“It started when…” Paul Pogba confides in cash about his depressions and breaks a taboo

Football players are people like everyone else. Yet discreet about his personal life, Paul Pogba has decided to fearlessly break a taboo that is very present in the world of football: depression. In the columns of Figaroon newsstands Wednesday March 23, the French midfielder from Manchester United hides nothing about this mental illness that affects many athletes, despite appearances. “We are judged every three days, we have to be good all the time, when we have problems like everyone else, whether with our partners, our coach, in everyday life”he confided, before revealing have suffered from depression, “several times in his career”.

“Sometimes you don’t know you’re depressed, you just want to isolate yourself, be on your own, these are unmistakable signs. Personally, it started when I was with José Mourinho in Manchester“, admitted Paul Pogba, who, during the summer transfer window, returned to Manchester United in 2016 after passing through Juventus. Unfortunately, everything did not go as planned, in particular because of his coach at the Red Devils. However, the footballer specifies that if depression is widespread in the world of sport, it is necessary to “Don’t say it. At least publicly.” “It’s all in the head, the mind controls everything and all top athletes go through these moments, but few talk about them“he regretted.

This former Blue who is the confidant of Paul Pogba

Fortunately, married to Maria Zoulay with whom he has two children, Paul Pogba found the solution when depression overcame him: “refocus on [sa] family, [ses] friends”. “When I can’t do it alone, I talk a lot with ‘Tonton Pat’“, he confided, speaking of Patrice Evra, who also recently lifted a taboo, namely, the sexual assaults he suffered as a teenager. The footballer, who was recently robbed, also does not hesitate to share his experience with “former players who have experienced this, because they will understand you immediately”. “To speak, to be listened to, to bring out all this rage and this depression which eats at you, it is obligatory for me. In soccer, we are not superheroes, only human beings“he recalled.

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