Paul Pogba has been out of action for over two months now with ankle problems and the last Premier League fixture he featured in was a 1-1 draw with Arsenal on the seventh game week of the season.
A further eight-game weeks have occurred since his injury, meaning it’s possible to use just about the same sample size to compare just how much Manchester United have missed their talisman.
In the opening seven matches Manchester United started blisteringly well with a 4-0 victory over Chelsea; however, results quickly fluctuated to leave the Red Devils with nine points. With the French midfielder in the side, they won two games, including a hard-fought defeat of Leicester City, drew three, at Wolves, Southampton and Arsenal and lost to Crystal Palace and West Ham.
But astonishingly since their talismanic midfielder has been absent results have not changed, from seven games they have accumulated nine points once more. That run has included wins over Norwich City and Brighton, while drawing with Aston Villa, Sheffield United and Liverpool, as well as defeats at Newcastle United and A.F.C Bournemouth. Based on this evidence, it would appear that this season Pogba’s inclusion in the side has had next to no influence on results.
The Red Devils did, in fact, make it 12 points since Pogba’s absence last night as they handed their former manager, Jose Mourinho, his first taste of defeat as Tottenham manager, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford.
With regards to goal scoring and conceding, Manchester United have both scored and conceded more Premier League goals without Pogba this season. Though before this particular injury, they also had a worse win percentage with their former record signing in the side.
When Pogba was in the engine room at the start of the campaign, the Red Devils scored nine and conceded seven in seven matches. Considering four of those nine goals scored were against Chelsea on the opening day the stats suggest United are a little blunt with the Frenchman in midfield. Further evidence comes in the form of Solskjaers side having scored 14 in the league while Pogba has been unavailable, though they have also conceded considerably more.
In pure footballing terms if Pogba’s influence is waning, it might make sense to cash in on a player valued at £90m (Transfermarkt), who is rumoured to want to play his football elsewhere. So far this season the metrics suggest that Solskjaer is no better off with Pogba in the Premier League so watch this space when he returns.
