Paul Pogba shows less can be more after tyranny of expectations | Jonathan Liew

Manchester United midfielder’s game relies on a functioning collective, and he is shining with fewer touches and shots

When Paul Pogba was about nine or 10, a man called Sambou Tati – his youth coach at US Roissy – decided to convert him from a striker into a midfielder. At the time, Pogba was a brilliant footballer with one glaring weakness: he loved the ball so much he would simply dribble and dribble with it for as long as he could. By moving further back, Tati reasoned, Pogba might have less time on the ball, but would offer greater influence on the team as a whole.

Although he probably didn’t know it, in so doing Tati had established an entirely new field of footballing study, one that continues to absorb and confound the game’s greatest minds to this day: How To Get The Best Out Of Paul Pogba.

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