The Athletic
It was an understated press conference from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Harry Maguire ahead of the biggest game in Manchester United’s season so far, but they said positive things and projected the right tone.
Maguire spoke plainly. “We fully expect to get out of the group. We’re in a good position, confident and we look forward to the game.”
Solskjaer expressed his belief United’s players will “show the reason” they’re at the club. “The character of the group is getting better and better,” he said.
Faced with a contest against RB Leipzig that could end in triumph or disaster, United’s captain and manager projected a picture of unity.
Mino Raiola, it appears, did not get the memo.
Arriving late to the party, and uninvited, Raiola changed the music and killed the mood. In an interview with Tuttosport to mark the Italian newspaper’s Golden Boy award – which Raiola clients have won four times in the last decade – the agent to Paul Pogba said: “I can say that it’s over for Paul Pogba at Manchester United.” That sound you can hear is a record player scratching to a halt.
United would not be drawn on Raiola’s comments but sources say there is deep frustration, bordering on anger, at the timing and sentiment. Executives have grown familiar with Raiola’s bombastic aggravations, but a new nerve has been struck. For such an unequivocal message to come out 24 hours before United are due to play a hugely important fixture in which Pogba could prove pivotal, the reaction from those close to the club has been withering.
Raiola, actually, went further. “It’s pointless beating around the bush. Better to be straight up about it. Paul is unhappy at Manchester United. He isn’t performing as he’d like and as we expect. He has to move, he has to change scenery. He has a contract that expires in 18 months, in summer 2022. But I think the best thing for all parties is a sale.
“Otherwise United, who we have a great relationship with, know very well they’d risk losing him for free given the player has no intention of extending. If someone doesn’t understand that, they understand little or nothing about football.”
Eye-rolls aplenty at Raiola’s “great relationship” aside, the rest of what he said is at least a fair representation of Pogba’s situation, as reported by The Athletic in November.
Juventus are said to be Pogba’s current destination of choice, and the Italian side will always be interested in a reunion. But as with Barcelona and Real Madrid, finances are an issue. Cristiano Ronaldo’s €31-million-per-year wages are a heavy burden on a budget which could only incorporate Pogba’s salary if another big name is sold.
Paulo Dybala is on the periphery in Turin and may again be made available for transfer. United held talks with the forward in the summer of 2019 and a swap deal at some stage seems a plausible prospect.
Solskjaer is known to think selling Pogba, freeing up around £290,000 per week in wages, and bringing in a player who wants to be at Old Trafford would be the best course of action. For now the United manager has more immediate concerns, and Raiola’s words only complicate matters.
After scoring against West Ham, Pogba was an obvious contender to start against Leipzig, particularly with Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani out injured. But can Solskjaer really pick someone whose agent has launched a grenade with such deliberate intent? What message would it send to team-mates were Solskjaer place trust in someone who so patently wants to leave the club?
Maybe that is an idealistic way to observe the situation. Alternatively, all that matters at this moment is qualification to the knock-out phase of the Champions League and if Pogba can be useful then noses need not be cut off to spite faces.
Indeed, the scene is set for some pragmatism. Solskjaer went toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain and helped produce an engaging occasion. This is a second-chance shootout but the safety net is removed. Lose and United are done. In the circumstances, caution would not be a betrayal of traditions.
Solskjaer, publicly at least, was not subscribing to that theory however. “You’ve got to approach the game as 90 minutes, anything can happen in any moment,” he said. “You can’t sit back and hope for a 0-0 draw, it’s not in our genes. We want to go out there and win a game. We showed that against PSG, you have to create chances, and we’ll do that again.”
Maguire did not deviate. “We spoke about it this morning, we’re not going to sit back. We created three or four very good chances to beat PSG. We go there and look to win.”
Leipzig give off the impression openings will occur at both ends of the pitch. They enjoyed a chaotic 4-3 win over Istanbul Basaksehir last week and shared a compelling 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich on Saturday. Dayot Upamecano, the centre-back United are tracking, is suspended, while for Solskjaer Luke Shaw and David de Gea are back fit.
If those details provide comfort, there is also an ominous precedent to cause an element of concern. On December 8, 2015, United travelled to Germany needing to win a final Champions League group game to progress, only to produce a tepid display and suffer defeat.
The match is memorable for Louis van Gaal sending on Nick Powell for his first appearance of the season, out of position up front. Unfortunately, Powell, then 21, was unable to cut through the confusion by inspiring a comeback. It proved to be his last game for United.
Van Gaal left at the end of that season too, sacked after failing to qualify for the Champions League, and Solskjaer knows all too well the value the competition still has for United and his position.
Reaching the next phase alone earns the club £8.5 million, nearly £1 million more than winning the whole Europa League. A quarter-final place in the Champions League is worth £9.5 million, a semi-final spot a further £11 million. Teams also share a market pool of television rights worth an estimated £263 million.
Losing in Leipzig would mean a significant drop in revenue, all the more pronounced amid the pandemic. More to the point, after starting the most difficult group so impressively, failure to actually seal progress would undermine Solskjaer.
