New captain is hailed as a ‘monster’ for stirring show
Pogba targets even more honours after United give him leadership role,
Considering Jose Mourinho appeared to be engaging in a policy of calculated moroseness during pre-season, his first team-sheet of the season was decorated in olive branches.
Awarding the captaincy to Paul Pogba was a demand for responsibility, an order for the captivating midfielder to merge finesse with the discipline of the France jersey rather than a laissez-faire approach in United’s.
Pogba has been United’s captain before, but this felt different – a symbolic gesture after another peculiar week in the Mourinho era.
A few days ago it seemed Pogba’s agent wanted to engineer his exit. If Pep Guardiola is to be believed, it was the same last January. Mourinho’s elevation of the 25-year-old suggests no one was more resistant than the manager to a Barcelona bid. It needed just three minutes of the Premier League season to hint at the powers of maturity an armband brings. Pogba started like the World Cup winner he is. Whether this was the confidence discovered in Russia or the natural footballing arrogance that inspires him to ask for a “short back and stars” at the barbers is a matter for debate, but the United crowd were with him.
Within 45 seconds, Pogba was parading the skills that thrill – a gorgeous cross-field pass to Matteo Darmian effortlessly exquisite in execution.
When Daniel Amartey inexplicably handled to gift United a penalty shortly after, Pogba insisted he be given the ball. He did not so much run up to the spot as tiptoe before finding the top corner past Kasper Schmeichel.
Like so much of United’s play, the problem with Pogba is that you watch while feeling it can be a class higher. He had the capacity to run this game at a whim, especially with Andreas Pereira and Fred
offering midfield protection. Mourinho lavished praise on his captain afterwards. “Pogba was a monster. We thought a maximum 60 minutes but he managed 80. It was not hard to start Paul. The decision belonged to him. I asked Paul and he put himself for the team. He was very good for us.”
Pogba for his part indicated he will not rest on his World Cup laurels. “Winning the World Cup is in the past,” he said. “I like challenges, I want to progress and win more trophies.”
The momentum of Pogba’s opening goal was a platform to terrorise Leicester. There was an instant opportunity to feed off a vibrant crowd who had lustily welcomed Pogba’s introduction as captain. Instead, immediately after scoring, Leicester were invited to play. When United rediscovered their intent in the second half, they could have scored more than a narrow win suggests.
Mourinho can argue this is not so different in philosophy to Didier Deschamps’s France but they still seemed more proactive than United opt to be.
Towards the end of last season, United fans and Mourinho himself seemed to be tiring of the fact every fixture was dominated by the Pogba conversation, for better or worse. Making him captain was hardly going to ensure he blended into a new campaign. United’s success this season will again be defined by the relationship between the midfielder and his manager. This proved to be a promising start.