Paul Pogba remains big news in France and after weak suggestions he may well be dropped by Didier Deschamps, L’Equipe say in their Monday edition that he’s expected to start against the Netherlands.
Up against a huge amount of pressure, both before and after his Manchester United transfer, Pogba is continually expected to shine on the international stage. The French public, and seemingly those in charge of French football, expect Pogba to be influencing games far more than he currently is.
At Manchester United, things have shown signs of improving, with Pogba becoming more involved, but for France the feeling is that it’d take one or two brilliant performances to shut everything up.
France and Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has been speaking about his young teammate, and L’Equipe quote the captain as saying: “Paul will have his say, tomorrow, in a big match,” before going on to add “There are a lot of players who, because of the Euros, had a short pre-season and are experiencing some difficulties. Paul is one of them.
“In addition, he must carry his record transfer. But there are plenty of qualities, a lot of talent. I understand the expectations around him. There are also in the dressing room.”
A top performance against a Dutch team which is nowhere near the strengths of the past, and a string of good games for Manchester United over their upcoming difficult period, and Pogba will be well down the road to some kind of redemption.
However, if Tottenham’s Lloris is right and Pogba is suffering from a overloaded summer and short pre-season, then it may take a while longer for the midfielder to shine.
