Souness explains Pogba issue as he reveals ‘worst thing that happened’ to the ex-Man Utd player
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness insists the “worst thing that happened” to former Man Utd midfielder Paul Pogba was winning the World Cup.
Pogba returned to Juventus in the summer of 2022 on a free transfer after the Red Devils had forked out a world record fee at the time 0f £89m for the France international.
The 30-year-old failed to live up to expectations at Man Utd apart from the 2018-19 season in which he contributed 13 goals and nine assists in 35 Premier League matches.
Souness was extremely critical of Pogba’s performances during his time at Man Utd with his infamous “put your medals on the table” rant about the Frenchman.
The Liverpool legend was criticised by Paul Ince for “slaughtering” Pogba and faced claims that he was singling out the midfielder too often.
Speaking at a Second Captains podcast live event in Dublin in September, Souness labelled Pogba a “lazy t**t” and doubled down on his past criticism of the Frenchman.
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“He’s an extremely talented young man,” Souness said.”He should be one of the best midfielders in the world. But he’s lazy.
“If you remember how he used to take penalties (with a stuttered run-up). That was him wanting to be the star of the show for that period of time.
“If he’s lazy in matches he’ll be lazy in training and how can you get after the rest of them if you don’t get after him?”
Quite reasonably asked whether he thought his criticism of Pogba was at times unfair, Souness replied: “Not for a nanosecond, no, he’s a lazy t**t.”
And now Souness has claimed that the “worst thing that happened” to the former Man Utd midfielder was winning the World Cup with France in 2018.
“He had the equipment to be the best midfielder in the world,” Souness said on talkSPORT. “I saw a young man that was going through emotions a lot of the time, and that frustrated me.
“With that physique and that technical ability, he just did not have the right attitude to make him a superstar.
“The worst thing that happened to him was winning a World Cup, because he could turn and say, ‘I am a World Cup winner’.
“I think at that point, it was him going backwards.”
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