PAUL POGBA has revealed how a pre-season bout of Covid-19 has wrecked his season so far.
The French World Cup winner hit a cracking 20 yard goal at West Ham on Saturday to set Manchester United on their way to a 3-2 comeback win.
Paul Pogba has opened up about the effect of coronavirus on his fitnessCredit: Getty Images – Getty
It was his first in a campaign when he has been in and out the team and struggled when he has played.
But for the first time Pogba has explained just how much Covid can take out of a super fit athlete like himself.
Pogba said: “It’s strange, it’s hard to explain because you wouldn’t understand.
“Even in training, I would say to the fitness coach that I feel strange. It’s not me. I get tired very fast and I’m out of breath really fast.
“The first game of the season, I couldn’t run. I was trying.
“I spoke with the manager, I said ‘I will start the game and let’s see’, but I was very out of breath and it took me a long time to get me back to my fitness and to get back physically good.
“I wasn’t ready physically I would say. I felt weakness physically.”
But after a full 90 minutes under his belt against West Ham on Saturday Pogba feels fit and ready now to face a massive week ahead.
Pogba tested positive for coronavirus at the end of AugustCredit: Getty Images – Getty
United face a trip to Germany to face RB Leipzig on Tuesday in their final Group H game needing a point to qualify then next Saturday it is the Manchester derby.
Pogba said: “I feel confident, I feel myself, like more in my legs and physically I feel much better.
“It’s good just to get back in the team, and to score this goal to help the team get back in the game, it’s very important for the team. I’m very happy for that.
“Just to play the 90 minutes and carrying on with the games… It’s such a difference. I’m finding my rhythm as well.
“I feel so much better, I felt I could go again, control the game, getting the ball. That’s what I like, myself.
“That’s what I think is good for the team. I’m a team player. As long as the team wins, that’s the most important, you know.
“I find myself good and we want to win. That’s why I came here and that’s why I want to be successful. We have Champions League and we have City.
“We know that those are two very important games, decisive games. We have to carry on this mentality of winning, always. That’s what the club is about.”
That stunning second-half comeback at West Ham was the fifth time in five away league games this season they have come from behind to win.
For Pogba it was a very timely reminder of how well they played in the home game against Leipzig when they won 5-0.
He added: “We play how we love to play football. Remember against Leipzig, when we played, when we scored the goals in the second half it was the same. It was two touch, two touch, one touch.
“The goal of Rashy was one-touch football. It was beautiful. That’s what we are, we have the quality to do that, and we have to do it from the start.
“There are so many chances, we conceded, it was hard for us in the first half and we showed character in the second half and that’s what we have to remember.
“Always. It has to be inside. I mean, always. We cannot afford to lose and be happy with a loss or a draw.
“We have to be bad losers, that’s what we have to be, and always want to win. Even 1-0 or 6-5… We have to win. That’s what we want.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
