The Juventus man is pretty much surreal at this point
The western world has aggressively mistranslated Horace's carpe diem into "seize the day", rather than the more gentle and accurate "enjoy the day" or "pluck the day [as it is ripe]". Paul Pogba seems to be the intended definition of the phrase. Though his physical attributes may betray onlookers into falling back onto old stereotypes of speed, strength and power, it would be a great disservice to avoid the fact that the boy wonder is much more swan princess than Ivan Drago. More the matador than the bull.
On Sunday, when Pogba plucked the ball out of the air and then hit it on a volley, he made it look so easy. So effortless that you almost forgot that it's pretty much absurd. He was in a packed penalty box, with the ball hanging in the air, yet everything seemed frozen except for him. As if even the defenders were mesmerized, waiting for the conclusion of the magic trick. Juventus' second goal, their win against Chievo, seemed to fade into the background.
More staggering was his actual goal in that game. Dragging the ball past the defender with his right foot, he unleashed a cannon of a shot with his left to the corner of the near post, beating the keeper. The goal itself was awesome. The fact that he has the ability to strike the ball with either foot, accurately, from a distance and in the box, after beating his man on the dribble, at the age of 21 is just outright blasphemous.
Pogba is one of the few, if not the only, player that can become genuinely world-class at numerous positions on the pitch. If he keeps improving at just half the rate that he has so far, but plays deeper and more disciplined, he could become an incredible defensive midfielder. If he decides to become more of a central midfielder, he would be one of the world's best. If his flair and creativity takes him up higher on the pitch, he could be a world class number ten. He could also use his pace and dribbling skills to torment fullbacks on the wing. And I'm pretty sure that he would be a better forward than most in Italy.
If he stopped developing today, if he'd hit his limit, you would still say that Paul Pogba is a great player and one of the best to watch. You add in the fact that he's almost certain to keep improving, and we're now discussing if he can be the most complete player that has ever played the game.
The joy in watching him is similar to the joy of watching Ronaldinho. In that, his genius is inviting. He plays so gleefully that it becomes increasingly impossible not to smile along with him. When he's trapped in midfield by three defenders, as he was against Chievo, only to wriggle out of it while embarrassing his captors, you can't help but laugh at the fact that he even considered it, much less succeeded :
He did things like this throughout the match, but it's not just this game, it's been this whole season, no, his entire career at Juventus. The dribbles, the long range goals that elicited the Pog-BOOM! nickname, the tackles and defensive work-rate to help subsidize the genius of Andrea Pirlo, the vision and technique to attempt any pass that he wants, all while still technically being a work in progress. It would be demeaning if he wasn't so fun.
He's also just so dirty. Like put a defender on skates dirty. He's one of the players --the best kind of players to be honest-- that get that glint in their eyes when they're isolated one-on-one with a defender. He's full of that potential --he's gonna embarrass this guy-- energy. It's like Batman being trapped inside with Bane whenever you see the defenders dance along with his feet.
It's even scarier that he's surrounded by the teachers that he needs: this Juventus team is centered around its midfield talents. Arturo Vidal himself is no slouch on either side of the ball and Pogba hardly needs to look farther than Pirlo to learn anything more about vision and passing. You can't get more versatile than Claudio Marchisio in midfield, plus ... he's just so pretty.
The world is at Pogba's feet. He has the mentors and ability to become something even more special than what he is now and the will to learn to actually accomplish it. Yes, the kid's actively trying to improve. He's been criticized,fairly, for being inconsistent. But for much of the season he's been scoring regularly, and when he's not, he's assisting or creating. When he can't do those, he's all over the pitch, cutting off passing angles or winning the ball back.
So what we're faced with now is a player who can do and be anything that he wants. A player that has the ability to make grown men Vine victims. A boy who can pluck the ball out of the air in the midst of chaos with the composure of a forward and then hit a 60-yard pass directly to feet in the same game. One that has the physicality to hold the ball, body attackers but the close control to wriggle himself out of trouble. At 6'2, he has the build of the stereotypical "athlete" and yet makes a joke of the "good feet for a big man" cliche. His feet would be a gift to any body type.
He even does Bruce Lee celebrations after goals, dances a lot and has awesome hair.
He's just absurdly in a class of his own. At the age of 21.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1thvljp
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