There’s a fantastic player in there, but it’s Mourinho who is holding him back...

THERE has been at least one game in which Paul Pogba was at his very best in the last year. He dominated midfield, both creatively and defensively and overwhelmed his opponents. And what a player he is when he performs like that. He looks ready to score goals, pick out team-mates with a little glance, distribute the ball well and win it back when necessary. He has so many strings to his bow. That night he was outstanding. The game? It was for France against England in May at the Stade de France with Didier Deschamps in charge.

That’s why, for all the talk of which position Pogba is playing in, it seems to me that something has been lost. We know the position he needs and wants, a No8 on the left. But that’s not what’s holding him back. It’s Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United which is holding him back.

There is a fantastic player in there; whether Mourinho can find him is the question. United can argue that they’re making progress, second in the league, good chance of making the Champions League quarter-finals and probably favourites for the FA Cup.

BUT it didn’t need the Sevilla game on Wednesday to tell us that, in all honesty, they have huffed and puffed their way through this season. There is no real fear factor to this team. They are consistent only in one area and that is in stifling teams. They have the best defensive record, which is no mean feat, but it has been achieved at the expense of attacking risk.

Other than the first few games, opponents haven’t been opened up and overwhelmed in the way Old Trafford expects. And if you put Pogba in a team playing like that, he will struggle. There’s no great attacking movement or fluidity for him to work off. Imagine Pogba playing for Manchester City, Tottenham or Liverpool and how much he would relish it. Then you would see the player inside.

At the moment you’re only seeing part of his ability. I always feel there are four components of midfield play. On the ball, there are three: creating assists, scoring goals and distributing the ball to team-mates. The fourth component is off the ball: how good are you at pressing opponents and winning the ball back?

Well, Pogba can do that defensive part of the game well. But how much of him have we seen as a creative force or goal-scoring threat? And how much is he allowed to be?

I’m not sure he’s seeing the movement in front of him to work off. Alexis Sanchez hasn’t settled yet. Romelu Lukaku is a strong centre-forward but is he capable of those subtle movements and runs that Pogba would look for?

I always used to think a glance was important as a midfielder; just a moment of eye contact between you and a forward, where you knew exactly what run he would make and he knew exactly what pass you were about to play. I don’t think he has that with Lukaku. He had it a little with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But I have seen Pogba have that connection with Marcus Rashford and he misses him in the team.

For me, that would be the focus with Pogba: how do I set this team up to complement him? Because at the moment it isn’t. I know people like to point to his flamboyant personality: the haircuts, the cars and the Pogba emoji. I don’t think that is the major problem. There does come a time in every elite footballer’s life where you do need someone to bring you into line. For me at Paul’s age it was the excellent Peter Shreeves at Tottenham. At the time I had some sports shops and was busy running around with meetings and marketing in the afternoons. My form wasn’t great and Peter said, ‘You’ve taken your eye off the ball’. It was hard to hear but he was right. From that moment on I tried to get the balance right. What you did on the pitch was what mattered. The rest all followed. I still managed to record a Top 20 single, Diamond Lights (available on all good streaming services) so it wasn’t like I shut everything down. But I turned down thousands of more opportunities. I also know that feeling of moving abroad to a big club with a bit of a reputation and a significant fee. Pogba will have felt that. Even though he was coming back to United, he left as a child and was returning as one of the biggest names in world football. But whenever you move club, you’re starting again. What you’ve done in the past is irrelevant to your team-mates. You have to win their respect all over again with what you do on the pitch. And he probably doesn’t feel he’s done that yet with his performances. But Pogba will, if Mourinho lets him. Make this a genuine United side, then you will see the authentic Pogba.