Paul Pogba has spent more time walking on the pitch this season than any other Premier League midfielder.
Manchester United's No 6 has come in for criticism recently from fans and pundits alike for what is perceived to be a lack of effort.
And one stat appears to give credence to those arguments that Pogba isn't pulling his weight.
The Frenchman's time spent walking on the pitch is 64 per cent, a measurement that puts him first out of 79 players.
United have lost five out of their last six matches and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are in a slump.
Pogba has often been looked at as the scapegoat and his form tailed off after a renaissance when Solskjaer took the interim managerial position.
Despite the negativity surrounding the 26-year-old, he made the PFA Team of the Year and there are some stats to weaken the argument that he is not putting in the hard yards.
Pogba is 16th out of 79 in terms of total distance covered by a midfielder and 34th out of 79 in sprints per game.
Former United midfielder Roy Keane is one of the more vocal critics of Pogba and said he is a 'big problem' for the club.
'The guy is a talented boy, but we're saying the same thing over and over again. The number of times we've seen him in games where he is not sprinting or running back,' he told Sky Sports.
'He's talking about body language – but throws his hands up in the air. He's a big problem for United.
'Graeme (Souness) spoke earlier about needing good senior players at your football club. He's a senior player, played in big competitions and won big trophies. I don't think he leads by example, from what I see.'
Pogba has repeatedly been linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer and could yet depart Old Trafford
Feyckryz
325
I have said on more than one occasion MU should never have fired Jose Mourinho , they should have sold Pogba and rebuilt the team . Woodward was bent on having a big name player in Man United at the expense of the team. Jose kept asking for new players because he saw the decline and knew where he had to strengthen but rather than support your " World-class" Manager , Woodward chose to give support to Pogba's indiscipline and fired him . Manchester United is now in a quagmire with a basically inexperienced Manager entrusted with a team overhaul . We are speaking about one of the biggest team in world football .
moyaeilmrz
222
pogba is a very good player no doubt. On a very good day he can dictate and win a match for Man U. Manchester united fans expected Pogba to carry the team and lead by example but sometimes he plays with high level of non chalancy as such the criticisms. Have u watched him lately, very slow in tracking back, delivery and recovery of balls etc. He should brace up and do his job, he's paid for it. Am not a Man U fan to be honest. But it hurts watching ur team and ur high profile players underperform. He was included in the PFA team of the year and everyone is furious. Why? Cos he's not doing enough for Man U
Brizzy_Lxxvii
187
How many times does De Bruyne run backwards or did Gerrard or Even Lampard but we all ignore it coz of their contributions. Please leave Paul alone he might not be the perfect player but i think he has been the most criticized player in Europe this season and the painful fact is that with all the criticism he's been United's best player this season but still The club's fans and legends still insult and criticize him mainly because of his lifestyle off the pitch. But what does that (his hair or his partying lifestyle) even have to do with anything anyway. When the team is winning and he's in form the club's fans and legends would praise him for being the best in the team but when we lose he'll get insulted brutally when he's not the coach. I really wish it would be possible to experiment Buying Maybe De bruyne or Eriksen or whoever TF you people think is the best attacking minded centre midfielder to replace Pogba but with still the same man united squad then i'm sure y'all would get what i'm saying. He's been stripped off his vice captaincy for fuck sake and is now like no 4 or 5 and all the people above him as captains have flopped one way or the other more than him but when we lose we feel all our anger should be directed at Paul when all the goals we conceded were due to goal keeping or defensive errors well ignore those facts and say we lost because Pogba refused to track back and I don't know if it's just me but that's dumb as hell. I don't know whether you expect him to join the centre backs in defence or what?. If you hate him for no reason keep it to yourself i'm not a Pogba fan i'm a Man United fan but I just have to appreciate the efforts
lowbceilty
185
Good morning Ole Solskjae, please let him go, whatever which club he play is not professional player, like Fred, Young Smalling and Lukaku. They are not professional. Rashford if he thinks of playing for Real Madrid is not a good player thinking of transfer. He is England player and Manchester strikers.if he can't prove himself as England player than don't play. England is the best player in whole world. Lingard, Delle, Kane Luke Shaw, can play but too soft. Ole Solskjae please get Ozil he can be Man U midfield. De Gea think that he is Spain goldkeeper best is not always mistake let others player to score.
Vibilpstu
104
Why always pogba
Hotabnpstz
95
Pogba is not good enough lol..he maybe be poor at times or lots of times but he’s still better than every player at United currently and one of the biggest club is looking bud filir him for him that says it all.. they’re not looking for bid for Lingard,Jones,Smelling,young,Rice,but Paul pogba let see what ll happens when he finally depart this bounces of average player ,the good new is Mctominey still there United future..Time will tell Lol..
Zere8
92
Nowadays most of us dont even rate Pogba anymore, please leave him alone, he doesnt deserve our time to discuss about him
Villa’s_Holte_End
90
What do you expect? It seems every united player walks around the pitch, it’s just he plays more than any of them. Media needs to get off of pogba, we don’t know what is going on through his head, the media destroyed sterling whenever they thought he was just a snake who loved the flashy things, they didn’t know he gives back to the community and was a good family man. How can we expect the media to know what is going on with pogba? You’re all expecting him to pick up where sir Alex left off. It’s not pogba a fault united are in crisis
SINGAM23
77
great things never came from comfort zone
latbknopt
73
let's us reason it out MANCHESTER UNITED players are like beautiful girls which every team admire to have,Ole is like poor and wise man who's tries to suiduce this ladies with little that he has, but what we have to know that a lady when she sees beautiful car, money and the rest even how much chop off your heart she cannot still not love you because she thinks of material creation than love ,Ole should stop begging and let them go world is so big and so and there are millions of good players are offering sacrifice for mnchr OLE PLEASE BE LIKE AJAX AN KNOW PLAYERS BUT THE BEST,SUPRISE THEM OLE YOU CAN DO it is your season no more money,be different.
Kkrexuke
61
Quite right. He walk so much and doesn't move to create space for his teammates to pass. Otherwise, he is so high up the field and he doesn't track back as quickly. Probably 1 reason why utd has been sending longs balls from defence to strikers. Some neat passing in midfield will help link the defense and attack. Mctominay at dm. Herrera cm and Fred in place of pogba higher up. Notice he doesn't retain the ball very well but knows a thing about incisive pass.