Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic advices teammate Paul Pogba that he must cope with the scrutiny of high profile as it comes with added pressure.
Pogba’s poor performance in Red Devil’s 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool on Sunday, when he conceded a first half penalty, wasted a good chance and escaped punishment for his so-called “choke slam” on Jordan Henderson, drew attention due to the media stunts around the world’s most expensive footballer being the League first player to acquire his own twitter emoji.
Despite his impressive form of late, Pogba appeared to struggle and with unfortunate timing, The 23-year old was at the centre of more marketing hype on Monday with the launch of the adidas x Pogba, A bespoke range of football and fashion products.
But Ibrahimovic, whose 13th goal in as many games extended United’s unbeaten run to 16 matches, expects Pogba to be able to handle all the fanfare around him.
“Pressure is something I enjoy. I don’t know Paul personally to be able to answer that for him, but I think he likes it also because without pressure, we would not be on our toes at the top level.
“If you want to play at the top level, pressure will come, and if you play better, the pressure becomes greater. So it’s something then we have to learn from and handle because we belong to the top. Paul belongs to the top, absolutely, and the pressure will be there,” he said.
Asked specifically about Pogba’s twitter emoji, Ibrahimovic, 35, said that the game involves a lot of social media and that the “media [was] building the game.” The draw forced Liverpool to drop to third position in the Premier League while many praised the never-let-go spirit of United.
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