Stats can prove anything – 78 per cent of people know that.
But one Paul Pogba stat is seemingly proving the likes of Graeme Souness and Roy Keane correct about the mercurial Frenchman.
Arsene’s Son has tweeted a seemingly genuine Sky Sports card showing his running stats this season.
In it we’ve got distance covered – 322km, that’s 16th best in the Premier League – as well as time spent jogging and sprinting.
But second stat down is the one that people are really grabbing hold of.
That’s the percentage of the time the Frenchman spends walking around. It’s 64 per cent of the time, which rates number one for walking in the Premier League.
Now of course Pogba has never been the workhorse midfielder – preferring to create something when you give him the ball.
But such a stat has been grasped by fans on both sides of the Pogba argument.
(Image: Getty Images)
King of the North said: “Man Utd fans sayin Pogba ain’t lazy look at these stats, my man has spent 64% of his time walking around the pitch this season, 16th for distance covered and less than 1% sprinting.”
But many jumped to his defence.
Roy Keane is not one of them jumping to his defence though.
Before the sickening 2-0 derby loss to Manchester City , critic Keane also questioned both his running and workrate.
“I wouldn’t believe a word he says – there’s no meaning behind it,” former captain Keane said after Pogba’s pre-match interview talking about togetherness.
“He’s on about being a team-mate, if you’re going to be a good team-mate you’ve got to run back when you’re defending.
(Image: REUTERS)
“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.
“I don’t think he leads by example, from what I see. I don’t know what he’s like on the training ground or when they’re travelling, but from what I see.
“He mentioned body language and pride, but I don’t see it in his performances.
“He’s talking about body language – but throws his hands up in the air.
“He’s a big problem for United.”
(Image: Matt West/BPI/REX)
News over the last few days has done little to suggest Pogba is 100 per cent committed either.
His agent Mino Raiola is said to last week have cancelled a meeting over a new contract, according to reports.
And Manchester United’s players are concerned that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer doesn’t has enough in him to control Pogba .
The World Cup winner, controversially named in the PFA Team of the Season on Thursday, has been ‘tearing the Manchester United dressing room apart’, report The Sun .
Insiders claim the French midfielder has told team-mates the club has gone backwards since he first left 2012.
