He literally got his agent to come out and say that he was leaving when he wasnt getting in the team at the start of the season. And thats not the first time. Hows that fiction?
And my point wasnt that he is only playing well because the team is. My point is that the best Pogba is a loved Pogba in a winning team.
He’s been left out of the team since then too, without problem. Did he start vs Leeds? Did he start at Leicester? Did he come straight back in and perform next game?
As for the latter point, I agree that he is better in a better team with motivation/focus on winning. This is probably not unusual in football. Most of the ‘top players’ you can name likely either play for a top team, or don’t play for a top team yet but are playing well to impress a top team and get their move. I doubt you can name many top footballers who have won World Cups, and made CL finals etc spending their prime years around 5th-7th in the league.
People speak about KDB for example, but it hasn’t been shown weather he can ‘carry’ a City team who are floating in 6th. He also isn’t outstanding nearly as often as implied himself anyway, but when you are in a generally successful team, those things are typically airbrushed out when games are won. You probably can’t remember 5 poor Keane or Scholes games across their entire careers, but they definitely had them. Who cares that Keane gave the ball away 3 times in a game where Ronaldo scored two and we win at Southampton? Conversely, Pogba himself is getting a lot of praise now partly because of his performances, but also because the team is winning. If we were not, I’m confident the narrative would be that he should be doing more.