Paul Pogba Manchester UnitedGetty

'Flashy hair and dancing is Pogba' - Rio Ferdinand welcomes spark in £89m Man Utd star

Paul Pogba’s derby display for Manchester United has been welcomed by Rio Ferdinand, with the £89 million man proving that he is more than “extravagant hairstyles and dance moves”.

Having faced plenty of criticism over recent weeks, the France international midfielder chose the best possible occasion in which to enjoy a welcome return to form.

With United trailing 2-0 at Manchester City and in danger of being forced to watch their arch-rivals throw a Premier League title party, Pogba stepped up with two goals to turn the match on its head.

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Ferdinand is delighted for the 25-year-old, with his true colours being shown in a favoured position which has allowed him to make headlines for all of the right reasons.

In a lengthy Instagram post, the former United defender said: “Paul Pogba was the talk before the game and he went on to make sure he was the talk after it, for the reasons he so desperately wants them to be.

“Knowing Paul, he will want to be talked about as a great player, but his extravagant hairstyles and dance moves have too often overshadowed his performances.

“Flashy hair and being seen to enjoy every bit of life is just the way Paul Pogba is and that’s his choice, so it must be respected. All he has to do is make sure he keeps producing performances and goals like we saw against City – that will be the conversation with him rather than the other stuff.

“He was let free or had to play in a more advanced role due to the scoreline, which allowed him to do what he does best – less defensive responsibility and allowed to attack like he learnt and did at Juventus with the results we saw in the second half at City. 

“That’s the pressure he puts on himself, but one I’m sure he can deal with.”

 

Beaten by your rivals at their ground & to then have to sit there and watch them lift the Premier League trophy - all of this while them home fans laugh at you, there downtrodden, embarrassed, worthless, a beaten man/team. That is the nightmare the night before the derby game many of the players if not all would of had. That very picture would almost certainly of gone through their minds at some point leading up to that game. So to see the way the @manchesterunited team came back from 2 goals down & it could have been more had City finished their chances, signifies to me that that these guys really do care about playing for the shirt and how desperate they were not to allow that nightmare to become a reality! That is the type of pressure these games bring on - can you as an individual get rid of those terrible images and concentrate on the job in hand or will you allow yourself to be drowned in such negativity that you can hardly warm up without it being on your mind constantly and your warm up is 25mins of bad touches and anxiety! This can I add, all before the actual game begins - Mental warfare! So well done to the boys for dealing with all that especially after going 2 goals down (imagine the panic). Lastly...... @paulpogba was the talk before the game and he went on to make sure he was the talk after it (for the reasons he so desperately wants them to be). Knowing Paul, he will want to be talked about as a great player but his extravagant hairstyles and dance moves have too often overshadowed his performances. Flashy hair and being seen to enjoy every bit of life is just the way Paul Pogba is and that’s his choice so it must be respected. All he has to do is make sure he keeps producing performances & goals like we saw vs City and that will be the conversation with him rather than the other stuff. He was let free or had to play in a more advanced role due to the scoreline which allowed him to do what he does best - less defensive responsibility and allowed to attack like he learnt and did at Juve with the results we saw in the second half at City. That’s the pressure he puts on himself but one I’m sure he can deal with. #MUFC #POGBA

A post shared by Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) on

Ferdinand added on United as a collective, having witnessed a stunning fightback to secure a 3-2 win: “Beaten by your rivals at their ground and to then have to sit there and watch them lift the Premier League trophy – all of this while the home fans laugh at you there downtrodden, embarrassed, worthless, a beaten man/team.

“That is the nightmare the night before the derby game many of the players, if not all, would have had. That very picture would almost certainly have gone through their minds at some point leading up to that game.

“So to see the way the Manchester United team came back from two goals down, and it could have been more had City finished their chances, signifies to me that these guys really do care about playing for the shirt and how desperate they were not to allow that nightmare to become a reality!

“That is the type of pressure these games bring on – can you as an individual get rid of those terrible images and concentrate on the job in hand, or will you allow yourself to be drowned in such negativity that you can hardly warm up without it being on your mind constantly, and your warm-up is 25 minutes of bad touches and anxiety!

“This, can I add, all before the actual game begins – mental warfare! So well done to the boys for dealing with all that, especially after going two goals down (imagine the panic).”

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