Moment by Moment: Breaking Down Paul Pogba’s Manchester Derby Performance

Paul Pogba has understandably received a good deal of criticism for the first couple of months of his second Manchester United spell.

There have been a few great moments—he was superb against Southampton, Leicester City and Fenerbahce at home, for example—but plenty of games in which he has drifted out of relevance. This was particularly apparent during the home loss to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sept. 10.

With that in mind, and hopeful of some improvement here, we thought we would try something a little different and produce a moment-to-moment guide to his performance in Wednesday’s EFL Cup Manchester derby.

Victory for #MUFC! https://t.co/BWc3KR9vMx

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 26, 2016

From the off, it was clear he was playing on the left of a midfield three, with Michael Carrick holding in the centre and Ander Herrera on the right. Herrera’s was a kind of box-to-box role—tasked with more defensive duties than Pogba but offered more licence to get forward than he had been when playing alongside the Frenchman in a midfield two.

City started strongly. After just over a minute of play, Jesus Navas whipped in a dangerous cross for Kelechi Iheanacho.

During that passage of City possession, it was clear Pogba had the freedom to stay higher up the pitch than his midfield colleagues—he maintained a presence ready for a potential counter-attack.

Moments later, it was clear why. He had made his way to the other end of the pitch, where he closed down the City defender around the left-hand corner flag. He won United possession, which nearly sparked an attack.

Pogba has done far better tonight…

— jamie jackson (@JamieJackson___) October 26, 2016

There were signs that his touch was not at its best here. After four-and-a-bit minutes, he attempted a lunged pass out to Marcus Rashford, but he got his angles wrong, something he probably would not do if he were playing at his highest level.

Equally, the sense that his on-pitch relationship with Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not yet where it needs to be was evident again—as has happened a few times in recent matches. He went for a ball that Ibrahimovic had set his eyes on, and Fernando then immediately knocked him off it.

There were sparks of his quality as well. On United’s left, he used a chest pass to begin a one-two with Carrick, then swept a ball out to Juan Mata. Mata was not able to make much of it, but it was the kind of move that can make a real difference to an attacking unit.

Carrick, Herrera, Pogba is United’s best midfield. Just have to work out the best front 3 then

— Chris (@Chris96bcfc) October 26, 2016

His movement was interesting to watch. There was a moment early on in the first half when he slipped a simple through ball to Rashford and then hovered behind the edge of the area rather than bursting ahead of the ball—later, he would take the opposite tack and make a series of more progressive runs.

Indeed, after around 15 minutes, with Luke Shaw in possession, he made a run into the channel and implored his team-mate to pass him the ball. He did not receive it, and his frustration was visible.

The midfield unit was performing well for the most part from a defensive perspective. After around 20 minutes, Herrera robbed Leroy Sane. Pogba picked up the ball, executed a quick stepover, then fired the ball out to Rashford. The youngster found Mata, who was fouled for a direct free-kick. It was Pogba’s best moment of the match up to that point—a little glimpse of why he is such a special player.

Off the ball throughout this period, his attacking brief was clear. With United in possession, he roamed to try to find suitable space.

When City had the ball, he tended to concentrate on occupying the space between City’s deep-lying midfielders, Fernando and Aleix Garcia, and the ball. He was rarely involved in the defensive block and rarely called upon to press.

But his confidence did not look all it could have been. There was a telling moment after a tussle with Fernando. He lost the ball and gave away a foul. Sky Sports’ …

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