Benitez reminds ‘top-class’ Pogba he is not Gerrard

Matt Stead

Rafael Benitez has reminded Paul Pogba that he is not quite as good as Steven Gerrard at his peak.

Pogba was the driving influence for Manchester United as they beat Newcastle’s Benitez on Saturday. In fact, the Frenchman was our early winner.

The 24-year-old scored one goal and assisted another as United eased to a 4-1 victory, after which Benitez was asked to laboriously compare Pogba with Gerrard.

The Spaniard dismissed the similarities, stating that Gerrard was at the top of his game for a decade while Pogba is only at the start of his career.

“No, they’re different,” Benitez said. “Stevie was a top-class player for so many years.

“He was very consistent and could make the difference in every game, with or without the ball.

“He was a top-class player. Pogba is a great player, but he still has to be consistent for years like Stevie was for 10 or 15 years.

“Pogba is not my player, so I don’t need to talk too much about him. He’s a great player, like the majority of the Manchester United players.”