Pogba’s Manchester United met with his former club Juventus in matchday three of the Champions League group stage. He described this encounter as, “... a special day” in an Instagram post before the game. If you didn’t already know, Juventus emerged victorious following a goal by Dybala in the first half.
After the game, a picture was taken between Cuadrado and Pogba which was uploaded to Cuadrado’s Instagram. What followed was unfortunate and harsh criticism from United fans and news outlets. They were quick to point out how it looked bad to pose with a smile after suffering a loss to the team of the player he took the picture with. He also had a Juventus branded gift bag on hand.
I understand why some might see this in negative light but I still feel like it’s completely unnecessary. Pogba spent four seasons with Juventus and that undoubtedly lead to many friendships over that time period. Despite the circumstances, he should be allowed to interact with his friends without being unfairly judged by it. Not to mention, Pogba wasn’t the one that posted the picture and I have a feeling he didn’t know whether the picture would be posted or not. Of course United lost, but it is what it is. The picture having surfaced or not would not have change the result of the game. I don’t find the picture to be disrespectful in the least to United as a whole.
Regarding the gift bag, I don’t think it has any meaning to it besides it being a gift. Let’s be real, everything in football is branded. If there were any other gift bags for some reason that day, I’m sure they would have also been branded by a team. They’re just gift bags.
Here’s just a few headers from news outlets on this:
For the most part, I believe news outlets are at fault for creating this negative image of the situation. As you can see in the titles, many go all out on making clickbait headlines. I understand they are businesses and take advantage of these situations to generate revenue from visitors. Although, I disagree with this method since it can have a negative effect on players.
Pogba has already been facing enough criticism due to countless reported fallouts with Mourinho. This new situation is completely unnecessary. To be quite honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pogba looks for a way out of United in the near future. It’s not fun and can become a huge distraction for the player when the media and fans continue to point every little thing out in a bad way.