It was an understated press conference from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Harry Maguire ahead of the biggest game in Manchester United’s season so far, but they said positive things and projected the right tone.
Maguire spoke plainly. “We fully expect to get out of the group. We’re in a good position, confident and we look forward to the game.”
Solskjaer expressed his belief United’s players will “show the reason” they’re at the club. “The character of the group is getting better and better,” he said.
Faced with a contest against RB Leipzig that could end in triumph or disaster, United’s captain and manager projected a picture of unity.
Mino Raiola, it appears, did not get the memo.
Arriving late to the party, and uninvited, Raiola changed the music and killed the mood. In an interview with Tuttosport to mark the Italian newspaper’s Golden Boy award – which Raiola clients have won four times in the last decade – the agent to Paul Pogba said: “I can say that it’s over for Paul Pogba at Manchester United.” That sound you can hear is a record player scratching to a halt.
United would not be drawn on Raiola’s comments but sources say there is deep frustration, bordering on anger, at the timing and sentiment. Executives have grown familiar with Raiola’s bombastic aggravations, but a new nerve has been struck. For such an unequivocal message to come out 24 hours before United are due to play a hugely important fixture in which Pogba could prove pivotal, the reaction from those close to the club has been withering.
Raiola, actually, went further. “It’s pointless beating around the bush. Better to be straight up about it. Paul is unhappy at Manchester United. He isn’t performing as he’d like and as we expect. He has to move, he has to change scenery. He has a contract that expires in 18 months, in summer 2022. But I think the best thing for all parties is a sale.
“Otherwise United, who we have a great relationship with, know very well they’d risk losing him for free given the player has no intention of extending. If someone doesn’t understand that, they understand little or nothing about football.”
Eye-rolls aplenty at Raiola’s “great relationship” aside, the rest of what he said is at least a fair representation of Pogba’s situation, as reported by The Athletic in November.
Juventus are said to be Pogba’s current destination of choice, and the Italian side will always be interested in a reunion. But as with Barcelona and Real Madrid, finances are an issue. Cristiano Ronaldo’s €31-million-per-year wages are a heavy burden on a budget which could only incorporate Pogba’s salary if another big name is sold.
Paulo Dybala is on the periphery in Turin and may again be made available for transfer. United held talks with the forward in the summer of 2019 and a swap deal at some stage seems a plausible prospect.
Solskjaer is known to think selling Pogba, freeing up around £290,000 per week in wages, and bringing in a player who wants to be at Old Trafford would be the best course of action. For now the United manager has more immediate concerns, and Raiola’s words only complicate matters.
After scoring against West Ham, Pogba was an obvious contender to start against Leipzig, particularly with Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani out injured. But can Solskjaer really pick someone whose agent has launched a grenade with such deliberate intent? What message would it send to team-mates were Solskjaer place trust in someone who so patently wants to leave the club?
Maybe that is an idealistic way to observe the situation. Alternatively, all that matters at this moment is qualification to the knock-out phase of the Champions League and if Pogba can be useful then noses need not be cut off to spite faces.
Indeed, the scene is set for some pragmatism. Solskjaer went toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain and helped produce an engaging occasion. This is a second-chance shootout but the safety net is removed. Lose and United are done. In the circumstances, caution would not be a betrayal of traditions.
Solskjaer, publicly at least, was not subscribing to that theory however. “You’ve got to approach the game as 90 minutes, anything can happen in any moment,” he said. “You can’t sit back and hope for a 0-0 draw, it’s not in our genes. We want to go out there and win a game. We showed that against PSG, you have to create chances, and we’ll do that again.”
Maguire did not deviate. “We spoke about it this morning, we’re not going to sit back. We created three or four very good chances to beat PSG. We go there and look to win.”
Leipzig give off the impression openings will occur at both ends of the pitch. They enjoyed a chaotic 4-3 win over Istanbul Basaksehir last week and shared a compelling 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich on Saturday. Dayot Upamecano, the centre-back United are tracking, is suspended, while for Solskjaer Luke Shaw and David de Gea are back fit.
If those details provide comfort, there is also an ominous precedent to cause an element of concern. On December 8, 2015, United travelled to Germany needing to win a final Champions League group game to progress, only to produce a tepid display and suffer defeat.
The match is memorable for Louis van Gaal sending on Nick Powell for his first appearance of the season, out of position up front. Unfortunately, Powell, then 21, was unable to cut through the confusion by inspiring a comeback. It proved to be his last game for United.
Van Gaal left at the end of that season too, sacked after failing to qualify for the Champions League, and Solskjaer knows all too well the value the competition still has for United and his position.
Reaching the next phase alone earns the club £8.5 million, nearly £1 million more than winning the whole Europa League. A quarter-final place in the Champions League is worth £9.5 million, a semi-final spot a further £11 million. Teams also share a market pool of television rights worth an estimated £263 million.
Losing in Leipzig would mean a significant drop in revenue, all the more pronounced amid the pandemic. More to the point, after starting the most difficult group so impressively, failure to actually seal progress would undermine Solskjaer.
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