Rio Ferdinand reveals Paul Scholes would ‘launch through’ a young Paul Pogba in Man Utd training to ‘build character’
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PAUL SCHOLES used to "launch through" a young Paul Pogba to "build character", Rio Ferdinand revealed.
Pogba came through the United academy and started training with the first team in early 2011.
It was a squad that included senior players such as Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Edwin van der Sar, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Nemanja Vidic.
But it was Scholes who took his role to roughen up his fellow central midfielder and get him ready for the rigours of professional football.
Ferdinand told : "You know young lads when they come over, the managers do like to see them get kicked about.
"Paul Pogba was a young, super-gifted player.
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"Scholsey, in particular, used to just launch him.
"Whether he used to see him as a threat I dunno but he used to launch him, just kick him.
"He was so big and strong Paul and with that great footwork and everything and he would hold Scholsey off.
"Scholes would just kick through him and he'd lay on the floor and go like, 'What's going on?'
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"We just kept on playing, but that's part of it, it's character building."
Pogba made his Red Devils debut in September 2011 and made a further six appearances that season before leaving for Juventus on a free transfer as United were pipped by Manchester City to the Premier League title.
His four successful seasons with Juve prompted a world-record £89million return to Old Trafford but he massively underdelivered across six years.
Scholes told talkSPORT last year before injury-plagued Pogba rejoined the Old Lady in Italy: "I was there when he was a kid and this lad has got absolutely everything you would want in a footballer and a midfield player.
"His physique, he can run. I just don't think he's ever learned as a footballer, he constantly seems to make the same mistakes over and over again.
"It's disappointing. For some reason, at Man United, it hasn't worked out. It's a big disappointment. You see what he does with France."