Stop acting like Messi - Scholes tells Pogba

Manchester United legend, Paul Scholes, has advised record signing, Paul Pogba to play his own style of football and stop trying to replicate Barcelona super star, Lionel Messi.


The French international is not finding life easy at Old Trafford following his world-record move from Italian side, Juventus and has received his fair share of criticism from fans in recent weeks.

Scholes told BT sport after Manchester United lost 0-1 against Feyenoord on Thursday night, “Pogba seems to be a little all over the place at times. I think he’s trying to do too much on the ball.

“He’s trying to beat three or four players. He’s running with the ball. He should keep it simple for now. That’s not the player Manchester United bought. They didn’t buy a Messi to go and beat five players and stick it in the top corner all the time. They bought a powerful, strong midfield player who can take the ball.

“He’s got skill, he can pass it forward, he can run. If he just plays one-two touch, sticks the ball into Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] and runs, nobody can live with that. He’s got so much pace, so much power.”

Scholes believes playing alongside the calming presence of Michael Carrick could benefit Pogba.

He added, “I think he [Pogba] needs, as he’s shown at Juventus, a controlling midfielder next to him and I think Michael’s got that controlled ability on the ball.”