Pat Nevin believes Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba should put his dislike of playing in a midfield two behind him and focus on producing performances like he did against Manchester City.
The French international scored twice for the Red Devils in their 3-2 triumph over their rivals at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and earned rave reviews for his second half display.
But Nevin insists Pogba’s preference of having more protection behind him should be the last thing on his mind.
“It doesn’t matter,” Nevin said, speaking to Joe Molloy on the Football Show.
“You still need to show the right attitude through all the games. I mean you’re being paid fairly well. You should be doing that anyway because you have a professional pride about it.
“He is quite capable of being among the best in the business. We’ll soon be talking about who should be the player of the season. With his abilities and capabilities, he should be there.
“He should be up there fighting for that this season. Even within that group of players, he should be able to do it. If you’re asked to do those different jobs, you do them to the best of your ability.
“But I think Mourinho will sort how to get the very best out of him. The thing about Mourinho this season is; the team is doing great, the position is fantastic in comparison to what many people thought.
“But I was thinking through the team [of the season] today and who is the running for the player of the season from Manchester United? [David] De Gea maybe? And that’s it.”
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been accused of restricting his attacking talent in favour of a more reserved approach.
But Nevin does not feel the criticism of the former Chelsea is boss is warranted.
“I’m not going to be too tough on Mourinho because he’s at least par for the course when you consider Manchester City,” Nevin added.
“But you would like to get better out of those players [Pogba and Sanchez]. The one thing about Sanchez is that he’s not the core player anymore like he was at his previous club [Arsenal].
“Everything came through him. If you go to another club and you’re one of three or four and it’s not being played exactly to your style, people can say you’re the right player at the wrong time.”
Listen to the full Football Show podcast below:
Written by James Hopper
