Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has surprisingly hinted that he mismanaged Paul Pogba, particularly at the start of this season.
The French midfielder was a shadow of himself when the league began but was handed minutes nonetheless and so he continued to struggle.
In fairness, United were performing poorly overall so Pogba wasn’t the only one who looked out of sorts.
However, Solskjaer would soon exclude him from the starting XI and use him as an impact substitute, which he did remarkably well.
Pogba’s lack of form was put down to a lack of a pre-season but perhaps fans have been a little dismissive that he also had to recover from Covid-19.
According to the club’s official website, Solskjaer said: “You see, when you have got good players, it is a nice challenge and a nice decision to make when you have got players on the bench that can come on to impact the game.
“I think Paul, in all three games this week, has come on and made a very positive impact.
“Of course he has been out for a while with the coronavirus this summer. He is getting better and better, and more and more in shape.
“Maybe I was unfair on him by starting him that early in the first few games. He is coming along and he has done great when he has come on.”
Perhaps Solskjaer was eager to kick off the season strongly and so played Pogba anyways but in hindsight, it was clearly the wrong decision.
However, now fans will be hoping the former Juventus man will kick on and start more frequently in order to bring some consistency and form to Manchester United.
Back to back wins vs Newcastle and PSG hinted at a more optimistic future but a disappointing draw vs Chelsea brought everyone back down to earth.
The season is long and there’s still plenty of time to make an impact on the table but supporters are concerned their problems with inconsistencies have carried into this season.
