Paul Pogba seeks attacking freedom at Manchester United | OneFootball

Paul Pogba has opened up on his role at Manchester United which is slightly different to the one he performed at Juventus.

The Frenchman admitted that he has the license to attack at Old Trafford but his “priority is to defend.”

This is in contrast to his time at Turin where he was more actively involved in the attack.

Pogba’s second stint with the Red Devils has been filled with mixed emotions.

We have seen him turning the games in United’s favour but these moments have been rare.

When he is playing in the double pivot in the midfield, he often fails to track the runs of the opposition.

Since the turn of the year, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has deployed him more on the flanks where his main focus is to attack.

This change in role helped him to score six goals and provide six assists in 42 games across all competitions.

In a recent interview with L’Equipe, Pogba indicated that he feels more restricted at United.

He said (as quoted by Manchester Evening News), “It’s true that at Juve it was different from Manchester United.

“We were already playing with three midfielders [at Juventus], in 5-3-2.

“I had the freedom, I had to be in the box, to attack. It was an obligation.

“In Manchester, I have the freedom to go into the box, but the priority is to play and defend.

When quizzed on his role in the French national team, he said, “We play in 4-2-3-1, also a diamond.

“I am a little more in the transmission, in the construction.

“But I have more freedom than in Manchester to enter the box, to make runs forwards.

“At the same time, when you have [Antoine] Griezmann, Kylian [Mbappe], you don’t want to enter their spaces, you don’t need to.”