Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba ‘p****d off’ at France’s poor form

France have recorded 1-1 draws with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine in World Cup qualifiers

Sarah Rendell
Tuesday 07 September 2021 16:08 BST
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Paul Pogba has said France need to get better
Paul Pogba has said France need to get better (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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France midfielder Paul Pogba is “p****d off’ with the team’s current form and says they need to improve following two World Cup qualifier draws.

Didier Deschamps’ side recorded 1-1 draws with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BaH) and Ukraine. But despite the latest results being disappointing, the world champions sit at the top of their qualifying group, with wins over BaH and Kazakhstan earlier this year.

“We have to show some pride as well and not accept it all,” the Manchester United star said, per The Daily Mail.

“Pardon the language, but it p****s me off to not be winning. I haven’t won with the French team in a while, and it’s something that I’ve missed.

“I think that’s the case with everyone, with all of the players, we want to show a reaction. We’ll keep the positives, we got a point, despite the performance which needs to change.”

The draws comes after France’s shock exit of Euro 2020 at the hands of Switzerland and Pogba says everyone involved in the team needs to improve.

Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty that sent France crashing out of Euro 2020
Kylian Mbappe missed a penalty that sent France crashing out of Euro 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

“We have to do a lot better, we know that. It’s comes down to the details, we’ll need to change it and be more aggressive, work harder and show more desire.

“I think it’s down to everyone, for example when you see a player putting in a tackle it gives a boost to go up. I include myself in that, we need to be more aggressive – when we are, we win the ball higher up the pitch and we’re more incisive.

“The same energy is still there [since the 2018 World Cup]. I think that we were fired up with the Euros and told that we were the best team in the world.

“Right now, we’re not the best team in the world. We need to do the job on the pitch for that. It’s the results that are going to show that.”

France’s first chance to right their wrongs comes on Tuesday evening as they play Finland in another qualifier.

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