Matic at United will help unlock Pogba’s talents, says McClair
LONDON: The signing of workhorse Nemanja Matic should allow Manchester United to make better use of gifted France midfielder Paul Pogba in the coming years, the club’s former forward Brian McClair said.
United manager Jose Mourinho acquired the tall Serbian enforcer from Premier League rivals and champions Chelsea for a reported fee ranging from £40million to £50 million on a three-year contract on Monday.
“United need someone who sits there behind Pogba, who played his best football when (current United captain) Michael Carrick also played last season,” McClair told ESPNFC (www.espnfc.com).
“Michael is coming to the end of a wonderful career, so United need someone who can do something similar but who will be more mobile in the coming years.”
With Pogba a regular starter for United, Matic looks set to compete for a midfield slot with the 36-year-old Carrick, Spaniard Ander Herrera and Belgian enforcer Marouane Fellaini.
“In the short term, I could see that someone like Matic would fit in,” McClair said.
“In some games, Paul Pogba has been in the wrong place and it has stifled his abilities which United bought him for.”
Matic, who turned 29 yesterday, won two league titles in his second stint with Chelsea, having been offloaded to Portuguese giants Benfica in 2011 during his first spell with the club under Mourinho.
Pogba, who was shipped out from United to Juventus by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012 as a 19-year old, returned to Old Trafford last year for a world record fee of £89m and endured a patchy comeback.
With Matic boosting the array of ball-winners at United, the physical yet talented Frenchman should be allowed to play further upfield to make use of his greatest skills.
“Pogba’s attributes are all about attacking,” said McClair.
“He can find a pass, beat a player and has fantastic skills. He can score goals. For him to have the best opportunity of success at Old Trafford, Pogba needs to be playing in the final third of the pitch as much as possible.”
Matic could make his competitive debut for last season’s Europa League winners United against Champions League holders Real Madrid in the Uefa Super Cup showdown next Tuesday in Macedonia’s capital Skopje. Matic is United’s third signing this off-season, following Romelu Lukaku from Everton and Victor Lindelof from Benfica.
Meanwhile, a new era in English soccer begins on Friday with a crackdown on players who cheat referees by diving to win a penalty or get an opponent sent off.
Sunderland’s opener in the second-tier Championship at home to Derby County will be the first game in which players can be retrospectively punished with two-match bans if they are found guilty under a trial by video. Diving for penalties has been a growing problem in the English game.
Most clubs in the top two divisions were accused of it at some point last season, with Marcus Rashford of United, Leroy Sane of Manchester City and Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur coming under the spotlight on a single weekend.
The crackdown, announced in May, is aimed at players who go unpunished during the match for actions that have a significant bearing on it. The Football Association will be able to charge them with “successful deception of a match official”.
Its implementation follows a year of feedback from players and officials and it is adapted from a similar regulation in force in Scotland. – Reuters