Paul Pogba believes he is the “most criticised player in the world” despite playing a key role in France’s opening World Cup group game against Australia.
The Manchester United midfielder’s deflected effort handed Les Bleus a vital winning start to their campaign thanks to the intervention of goal-line technology.
.@paulpogba and #FRA take the 3 points. #WorldCup #FIFA18 pic.twitter.com/r0uoJBskrK
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) June 16, 2018
But Keith Andrews, speaking to Off The Ball, insists France boss Didier Deschamps would be better off dropping the 25-year-old in favour of Olivier Giroud.
“I wouldn’t say they’re close to it [winning the World Cup] - they’re capable of it,” Andrews said.
“You’ve heard me criticise Paul Pogba before. The ones that have his back and the ones who seem to like him are people who have played with him - in terms of the pundits.
“I would take him out of that team because of what you have in front of the midfield. If you pick the 10 most gifted players, [Olivier] Giroud wouldn’t be in the team.
“It defies logic in a way but with the way the team is set up, Giroud makes [Antoine] Griezmann play better, [Kylian] Mbappe play better.
“And off the left, whether its [Ousmane] Dembele or [Thomas] Lemar. Behind that, I think it’s relatively simple. You go [N’Golo] Kante with either [Blaise] Matuidi or [Corentin] Tolisso because they’re going to play in a responsible fashion.
“The reason he played Tolisso alongside Kante and Pogba was to make sure they were secure in the middle of the pitch because Pogba gives you nothing offensively.”
James Hopper
