UNITED Now Pogba must take baton from Carrick and run with it
WITH 85 minutes on the clock, his number went up. This had been the moment Michael Carrick had been dreading in the team hotel only hours earlier. The curtain call.
Seeking out Juan Mata, he handed over the armband in the sunshine.
‘It’s Carrick you know...’ could be heard from the terraces – even when United’s PA system crackled into life. Responding, the United skipper raised his arms aloft to wave to all four corners of Old Trafford before briefly grabbing the club crest.
As he approached the touchline, there were two men waiting for him with outstretched arms – Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho. Both will be key figures in his future as he now looks to win honours in the dugout rather than on the field.
Unofficially, Carrick has already been working in his new role for some time now and, perhaps, Pogba has been the greatest beneficiary to date.
It was fitting that it was the 25-year-old who replaced Carrick in his final game – a formal changing of the guard if you like.
Ahead of the Manchester derby, it was Carrick who showed Pogba a video on his phone and reminded the Frenchman how he could ‘kill’ by breaking into the opposition penalty area.
As a former team-mate of Frank Lampard’s, who made his name for arriving into the box at just the right time, Carrick was well placed to offer that kind of advice despite never being renowned for scoring goals himself.
That nugget of wisdom proved crucial to United’s remarkable derby comeback last month – Pogba scoring two goals in 97 crazy seconds in the second half – and that influence will only continue now that Carrick has officially been appointed as a first-team coach.
They are very different players, but it now falls to Pogba to do what Carrick did for 12 years: become United’s heartbeat.
Following his arrival in 2006, Sir Alex Ferguson quickly entrusted Carrick with the duty of dictating United’s tempo as he created the attacking rhythm that characterised the final years of his reign at Old Trafford.
First-team coach Rene Meulensteen drilled pace, power, penetration and unpredictability into every single training session.
You are simply not seeing those characteristics in this current United side.
You often find that Nemanja Matic inadvertently slows counters down by taking an extra touch or two while Pogba has the vision but can be erratic with his dribbling, flicks and tricks.
Is it any wonder that Mourinho has long set his stall out when it comes to prioritising a long-term replacement for Carrick?
And while Pogba is not necessarily a direct successor, he is among those who will be in contention to step up as the club’s skipper.
The baton has been passed. Now it is up to Pogba to prove he really is worthy.