If you’re a Manchester United fan, it’s been impossible to avoid the club’s coverage of Paul Pogba after France’s World Cup final victory on Sunday afternoon. The midfielder, who scored his country’s third in a 4-2 win over Croatia and had an excellent tournament for Didier Deschamps’ side, became only the third United player to lift the Jules Rimet trophy, after Nobby Stiles and Sir Bobby Charlton, and his achievement hasn’t gone unnoticed around the club. Indeed, Nicky Butt, head of coaching at United’s youth academy has lauded Pogba’s performances in Russia this summer.
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“We’re massively proud of Paul being in the World Cup final,” said Butt to Manutd.com prior to Sunday’s final. “It was unfortunate for England losing to Croatia. They had a great World Cup and they’ll be kicking themselves because of the opportunity to get to the final. But it’s a young team that has done really well and hopefully there are a lot of good times ahead of us for England.
“For Paul, he has been great. I actually think, from watching the games, that he is probably the outstanding midfielder in the tournament, if I’m honest. He has looked so dominant and positive with the ball, and he’s got into the box and been a threat as well. So it’s all good for him.”
Pogba’s influence on this French side won’t have escaped the attention of his club manager, Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese frequently struggled to get the best out of his side last season, and was happy to criticise the former Juventus man in public as well as dropping him for performances deemed to be sub-standard. But after this summer’s tournament, Pogba has proven that he is more-than capable in a midfield two or three, so the focus will turn to whether Mourinho can draw this sort of standard out of the club’s biggest talent more often.
