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Paul Pogba

LONDOn. — Carrying the weight of expectation that comes with being the world’s most expensive footballer cannot be easy, but Paul Pogba seems as though he tends to take things in his stride.

The France international faced criticism at the start of his return to Manchester United for a lack of effectiveness in front of goal but did not seem particularly fazed by it.

While he is still not putting away many chances, it seems as though it is only a matter of inches that is hampering the £89million man.

Pogba has scored just seven goals in all competitions for United this season.

No player in the Premier League has hit the woodwork more times than the midfielder, who has struck the post and bar on eight occasions in the league since his summer move.

He did the same again against Saint-Etienne in the Europa League on Thursday, seeing a header come cannoning back off the bar.

Where once he was criticised for not being in the right positions to have a telling impact on a game, that is no longer the case.

After all, the midfielder has taken a staggering number of shots this campaign in all competitions – 113.

And given he does not tend to shoot from 40 yards, that suggests he is, at the least, getting himself into the right positions to start improving his goal tally for Manchester United.

Only the slightest improvement in accuracy would have been required for him to start posting more impressive figures during his debut campaign.

That said, Pogba is likely to be unhappy with his general shooting accuracy at United.

He has only hit 37 of his 113 shots on target since the start of the season.

Pogba’s habit of hitting the post and bar is amplified by the fact that he is not the player who has taken the most shots in the Premier League.

He does rank fourth in the top flight for shots taken, with team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic top of the charts so far this season.

The 23-year-old is also led by two players from north London sides in terms of shots taken – Alexis Sanchez and Christian Eriksen.

Both Eriksen and Sanchez are also in the top eight for players who have hit the woodwork this season.

But Ibrahimovic is not on the same chart, suggesting he has been considerably more fortunate with his 102 shots in the Premier League – possibly balancing out Pogba’s bad luck.

Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam is something of a surprise name on the woodwork list, having hit the post or bar four times in the Premier League this season.

Pogba will have a chance to improve his tally when United take on Championship side Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round of the FA Cup tomorrow. — Mailonline.