Paul Pogba spots one key difference between Man United and Man City media narrative

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Paul Pogba has reflected on his time in the Premier League, touching on Manchester United as well as Manchester City.

The Frenchman’s divisive spell at Old Trafford ended in 2022 as he returned to Turin in 2022.

At Manchester United, Pogba played against Manchester City seven times in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup.

In 2018, the World Cup winner famously scored a brace in United’s heroic 3-2 comeback win against City that ensured that the eventual Premier League winners that season did not win the title at Old Trafford.

But overall, the 31-year-old won only two games against Pep Guardiola’s side, losing four and drawing one.

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Paul Pogba says players are scapegoated at Manchester United, not at Man City

The highly-rated midfielder has witnessed how operations occur at the Etihad Stadium from afar.

The four-time Serie A winner was regarded as one of the catalysts who would help United return to the top and in turn, dethrone City; an objective that the club failed to achieve.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Pogba was quizzed about why players like him, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Jesse Lingard were criticised for their performances and all aspects about them during their time at Manchester United. The Lagny-sur-Marne technician pinpointed how players at United are scapegoated, unlike at Manchester City.

Pogba initially answered: “I think you’re at one of the biggest clubs in the world. The biggest club in England with a lot of fans. I mean, the biggest [number of] fans in England for sure. They need to say something, I guess. They want the players and when somebody speaks, it can be Jadon [Sancho].”

“Jadon [Sancho] is a talented players and all the players you talked about are talented. For years, the media are trying to point out at players. Right? Which one players, two players, you win as a team.”

Pogba brought up Manchester City, saying :”I never hear, let’s say Man City that win, you only point at one player. Yeah, there is one big player, you can name Kevin De Bruyne, you can name Rodri, you can name [Erling] Haaland but they always play as a team and you win as a team.”

“And when they don’t play, they don’t play well, the team doesn’t play well, it’s not that only those players weren’t playing well and the rest were playing well because you change the perception of the team.”

“If Manchester United win, it will be totally different. When you win, you’re always good. When you lose, you’ll get criticism. It’s like that at the big clubs. Manchester United is a big club.”

Pogba was reportedly nearing a shock Man City transfer in 2022

The French international has pointed out how the Sky Blues’ players are not singled out for criticism due to the fact that they are a winning institution unlike Manchester United.

It was reported by The Athletic that Manchester City had offered Pogba a contract in the summer of 2022 after he decided to part ways with United.

The decorated midfielder himself was believed to be keen on the move, as he started to look for a new house in Manchester and deciding to sell his old one.

However, after facing tons of backlash from Manchester United supporters, Pogba decided not to move forward with the decision to sign for the club’s local rivals, Manchester City.

If the mercurial attacker had decided to sign City, he would joined the other 14 players to have played for both Manchester clubs.

Ultimately, Manchester City had several top midfielders on their books at the time such as Rodri, De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden.

It would have been interesting to see how Pogba would have fared had he been coached by Pep Guardiola.