Wolves vs Manchester United: Gary Neville hits out Paul Pogba penalty decision: ‘This is not tombola’

Pogba missed spot-kick for fourth time since start of last season

Mark Critchley
Molineux
Tuesday 20 August 2019 07:22 BST
Comments
Manchester United: 2019/20 Premier League season preview

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Gary Neville hit out at Manchester United’s penalty-taking policy after Paul Pogba missed from the spot in the 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers,

Pogba won the penalty, drawing a foul from Wolves captain Conor Coady, but saw his spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

It was Pogba’s fourth miss from the spot since the start of last season. No Premier League player has missed more than him in that time.

The decision for Pogba to take the penalty was all the more questionable given Marcus Rashford’s successful spot-kick against Chelsea last weekend.

Rashford, who has never missed a penalty in his career, was chosen ahead of Pogba at Old Trafford last week but was overlooked on this occasion.

Solskjaer revealed that he does not designate a single penalty taker, instead trusting his players to step forward if they feel confident enough to score.

Appearing on Sky Sports, former United full-back Neville criticised the policy, comparing the uncertainty to a ‘tombola’.

“Tonight there was a debate between [Anthony] Martial, [Daniel] James, Rashford and Pogba,” he said. “It was more like: “Go on mate you have it”.

“This is not right, by the way. Look here comes Paul Pogba, now [Jesse] Lingard is getting involved. Is Pogba the penalty taker and Rashford has taken it off him?

“I’m holding back on Pogba because he may be the penalty taker here. It isn’t right. They should decide before they play. This is not right.

“This is a Manchester United penalty. This is not tombola. This is not five a side. Rashford throws the ball to Pogba. Something is not right.

Neville added: “Why is there a debate on who takes a penalty? Pogba has missed four in the last 12 months – so you would think he’s had his chance now. Rashford scored last week, take the penalty.

“But there wasn’t a leader on the pitch. You saw the clips there, James was there, Martial, they couldn’t make a decision between them. Something is not right there.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in