Paul Pogba will return to his inspirational best at Euro 2020 despite France star’s Man Utd struggles, claims Karembeu
CHRISTIAN KAREMBEU says Manchester United are now starting to see the ‘France Paul Pogba’.
The leader, superstar and midfield general.
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1998 World Cup winner Karembeu understands there have been detractors that feel Pogba’s outings at club level are a far cry from those on the international scene.
He heroically helped lead France to glorious victory at Russia 2018. Videos showed Pogba’s rousing team talks and his displays on the field matched it.
Olympiakos sporting director Karembeu said: “With France he takes responsibility on the pitch, he is a leader and the manager has faith in him. As a result, he shines.
“Unfortunately at Manchester United he was injured a lot and often had relapses.
“It hasn’t been easy for Paul to accept criticism – but he is an intelligent person and bounced back very quickly.
“Despite everything that went wrong, Man United had a nice season and reached the final of the Europa League.
“Paul worked really hard to return from his injury.
“United were winning games without him but credit to Paul because he managed to get back in the starting eleven, played well and helped United reach the final.
“He was excellent for his club – but in the national team we put him in the best possible conditions to succeed.”
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Karembeu, an investor in Sponsor.Online, became a world champion the same year Kylian Mbappe was born on the outskirts of Paris.
But the former Real Madrid midfielder warned superstar Mbappe he will not power France to glory all on his own this time around.
Karembeu added: “Kylian has the talent to follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.
“Kylian has to make the most of his sheer talent. It’s hard to advise him, he has everything.
“He is a world champion with France and now has the opportunity to become a European champion too.
“But if France win the Euros or not, that’s down to the whole team, not just Mbappe.”
Karembeu’s former team-mate Didier Deschamps skippered France to a World Cup and Euros double as a player and is Les Bleus’ longest-serving manager after nine years in charge.
But the accolades may not end here for the serial winner.
If he spearheads France’s triumph this summer, he would become the first to win both tournaments as a player and manager.
France have a rendezvous with history and Karembeu feels Didier the water-carrier – as he was once infamously nicknamed by Manchester United legend Eric Cantona – should look at the past to ignite the future.
Karembeu added: “Didier has seen it all before. He pulled off this feat as a player and knows the words to use to spur his players on.
“France have many exceptional talents and Didier will struggle to pick his team. If we look at the teams in their group – Portugal, Hungary and Germany – it’s very competitive.
“For me the team that tops this group will reach the final.
“Didier played in France, Italy, England and Spain. He knows how to win a game, how to set up defensively and how to attack.
“In 1998, we had the best defence and only conceded two goals through Michael Laudrup and Davor Suker.”
Every Frenchman remembers where they were and what they did on that famous night of July 12, 1998, when France annihilated Brazil 3-0.
Karembeu said: “That was a turning point in French football, world football and the life of every Frenchman.
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“It’s normal that the 2018 World Cup did not have the quite same impact as 1998, because back then it was the first time.
“Deschamps built a strong team, you could see that they were not there to entertain but to win the trophy.”
Exactly the same can be said about him this time.
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