Paul Pogba: The ridiculous statistics
Date published: Tuesday 18th October 2016 11:00
* Thanks to Manchester United having a piffling 35% possession and Paul Pogba playing higher up the pitch, the world’s most expensive player attempted just 38 passes on Monday night. That is way down on his season average of 66 and was less than – deep breath – Loris Karius, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, James Milner, Philippe Coutinho, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, Roberto Firmino, Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera at Anfield. Yes, Paul Pogba passed the ball fewer times than the Liverpool goalkeeper at Anfield.
* His woeful pass completion rate of 71.1% was worse than every single player on the pitch barring Daley Blind and Roberto Firmino. And yes, we are including goalkeepers. His average for the season is 82.8%.
* He had just 63 touches of the ball at Anfield. For context, James Milner had 74 and he was a) at left-back and b) substituted. Pogba’s average for the season is 89.
* The combative Pogba won just 46% of his duels at Anfield. He attempted just two tackles and was successful once – in the 89th minute. It’s the first time he has lost more duels than he has won in a Premier League game.
* He has had one shot on target in his last two Premier League games. He has averaged 0.7 shots on target per Premier League game this season. That’s less than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney. That record puts him joint 54th in the Premier League alongside Cristhian Stuani, Daniel Sturridge, Arouna Kone and Nolito, amongst others.
* Pogba created one chance against Liverpool – though it was the header that should have been scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He has averaged 1.7 key passes per game in the Premier League this season. That puts him joint 24th in the division along with Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum, who has two assists to Pogba’s zero so far this season.
* Pogba had one touch in Liverpool’s box on Monday night. And it was an offside pass right at the edge of the box. Both Liverpool’s full-backs managed two touches in the opposition area. No wonder Jose Mourinho said: “Where Pogba was playing, I was expecting more penetration.”
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