PAUL POGBA wasn’t even on the pitch as Manchester United lost to Burnley – and yet still got an earful from pundit Jason McAteer.
The former Liverpool midfielder baffled viewers as he slammed the Frenchman, claiming United need more players like Adam Lallana instead.
While the Red Devils were stunningly below-par as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Burnley on Wednesday night, there were naturally plenty of culprits ahead of a man who has only played twice since September.
And yet McAteer laid into Pogba as a bad influence before comparing United to league leaders Liverpool.
The 48-year-old told BeIN Sports after the game: “I don’t get Paul Pogba, he doesn’t fit into Manchester United.
“Sir Alex Ferguson got rid of him in the first place, there’s a reason why he did. But they bring him back.
“Is it commercial? Did they bring in back commercially because to me he just upsets the dressing room.
“He’s got too much influence on the younger players, that’s not what you want – you want James Milner and Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana, those players in the dressing room.
“They were driving the young players forward, they were saying this is how you live your life. If you want to win Champions Leagues and Premier Leagues then you live like this.
“Because Jurgen [Klopp] can’t be in that dressing room all the time.
“You need players inside the dressing room who do the right things, Manchester United don’t have that.
“Don’t get me wrong they’ve got some fantastic kids; Greenwood, Rashford, Williams, that need guidance from senior professionals.
“And they don’t have a leader running the ship. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not the man.”
Pogba has only managed eight appearances this season while battling an ankle injury.
United hope to have the Frenchman, 26, back next month to help knock down the gap to the top-four, which stands at six points after Chris Wood and Jay Rodriguez earned Burnley a famous victory in Manchester.
But fans were left confused by McAteer’s analysis, those on social media labelling it “lazy” and “ridiculous”.
Twitter user Ryan said: “United lose and Pogba (Who didnt even play) is the topic of discussion. Cant say Im surprised.”
Another commenter, Musa, added: “Shame on you for bringing Pogba into this. What a lazy piece of analysis. Pogba can be criticised for many things but he actually got injured for overtraining and given Rashfords injury it is no surprise he doesnt trust the clubs medical staff.”
One United fan wrote: “This is just getting ridiculous now. Hes literally making up things on the spot and people say theres no agenda around Paul Pogba – he doesnt deserve this man.”
While Jack added: “This guy! Pogba has won the World Cup, Serie A & hes already won the Europa League with …. wait for it, Manchester United. He doesnt drink, never been in trouble. Gives to charity. Family man. Intelligent. Fluent in many languages.Awful for young players him Poor from you!”
