Are Manchester United missing Paul Pogba? Given their recent results, you’d have to say yes- the Red Devils haven’t quite been firing on all cylinders after he was sidelined through injury. Recent defeats against Huddersfield and Chelsea have seen Jose Mourinho’s side fall eight points behind league leaders Man City after just 11 match weeks- roughly 1/3 of the season.
A graphic released on TV seems to suggest that United aren’t quite the same team without Pogba. Without him, their chances per game and goals per game seem to have reduced by almost half
However, as with stats, they don’t quite show the full picture.
United’s fixtures with Pogba were against West Ham, Swansea, Leicester, Stoke, all four of whom are currently in the bottom half of the table.
Without him, they’ve faced Everton, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Huddersfield, Tottenham and Chelsea- all higher quality teams.
Some put Spurs’ recent loss to United down to the fact that Harry Kane was not playing. United are not a one man team, but it cannot be denied that Pogba makes Jose Mourinho’s system tick better.