Pogba not called up for the Freiburg. A cold shower for the Juve world just a few hours before kick-off for the match. And this time it’s not a muscle discomfort, a physical problem, a physiological slowdown in his return to feeling the feeling with the pitch and to review the games that Juve fans have been dreaming of since last summer. At the basis of the decision there is a delay to the dinner with the team, a gesture whichever you want to define it – inattention, lack of respect, superficiality – one would not expect in general from a player and even less from Paul, who has unfortunately also added the icing on the hitherto disastrous cake of the season of his return to black and white.
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Juve-Turin, Pogba-day: from the roar of the stadium to the return to the field
What Paul pays and what Juve pays
A decision like this on a night like tonight, with an eighth of Europa League to be played in a very delicate moment of the season, would perhaps have deserved a more pragmatic reasoning by the Juventus. Maybe a different route could have been taken than the strong one of isolating him from the group, a punishment that would have more, let’s say, a decisive impact on the Frenchman’s wallet, rather than – somewhat Tafazzian – taking away by yourself a resource that could have been fundamental during the match. But one cannot fail to take into consideration the whole set of behaviours Pogba in recent months: first of all the decision to postpone the knee operation against the advice of the doctors and in doing so losing half the season, continuing with the ballets and holidays in the snow which are very social but not very pleasant for the Juventus world towards which the Polpo has spent a good part of the credit accumulated with the choice to return to Turin. And in a moment of great confusion and at the same time of great team unity, in which Allegri himself revealed that due to a defeat in a direct match there was someone who even cried in the locker room, showing up late for an appointment team can only be treated as a sign of little attention and respect towards teammates, a selfishness which is matched by a sign of full measure from the club, a way of saying enough now Paul, your number 10 on your back – and the salary of an absolute star – they require you to be an example and a leader not only on the pitch, but also and above all off it.
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Juventus-Fribourg, Pogba not called up for disciplinary reasons
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