Football pundit Daniel Harris was on Tuesday’s OTB AM and spoke about whether or not Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should take Paul Pogba off of penalty duties.
Pogba had a 68th-minute penalty saved by Wolves’ keeper Rui Patricio, costing his side a valuable away win.
While Harris would prefer Pogba not to be taking penalties, the English pundit understood why Solskjaer let the French World Cup winner take the spot-kick.
“Let’s say the worst-case scenario is that Pogba’s going to have a massive [tantrum] if he’s not allowed to take it.
“Solskjaer, you would obviously want him to lay down the law. Except he can’t have that aggravation in the squad at this point in the season,” Harris said.
Some pundits have claimed that Solskjaer allowing Pogba to take the penalty is a sign of ‘weak management’ but the Guardian reporter isn’t so sure.
“Pogba shouldn’t be taking the penalties because he’s crap at them. But similarly Wayne Rooney took loads of penalties and he was crap at them as well.
“Again, I do think that Solskjaer should say Rashford’s on them because he’s the best at them or Martial should take them because he’s the best at them.
“But the idea that this is some key fault in Solskjaer’s management is probably not that valid of an opinion. It’s happened before,” Harris explained.
A big part of being a manager is keeping the players happy, especially these days as players have so much power.
Harris understands that maintaining a good atmosphere in the team at this early stage of the season is crucial to how they progress.
“Some players will be treated differently to other players and that was sort of the genius of [Sir Alex Ferguson].
“He was managing to do that and treat people as individuals whilst at the same time maintaining a harmonious squad.
“I didn’t want Pogba to take that penalty. But at the same time I understand that he’s a player that Solskjaer has in the squad and he has to be managed correctly,” Harris commented.
Manchester United have been much improved in their opening two league games compared to the end of last season.
They’ll want to continue that early solid form and will hope to get their second win of the campaign this Saturday against Crystal Palace.
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