In or Out? Why the Referendum on Pogba Needs to Stop

Paul Pogba is quite possibly the most divisive player in the Premier League, both in the media and in the Manchester United dressing room, as Jose Mourinho knows all too well and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is beginning to discover. The Frenchman polarises opinion, with some lambasting his showboating antics both on and off the field and accusing him of a lack of commitment, while others point to his vital part in France’s World Cup triumph, during which a video emerged of Pogba giving a rallying speech to his team-mates moments before the final against Croatia. The midfielder’s statistics for Man United can also be interpreted to prove Pogba is both a goal scoring genius and a mere penalty merchant, as although his 13 league goals may appear impressive on paper, 8 of these goals have come from the spot while another was a rebound from a saved penalty. While I am by no means saying consistently converting spot-kicks is easy, it hardly makes Pogba unique or worthy of a place in the PFA Team of the Year, of which he is the only representative of the rest of the league outside ‘the big two’ of Man City and Liverpool.

Perhaps it is this that has seemingly angered so many football fans, that he is the only representative of the masses who flounder in the face of the Guardiola-Klopp duopoly. Of all the other 18 teams in the Premier League, you can understand why the majority may be aggrieved that all the PFA could muster amidst a sea of sky blue and Liverpudlian red is, well, another red, albeit in a slightly different shade, while Eden Hazard, Christian Eriksen and Ruben Neves watch on from the sidelines of this hypothetical super-team.

At this point one would usually launch into a rant vilifying the corrupt Football Association for just lazily picking the big-name players before returning to their corporate dinner, or criticise the commercial influence that makes it a necessity for the league’s greatest assets to be given as much publicity as possible. But for once this logic is off the mark; the team of the year was voted for by the players. So what now? How do we blame the players? Several ex-professionals have come out this week saying how no-one really took voting seriously and picked their friends like you might do when you were 12, while former Liverpool and Wales goal-poacher Dean Saunders admitted that the only criteria to make it into his team was that you had to be Welsh. So perhaps Pogba’s inclusion is just a massive practical joke between every other player in England and Raheem Sterling and Mo Salah are rolling round on the floor in fits of giggles as we speak. This may appear a bit far-fetched to some, but Fabricio Coloccini has been picked twice, so you never know.

But even the most enthusiastic conspiracy theorist would have to begrudgingly admit that it is unlikely everyone voted for a World Cup winner because they thought it would be funny. Which leaves us with only one possible theory that is possibly the most controversial of them all; that Pogba was included in the PFA team of the year based on merit and nothing else. Statistics aside, the Frenchman’s prowess with the ball at his feet and athleticism make him a force to be reckoned with, and there was a 10-game period under Solksjaer where the midfielder was virtually unplayable. At this point everyone will be saying how 10 games is not enough and a truly great player would be consistent throughout the whole season, but if this is the case, then why when anyone suggests Hazard or Son Heung-Min should be in the team instead of Pogba does no-one mention that Hazard went on a 70-day goal drought between October and December or that Son didn’t score until November, not to mention that both would be eaten alive in a defensive midfield role.

The moral of this story is that while many football fans, myself included, would not have chosen Pogba in our own team of the year, ultimately the players voted him in, and that result has to be respected. It may have been tight, and certain players may not have known what they were voting for in early February when Pogba was looking like a world-beater, but if the opposition can’t offer up a credible alternative, then any suggestion of a second referendum is off the table. Whether they like it or not, the public will just have to accept that Pogba is here to stay (for two more weeks, before he leaves the bickering behind and jets off to Real Madrid.)