anchors chose to avoid awarding Paul Pogba the credit for carrying a Manchester United- which clearly lacked various creative players in the center of the park- to the 2nd spot in the Premier League table. Sports anchors also chose to avoid awarding Paul Pogba the credit for winning Manchester United a Europa League trophy and taking the club back to the UEFA Champions League under Jose Mourinho with no creative support in the midfield for the Red Devils at the time. 

A lot of people choose to see things differently but here at Manchester United Channel, this is called the living Bias currently present in European football particularly in the U.K.  

 

 

 

 

There is no doubt that Manchester United players have certainly elevated their game since the introduction of one Bruno Fernandes with Paul Pogba being even more Impactful in a Manchester United shirt this season than the French man has ever been raising the conclusion that Paul Pogba has finally returned to his word level with critics insisting the reason French star was struggling to perform to a high standard before the emergence of Bruno Fernandes was because Paul Pogba refused to embrace his role as a Manchester United player with critiques insisting that Pogba had given up on Manchester United mentally.   

 

 

 

Looking at the current improved level of performance experienced from the entire Manchester United squad when Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba play together, the question to be addressed next is: was the struggle experienced by Manchester United in Paul Pogba’s first two seasons as a Manchester United player all the French midfielder’s fault? 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's look at the facts then- Facts one: Manchester United stepping into the first season of Jose Mourinho’s term as Manchester United manager knew that the club needed to look at a couple of positions that needed improvements such as both centers back positions, both full-back positions needed improving because Ashley young and Anthonio Valencia were both makeshift full-backs at the time.  

 

 

While both were doing a good job occupying both positions the longevity of the process was never really materializing and back up full backs Mateo Damian and Diogo Dallot showed a lot of promise with their young age, the Italian failed to retain enough consistency in the level of quality demanded as a Manchester United player and the Portuguese full-back appeared to, unfortunately, fall victim to numerous injuries to retain a starting full back.   

 

 

 

 

 

Adding the failure to address the need for a second creative midfielder to partner Paul Pogba to carry the burden of creativity in the center of the park – a need that was only dealt with last season with the addition of Bruno Fernandes who have simply improve Manchester United’s quality on the pitch. A point that the English media always appear all so quick to point.  

 

However, a point that the English media have refused to acknowledge and a point which Manchester United has refused to acknowledge is that Bruno Fernandes struggles to creative midfielder – Paul Pogba – creating attacking opportunities from the deep midfield role. An option that not only creates more goal-scoring opportunities for the Manchester United attackers but an option that creates problems for the opposition in terms of plugging Manchester United’s main source of creativity in the central midfield area. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One source of creativity from Paul Pogba alone took Manchester United to the top four of the Premier League table and won Manchester United at least three trophies under Jose Mourinho. However, with the addition of the top-class creativity of Bruno Fernandes in this Manchester United team and well the Red Devils are on top of the table as of late January 2021. 

As a result of the apparent solution to  Manchester United lack of success before Bruno Fernandes which was the need to sign a second creative midfielder to partner Paul Pogba, the second question yet to be answered is:  

Why did the English press and Manchester United supporters fail to address this issue sooner and instead choose to ignore the reality rather than making the choice of placing the entire blame of Manchester United’s flaws on the pitch on Paul Pogba?  

 

Sounds like a problem that the current “No to Racism” banner seen in various football competitions across the globe has been fighting over the last several years but still struggling to achieve full success with particularly in the English Premier League.