Frank Lampard admits regret over comments on Man Utd’s Paul Pogba

The former Chelsea player-turned-manager has conceded he looks back and cringes at comments he made over the divisive Manchester United midfielder back in his punditry days

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Frank Lampard has admitted he “felt terrible” over comments he made about Manchester United star Paul Pogba while working as a pundit on BT Sport.

Having hung up his boots in 2017, the former Chelsea star enjoyed a brief stint working as a pundit before he started his managerial career with Championship outfit Derby County.

He has since opened up on how difficult analysing the performances of a certain players can be while covering games on live television, due to the potential awkwardness when running into them afterwards.

One particular example for Lampard came courtesy of a meeting with Pogba during the 2018FA Cupfinal, which saw the Blues pit themselves against United at Wembley.

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Lampard was speaking to former England teammateGary Neville on The Overlap about his views on punditry when still having so many close friends in the sport.

Neville is renowned for his stellar work as a pundit and co-commentator on Sky Sports, often clashing with another ex-Three Lions star in Jamie Carragher.

When asked whether he enjoyed his time as a pundit, ex-Blues boss Lampard explained: “I did, it didn’t feel formidable because it was so new to me and I think you still have an in-between period where you still feel a bit like you’re a player.

“You’ve still got some mates in the game, you still remember that feeling.”

Lampard went on to recall the situation with United’s record-signing, claiming: “It’s hard – I’d like to think that I’m a decent person, I remember saying some things about Pogba in the first year.

“He’s such a sort of dividing character within football and I remember saying some things as a midfield player and when I came out of it, I actually met him.

“I bumped into him, I think we got to the final and United were playing, I walked into him and you know when you are kind of like ‘oh god I don’t want to bump into you’.

“I felt terrible, I don’t know whether you get over that or not.”

Having remembered that particularly awkward moment with the French World Cup winner, Lampard then offered an insight into his views on punditry in general.

“I think you have to be honest, you can’t sit on the fence and you have to say it straight,” Chelsea’s record goal-scorer added.

“I felt like I was finding my way of doing it, I was enjoying it, but it wasn’t giving me the real buzz that I craved which was to go into coaching and do that.”