Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba took a dig at Manchester United in a brutally honest interview with Italian paper La Stampa where he compared the both clubs. The 22-year-old France international had moved from the Red Devils to Serie A giants Juventus in 2012 for free – a move that has been seen as one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s biggest mistakes in a long and successful career at Old Trafford.
In the interview, Pogba was asked about the Old Lady’s next opponents in the Champions League – Juve face Bayern Munich in the round of 16. Pogba spoke about how he is in touch with compatriot and Juventus player Kingsley Coman who is on loan at the Bavarian club. When asked if they compare notes on which club is tougher to play for, Pogba spoke about the amount of hard work he put in at the Italian club.
“People need to know that nothing at Juve is easy,” Pogba explained. “There is a different culture of work compared to elsewhere. I was at Manchester [United]: it seemed like being on holiday.
“Here we work so much. All these titles, we didn't steal them. It was by working right to the end."
Pogba had joined Manchester United as an academy trainee at the age of 16 but a lack of opportunities finally saw him leave the club for Juventus. Sir Alex had also revealed that Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola had played a part in swaying Pogba’s mind.
Since his move to Juventus, Pogba has proved his worth and is no one of the most wanted midfielders in Europe, having won seven trophies with Juve which included three consecutive Serie A title between 2013 and 2015.
Pogba watches other senior midfielders to improve his game
The French midfielder also spoke about how he observes players who play in the same position and how he tries to learn from them and his own mistakes.
“I always observe the ones who play in my position: Yaya Toure, Iniesta, Arturo [Vidal], to see where I can still improve,” Pogba said.
Pogba will come up against his former teammate in Vidal when Bayern lock horns with Juventus in February.
Pogba not surprised by Paulo Dybala’s rise at Juventus
In spite of a terrible start to their league campaign, Juve have managed to climb back up to fourth, three points behind league leaders Inter Milan. And their key goalscorer has been 22-year-old Paulo Dybala. The Argentine forward has scored 8 goals in Serie A so far – the highest by a Juve player. He also has 3 assists, one of the highest in the team.
When Pogba was questioned on Dybala’s chances of winning a European Player of the Year award like his senior international teammate Lionel Messi, he said: “He can get there.
“Do you know what I call him? Square R2 – the button that you have to push on a Playstation to do a shot on the turn: he always gets goals like that.
“Has he surprised me? No, because I always said he was a phenomenon. To do what he has done, playing for Juve, is something phenomenal.”
