Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is nowhere near club legend Eric Cantona according to former goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.
The Dane’s performances during eight years at United are enough for Schmeichel to be considered one of the best goalkeepers the Premier League has ever seen.
With Schmeichel considered a legend, he is an ideal man to speak about the club situation at the moment.
The 55-year-old believes that club stars such as Pogba have far too much control over the running of United, taking away from manager Jose Mourinho.
Speaking at the SBC awards, Schmeichel went into great detail about the past and the present at Old Trafford, highlighting that even if big players don’t perform, there is nothing Mourinho can do about it.
Schmeichel said: “For Jose to come in and clean up. I don’t think he’s in charge of transfers. Pogba-Mourinho conflict, pre-match talk is about that. Man Utd is too much about Pogba, he has more than Cantona, he is not delivering.
“You get away with a lot. But when you don’t deliver for the team, then you have a problem. This is something I don’t think Jose can solve, I don’t think it’s on his table.
“I don’t think he has any power to do anything about it. So we see his frustration. Every press conference, we see this sour, glum and depressed looking guy.
“He is the Manchester United manager. He should be going ‘I’m at the greatest club in the world’ but he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it.”
Schmeichel looks back at United
The famous goalkeeper also spoke of club legends and former teammates in comparison to today’s squad, highlighting figures such as Eric Cantona and Bryan Robson as the main men back in his tenure at the club.
“On my first day, I was the first player to arrive, in the smallest dressing room you can imagine. The guy that was sitting next to me was Bryan Robson. For five years. I sat there just looking at him. Straight away I knew I was taking a step up.
“In the first training, we were doing the boxes. They had never had a goalkeeper in the box. Brian Kidd said no you’re not. I had to make a stand from the beginning. I gained the confidence from the players that I could use my feet, then the backpass rule was changed; they had to trust me.
“I think the first player to really stand out and really be different was Eric. He had an incredible influence on what Man Utd is today. He was so shy when he started. They started to come out early because now it was ok to do individual training. This was the biggest legacy.”
Schmeichel also enthused on how effective and forward-thinking former club boss Sir Alex Ferguson was in allowing players to partake in individual training, which helped the club achieved the treble in 1999 and enjoy success almost every year under the Scot’s legendary tenure at the club.
“Sir Alex was so quick to let players spend time on the training pitch. I don’t think there was ever a better team at Man Utd than the treble winners. Eric wasn’t there, but how can you take [Dwight] Yorkey and [Andrew] Coley out.”
Offering sympathy to former manager David Moyes, the Dane believes that the club’s problems are from high above rather than the touchline.
“It was always going to be difficult when Sir Alex Ferguson left, I actually still believe Moyes should have had a better opportunity.
“The CEO stopped at the same time, they were not there to support him. The first transfer window, he has been credited/blamed for signing Fellaini, I think the confidence of Man Utd shuffled.”
The post Schmeichel: Pogba nowhere near Man Utd legend Cantona appeared first on Squawka News.
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