Andy Cole defends Paul Pogba after criticism of France’s performance

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United legends Keane and Neville were not very happy with Pogbas’ overall performance (Photo: Getty Images)

Andy Cole launched a passionate defense of Paul Pogba after the midfielder was criticized for his performance in France’s loss to Switzerland at Euro 2020.

The Blues were eliminated from the penalty shootout on Monday night as the Swiss reversed a normal 3-1 deficit to lead the game to a tense shootout.

Pogba delivered a masterful offensive performance in the second half for France, folding a haunting strike from outside the box into the top corner to give his side a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes remaining.

Pogba completed a wonderful strike into the top corner to put France 3-1 (Photo: Getty Images)

But Switzerland stunned the world champions when they scored a final tying goal via substitute Mario Gavranovic, with Pogba coming under fire for giving the ball near the halfway line in preparation for the goal.

The 28-year-old also converted his penalty to a shootout before Kylian Mbappes ‘effort was saved by Yann Sommer to send Didier Deschamps’ side home.

While in office for ITV, Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as former French midfielder Patrick Vieira, acknowledged Pogbas’ impressive contribution in attack, but scrutinized his overall performance.

We saw the best and the worst of him in the second half, said Neville.

He’s taking risks with the ball, but you want those risks to be in the last third, not the defensive third, and they’re counterattacked.

Keane added: It can be frustrating. It’s all part of the character of Paul, which people love to see, but then I would look at the goal they conceded in added time, where he was sloppy in midfield. This is the bit that I would be really critical of.

Sounds tough because he did some brilliant stuff tonight. There is no doubt about the quality of Paul, just the other side, maybe his maturity.

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However, former United striker Cole jumped on Pogbas’ defense, insisting he excelled and was not the only one to blame for France who conceded late.

I thought he was brilliant, Cole said. He has proven to everyone how good he is. Yeah, you’re always gonna have people questioning him. A lot of people try to blame him for the third goal, but I just can’t figure it out. If you lose the ball in their half of the field, trying to create something, and then they are essentially running a half court to score a goal, that means their teammates haven’t helped them particularly well. If you’re going to blame him for that goal, that’s what it is, but he’s proven how good he is.

You can tell he gave the ball, but we all give the ball. Mbappe missed a great chance when he should have gotten inside with the right foot, did anyone mention that? It’s a Paul Pogba thing, I think. It was really a brilliant penalty too, he did everything well last night.

I listened to some of the comments and people were trying to [laughs] I sincerely believed that football was a team game. I really believed there were 11 players there.

We can all sit here and point out the bad things people have and what they haven’t done. Let’s talk about his good points and what he did. France came out, yes, and were the best team. But, when it comes to penalties, it’s a lottery and they weren’t good enough on penalties.

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