Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, defended Paul Pogba who was considered to appear not optimal in the match against Wolverhampton. Pogba plays in an unusual position.
Manchester United won 1-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers headquarters, Molineux Stadium in the third week of the English Premier League, Sunday (29/8/2021) night WIB. The only goal for the Red Devils was Mason Greenwood in the 80th minute.
MU was overwhelmed by the aggressiveness of Wolves, especially in the first half. Bruno Lage’s men had 14 shots with six on goal throughout the game. Much better than MU which only made three shots on target from six experiments. In the first half, MU did not even open a shot at goal.
MU’s poor performance in the first half was judged by some to be inseparable from the absence of Scott McTominay due to an injury. This situation forced Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to shift Paul Pogba’s position into a defensive midfielder to accompany Fred.
Pogba is considered not to play optimally in the match. In the previous two matches, the French player has always played on the left wing. He performed well in that position by being able to pack five assist.
Pogba has minimal defensive action in this match. Quoted from WhoScored, this Frenchman only made one sweep and three interceptions.
Solkjaer admitted that his team had a hard time facing Wolves. However, this Norwegian man denied that Pogba performed poorly as a defensive midfielder.
“Didn’t you see where Paul was playing? Go back and look at the game and you’ll see where Paul is playing,” Solskjaer said of Pogba as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
“I think we struggled in the first half to get into the rhythm with a fast game. Second half, we finished well and Paul controlled the game and did very, very well.
“He can play those passes, the first half and the second half he did the same,” he explained.
A draw against Wolves makes MU currently in third position with seven points. They are two points behind Tottenham Hotspur at the top of the table.
(pur / aff)
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