Published 13:10 IST, January 22nd 2021
Paul Pogba's consistent form comes after Darren Fletcher's coaching influence
Paul Pogba's performances for Manchester United have reached a new level after the French international started working with Darren Fletcher.
One of Sir Alex Ferguson’s star player-turned-coach, Darren Fletcher has been with Manchester United for over 20 years. He was recently added to the backroom staff of the first team after he spent just over a few months back at United helping out with the youth teams. The former Scotland midfielder moved up the ladder in January and now assists the Man United first team as a member of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s backroom staff, having a major impact on Paul Pogba.
The hard-working Scottish national is a popular appointment among players and staff. He is now working with the aim of training the next generation of future stars at Manchester United. The first team midfielders and stars have benefited the most since his arrival in the first-team backroom staff.
Darren Fletcher: the reason behind Paul Pogba's massive improvement
Darren Fletcher started working with United’s midfielders and has helped Paul Pogba among others in pushing their game a level above. His efforts with the midfielders in training are already showing the results, especially with Paul Pogba, as the French international scored two winners for United against Fulham and Burnley. The 27-year-old French World Cup winner also had an impressive outing last Sunday where he was a whisker away from scoring another winner during their match against title rivals Liverpool.
Since his arrival to the first team less than two weeks ago, Fletcher has been working on helping Pogba work on the defensive aspect of his game. Fletcher’s training has worked well for Pogba as the French international now has the highest number of recoveries and passes in the Man United midfield. He is also on par with Fred and made as many tackles as the Brazilian midfielder.
Manchester United’s overall defensive gameplay has also improved vastly with the Red Devils keeping three clean sheets in five games. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team has also conceded only three goals after Fletcher’s promotion to his backroom staff. Banking on such solid performances, Manchester United are now at the top of the Premier League standings after a long long time.
Fletcher bid goodbye to Man United back in 2015 and featured for Premier League rivals West Brom for the next two years, He went on to play for two more years with Stoke until he retired in 2019. Despite not showing any interest in coaching after his retirement, also with his added health issues, the Scottish national seems to be enjoying his current role at Man United.
Speaking about how impactful Fletcher has been for the team, Man Utd head-coach Solskjaer said how Darren has the United DNA running through his veins. The Norwegian also added how Fletcher knows exactly what it takes to be a Manchester United player. The 47-year-old Man United coach also mentions how Fletcher is at the start of his coaching career and his experience both on and off the pitch, along with his winning mentality, commitment, and hard work is a great addition to the staff.
Updated 13:10 IST, January 22nd 2021