Steve McClaren heaped praise on Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and claimed that the 26-year-old is good enough to play in Liverpool’s current side.
The former England manager named Pogba in his combined Liverpool-Manchester United XI and proceeded to explain his decision upon doing so.
McClaren stated that Pogba had the right attitude and revealed that he believes that on his day, the Man United star is one of the best midfielders in the world.
“Pogba gets in for me,” said McClaren on Football Centre (11:21, Sky Sports News, Tuesday October 15th).
“Pogba on his day is one of the best midfielders in the world, he’s creative and do anything with the ball.
“He’s got that right attitude, could play in that Liverpool team and certainly a great Manchester United team.”
OPINION
Wow. If McClaren intended to put the cat among the pigeons with his combined Liverpool-Man United XI then job well done, as his Pogba remarks are questionable. While you can argue a case for why the 26-year-old is good enough to play for Liverpool’s first-team due to his ability after all he has registered two assists in five league outings and has achieved an impressive rating of 7.15 on WhoScored for his displays. He also did win the World Cup with France, his attitude is questionable. Yet McClaren claims Pogba has the right attitude and that’s an odd remark to make. After all, this is the midfielder who Manchester United legend Roy Keane previously ripped apart, as covered by the Telegraph, for having such a bad attitude that he contributed to Jose Mourinho getting sacked. It’s hard to imagine Jurgen Klopp tolerating a player who drifts in and out of games like Pogba seems to nor would he be happy with a player whose work ethic on the pitch can be questioned at times, so for that reason, McClaren is wrong to say the Man United man could get in the Reds’ current side.
