Most seemed to agree that we might see more from Pogba in Rooney's absence, freeing him to break forward and perhaps excel in his favoured No.10 role. But while the first part of that was true, it wasn't because of the second.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Jose Mourinho's team selection was not that Rooney was dropped but that Pogba was still deployed in a deep midfield role, next to Ander Herrera. Conventional wisdom states that Pogba's best position is part of a three-man midfield or as a No.10, free to power forward and unburdened with much defensive responsibility.
Indeed, France coach Didier Deschamps received plenty of criticism during the European Championships for not picking him in that position enough, for not maximising the talent of one of the world's best midfielders.
Yet on Saturday, he showed that he's not such a delicate flower, that he can perform -- excel, even -- in a slightly different role. What was perhaps so impressive and perhaps surprising about Pogba's performance was how understated it was. The primary criticism about the Frenchman in the past was that he could too easily go missing in games but pop up with a moment of eye-catching brilliance: a double-take inducing flick here, a 30-yarder into the top corner there.
But against Leicester, he was more substantial than that, rarely trying to force the issue and merely controlling the game with careful brilliance. His one concession to the spectacular was a dipping, swerving shot in the first half that was just kept out by Leicester's overwhelmed replacement keeper Ron-Robert Zieler, in for the injured Kasper Schmeichel. This was a showing of calm authority: perhaps not the player many United fans thought they were getting but still a very welcome one.