Ibrahimovic explains why Pogba struggled v Liverpool

Matt Stead

Zlatan Ibrahimovic says Paul Pogba struggled against Liverpool because it was a “dirty game”.

Pogba floundered in midfield as Manchester United’s nine-game winning run ended with a 1-1 draw against their bitter rivals on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic forced a late equaliser after James Milner’s first-half penalty, but Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, was rather bad – as detailed in 16 Conclusions.

Swedish striker Ibrahimovic believes that his teammate could not make a positive impact on the game because of the level of opposition Liverpool posed – although the 35-year-old also referenced the pressure built up by Pogba’s new hashtag on Twitter.

“I think football is like that today. With the social media, the media building up the game,” he said.

“When I started to play football there was no social media, none of these things. But it’s part of the game now. What is too much, what is too less? We don’t know. We just follow the game. We are professional, we train like always, try to do our best every game.

“For Paul (on Sunday) the game was different. It was a dirty game, in the way we had to play more direct, by jumping over the midfield because the pressure Liverpool put on us was hard.

“It was difficult. The first game against them was the same. The guys told me every game we play against Liverpool looks like this.”