Why Carragher and Lampard are wrong to criticize Pogba

Pogba has become underrated – dailystar.co.uk

When Jamie Carragher and Frank Lampard critiqued Paul Pogba’s start at Manchester United on Monday Night Football, one of the things they questioned was his number of goals and assists.

And yet, when Pogba was rightly seen as a driving force behind Juventus’ progress to the Champions League final in 2015, he only scored one goal in that competition. The Old Lady had paid next to nothing for his services in 2012 and so the question of whether he scored enough goals was put to one side.

Manchester United’s decision to pay £89 million in 2016 for the Frenchman has meant an increase in expectation. Claims that he might be overrated have perhaps been fuelled by some indifferent performances for his country at the Euros. It has become commonplace to compare Pogba to his transfer fee, rather than judge him as a player on his own merit. If we do the latter, we can see that his contributions to Manchester United are in valuable:

According to WhoScored, Pogba is their highest-rated player. He is their third highest goalscorer, even though he normally has at least three players further forward than him in a 4-3-3. He has played on average two key passes per game, more than anyone in the division who plays mainly in a central midfield role.

Manchester United’s underwhelming position of sixth is down to the performances of opposition goalkeepers at Old Trafford, rather than Pogba. He was the team’s best player in draws with Bournemouth, Hull and West Ham. He hit the bar and played four key passes in the draw with Stoke, had an 89% pass completion ratio against Burnley yet still played six key passes and had another good game against Arsenal.

He has committed the Premier League’s second most fouls per game (2.2). Although not exclusively a good thing, this hardly suggests a player who shirks defensive duties, as Carragher and Lampard suggested. With Pogba starting almost every league game, Manchester United have conceded two fewer goals than Chelsea, a team we often praise for discipline. The Red Devils have only lost three match this season whilst creating chances at will and so, for Carragher and Lampard last night to criticize one of their best players seems unfair.

Due to TV money, transfer fees, agent fees and wages have inflated to such an extent that ‘player value’ has become a vague and subjective concept. The priority should be to assess what hardworking, honest fans get to see, rather than whether wealthy businessmen get a return for their spending.

Payment should be a means of judging a player that is secondary to previous performances, which is a more accurate yardstick of what to expect. Pogba has been criticized and compared to his price tag for so long that we are in danger of underestimating the good things he does for his team.