Paul Pogba made an impressive return from injury in Manchester United’s 0-2 loss to Watford, showcasing a lot of promise in his 30-minute cameo which was also his first game since late September for the Red Devils.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s definitely a happy man at having his main creative force back into the fray and he believes that Pogba is the best all-round midfielder in the world for being able to do it all in midfield.
The Norwegian spoke about his situation after making an injury-return against Watford on Sunday, giving an update on whether he’ll start in the Boxing day clash against Newcastle United or not.
He said, “Let’s see how he reacts, how he feels. He did really well when he came on, a big plus. It might be that we do get him in from the start because you just want to get more and more into the team when he plays.”
Solskjaer also praised Pogba’s ability to do it all in midfield, from being a box-to-box midfielder to influencing his side from deep or even play as an attacking midfielder to drive his side forward.
The Norwegian explained, “He can play anywhere, he can play the whole midfield, he is a box-to-box midfielder. He can drop deep, get it and play them long passes. He can get higher up and combine like he did on Sunday.”
“It depends on the game. That’s the beauty of having Paul because he is the best all-round midfielder in the world, he can do all the roles. It’s great to have him back.”, he further added.
Despite Pogba’s influence, United have been unable to take many steps forward since Solskjaer was appointed as their permanent manager. However, he wants his team to be able to dominate teams and hinted they need to take the route Liverpool have to get back at the top.
Solskjaer expressed, “We want to be a team that can go and dominate teams and break teams down. It’s taken Liverpool a few years to get to that stage and we need to just keep on building because that’s what we want to get to.”
“Yes, we’re good at counter-attacking. Yes, we’ve got pace and fast players. We should always keep that because it’s in our tradition.”, the Norwegian also said.
The United boss also believes his side must be defensively stronger in nullifying counter-attacks and has much to learn heading into 2020.
He explained, “We create loads of chances, but every time we lose it there’s a counter-attack. We need to lock it down more, better at stopping the counter-attack.”
“That’s where this team is going to learn and grow and I’m sure we’ll see an improvement over this season and the next year.”, he further added.
Solskjaer will hope his side come up with an emphatic come-back from the defeat to Watford by dominating Newcastle on boxing day and regain their form before some difficult fixtures ahead.
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