Solskjaer’s saved Pogba’s Man Utd career just like Sir Bobby Robson saved mine at Newcastle
The World Cup winner has chipped in with eight goals and five assists since the Norwegian took charge of the Red Devils
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THE transformation of Paul Pogba since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over has been incredible.
And it brings back memories of my situation when Sir Bobby Robson replaced Ruud Gullit at Newcastle.
Pogba has scored eight goals in Solskjaer’s nine Premier League games in charge, having netted just one in his last 12 league games under Jose Mourinho.
Likewise, I scored five goals in Sir Bobby’s first home match as manager against Sheffield Wednesday in 1999, after only getting one in nine Newcastle games before he came in.
As a player, you are well aware when a manager doesn’t want you at a football club.
And Pogba was well aware that Mourinho didn’t really want him at Old Trafford — and other players felt like that too.
There was a complete breakdown in the communication and relationship between the player and his manager.
And once that happens, someone has to leave.
But then a new manager comes in and all of a sudden he starts to tell you how good you are.
He shifts your position a little bit and tells you what you have been doing wrong.
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Because sometimes you can’t see what is going on, and it might just be something simple in your game.
I remember having a meeting with Sir Bobby before our very first match together.
He told me that instead of coming towards the ball all the time, I should run away from the defenders.
It was something straight forward but I had never thought about it before.
As a player, it just takes a different voice or for someone to say to you, ‘This is what you need to do’.
Solskjaer has come in and spotted that with Pogba and he has completely changed his mood and form.
I know it is simple to tell him to get further forward or play the ball forward instead of sideways but it will have made him feel important again.
And you are now seeing a completely different person and a completely different player.
POGBA STATS AT FULHAM
Minutes played 74
Touches 70
Passes 43
Pass accuracy 84%
Shots 3
Shots on target 2
Touches in opp box 6
Goals scored 2
Top speed 19mph
It’s not just his goals but his positional sense, his team play and just generally his body language.
Just look at the confidence he showed on the ball at Fulham. It was a great finish for his first goal at Craven Cottage but there is no way he would even have made that run or tried to shoot if Mourinho was still the manager.
Pogba has now scored more goals than he has ever managed before in a league season.
Yet with his ability, strength and athleticism, he has the potential to get ten to 15 goals from midfield every year.
Tomorrow’s Champions League tie at home against Paris Saint-Germain could not have come at a better time for him.
He goes into the game brimming with confidence, as do his United team-mates and the supporters.
You get the sense things are starting to fall into place for them, with Neymar ruled out of both legs and Edinson Cavani a doubt after getting injured against Bordeaux on Saturday.
I still have one or two reservations about United defensively. Yet Victor Lindelof has improved under Solskjaer and he will come back in after being rested at the weekend, playing alongside Eric Bailly or Chris Smalling, who also impressed at Fulham.
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It is a mouth-watering tie and I can see United going through. And if they do see off PSG and then finish in the top four, they will have to give Solskjaer the job full time in the summer.
The impact he has had has been amazing. It’s like a big dark cloud has been lifted.
If it had been just one player underperforming under Mourinho, he would have been sold.
But almost all of the United team were and, aside from Alexis Sanchez, Solskjaer has improved every player's performance by at least 20 per cent.
From the moment Marcus Rashford scored that free-kick three minutes into Solskjaer’s first game at Cardiff, the confidence has been flowing back. It just takes that one goal and for something to change.
And then, instead of thinking about things, you start to do things naturally, and you are trying things you weren’t willing to try before because you were petrified.
I don’t see any benefit in making Solskjaer the permanent boss at this stage of the season. But after PSG, United visit Chelsea in the FA Cup, then host Liverpool in the Prem.
If they win all those, Solskjaer can probably start writing his own contract.