Former Liverpool player and current Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness has revealed why he was so harsh on Paul Pogba during his time in the Premier League. Souness cited his Merseyside connections as the reason for his disdain towards the Frenchman.
Pogba has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism from Souness during his second stint with Manchester United. In March 2020, the Scot spoke about what he thinks of Pogba’s attitude, saying: “Pogba has absolutely everything to be a top player – great athleticism, super technique – but his attitude to the game is the polar opposite of mine. He goes out with one thought in his mind: ‘I’m going to show everyone how clever I am today and be the star of the show.’
“My attitude, the way I was taught, was: ‘Go out and work harder than the guy you’re in against and see where that takes you.’ He’d be an absolute doddle to play against.”
Scathing words from the Liverpool legend, whose above comments were one of many made towards Pogba.
However, Souness revealed this week that his relationship with Liverpool and hatred towards Man United, played a massive role in his judgement of the World Cup winner.
“When I was having a go at Pogba, it was because it was Manchester United and my Liverpool connections, and I think I was the first one to call Pogba out as an average player in our league, and I think I was proven 100 per cent right at the end of the day,” said Souness on talkSPORT.
Amid the sly dig from him about Pogba being an average player in the Premier League, Souness may be vindicated given the current Juventus player’s career in England.
The midfielder went on to make 233 appearances for the Red Devils in his six years at Old Trafford. During that time, Pogba bagged 39 goals and 54 assists. A decent return for a midfielder. However, much more was expected of Pogba off the back of his then-world record £90million transfer fee.
Pogba rejoined Juventus in the summer on a free transfer. Unfortunately for the former Man United player, he picked up an injury before the season began which required surgery, leaving Pogba’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread as he battles for fitness ahead of Qatar in November.