That has been a real swell of positive around world record signing Paul Pogba over the last couple of months.
He looked something of a lost foal during his first couple of months at Manchester United. But the regular support of Michael Carrick has certainly made a difference and given the Frenchman more license to roam forward and do what he’s good at – namely creating chances and scoring goals.
But, against Liverpool, Pogab put in one of his worst performances of the season. It was as if he was back to that immature state of his first few games at the club.
At the age of 24 we possibly shouldn’t expect the Manchester United star to be dominating every game every week. But it was still worrying to see how lost he was in the game and how he lacked composure at crucial moments in defence and attack.
Had an excellent chance to score for Manchester United but fluffed his left foot shot in the first half shot – a very weak effort indeed. And his hand ball in the penalty area was almost inexplicable – he simply lost his coordinates and that wasn’t the form of a top-quality player.
Not even the best players in the world can perform to the best of their abilities every week. Pogba still needs time to develop into one of the best but we still believe that the Manchester United midfielder will be just that within the next few years.
He needs to increase his scoring ratio and also his general football compass because he can still be caught out of position and make bad mistakes at the wrong times and in dangerous areas.
But what is irrefutable is his physical prowess and the elegance of his touch which so often flummoxes the opposition.
The basic facts are that Pogba had an off day in a big game. He will move on from this and remind us all of his class.
Manchester United fans: how bad was Pogba?