Garth Crooks has been speaking about Paul Pogba’s hair again

Garth Crooks has returned with more bizarre criticism of Paul Pogba.

If there’s two things Crooks enjoys, it’s making strange selections in his team of the week for the BBC, and talking about Pogba’s hairstyles. The former Tottenham forward ticked both boxes in this week’s article. First, he chose Mesut Ozil as a wing-back in a 3-4-3 formation.

The Arsenal playmaker was fantastic in their 2-0 win over Spurs and Saturday, and warrants a place in any team of the weekend selection, just not as a wing-back.

But that was just the warm-up for what Garth really wanted to write about – Pogba and his latest hairstyle. The French midfielder was excellent in Manchester United’s 4-1 win over Newcastle, he scored and set-up a goal in his first appearance since September.

You might have thought that a footballer’s hairstyle is of complete irrelevance to his displays on the pitch. But not to Garth, who places such an importance another person’s haircut that he begins and ends his passage about Pogba’s performance with references to his hairstyle.

“I have no time for his hairstyles and even less time for the dancing exhibitions. They are for beauty parlours and catwalks. What I do enjoy, though, is a footballer who can produce moments of magic with a football at his feet.” Crooks writes.

In fact, the theme of the entire paragraph is, ‘pundit offers begrudging praise for footballer with hairstyle he doesn’t like’.

Crooks says Pogba’s display was “emphatic” but “it should be” as Newcastle don’t have the financial resources to compete with Jose Mourinho’s team. He also said that the French midfielder can “destroy the opposition” if he is “given time and room.”

Each line of praise has a caveat, and Crooks admits he wanted to include Jack Cork instead of Pogba, because his performance for Burnley against Swansea was more “virtuous.” He then refers to Pogba dancing after he scored and returns to his favourite topic – haircuts.

“I had little choice but to pick Pogba over Jack Cork for example. Cork was outstanding for Burnley against Swansea but Pogba is in a different class. Yet there was something quite virtuous about Cork’s performance I did not see in Pogba’s against the Magpies. Nevertheless, it would have been vindictive of me not to pick Pogba. I refuse to allow a poor rendition of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever with a poor haircut to stop me from producing an honest selection, but I do so through gritted teeth.”

Of course, this isn’t the first-time Crooks has taken a pop at Pogba over how he chooses to style his hair. Back in September, Garth wrote:

“I also want to discuss Paul Pogba’s new hairstyle, which features a red streak. I only mention it because he clearly wants to bring it to our attention. There is so much for the midfielder to do at United and he still insists on behaving like an adolescent.”