OMOIYAELEYIN🧑‍🦳🥚

Paul Pogba said during his sit down with Rio Ferdinand: “When the media always ask him questions about me, maybe it makes him a bit like, ‘OK, is he done?’ … Always Paul, Paul, Paul, and that probably pissed him off.” That friction with Jose Mourinho wasn’t just between player and manager — a big part of it was the media constantly bringing up Pogba’s name in every press conference. Now let’s talk about the similar pattern that reoccurred under Ruben Amorim with the Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo sagas. This discussion sits on heavy agendas, but there are facts worth weighing in this equilibrium. Imagine week in, week out your team is struggling for results, but the media is more obsessed with a player who is benched for tactical reasons or dropped for disciplinary issues. Of course any normal human being would get irritated at some point. You’re not just undermining the coach’s authority — you’re also making his teammates feel irrelevant and their efforts invalid. Nobody asking specific questions about De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Ayden Heaven, Tyler Fredricson, the Fletcher twins, Harry Amass, Chido Obi, Gabriele Biancheri, Shea Lacey and the rest of the young talents whenever journalists get the chance. Even when the manager gives a satisfactory answer today, the same journalist throws the name back in the next presser. At some point, any manager would want to make a statement. And if the manager starts caving into that media pressure, he has just lost control of the dressing room. Maybe that’s why we keep hearing stories about managers losing the dressing room months before they get sacked at Manchester United. These media habits are exactly what make certain players feel bigger than their teammates and start demanding special treatment they haven’t earned on the pitch.