7 Truths: Ibrahimovic and Pogba show their worth, cup key for Poch future

There are a special band of football fans, who mainly congregate on Twitter. They are obsessed with the notion of 'frauds' in football. Anyone who plays badly is a fraud. Anyone who has off-games in a fraud. Anyone they don't like is a fraud. They also like to compare transfer fees, statistics and all sorts, if it means they can score a point at someone else's expense.

Paul Pogba, earlier this season, was a target. He has committed several sins in their eyes. He cost a mountain of cash. He dares to dye his hair and he is young. He played for a big club, but he has also made the mistake of being more expensive than everyone else. That means if he ever performs worse than someone else, we can tweet a comparison and call Pogba a fraud. That is now how football works.

However, over the last couple of months, things are turning. He still does silly things on the pitch. He still has to learn to track back a bit more. He still has to learn about football (he is 23, so why wouldn't he?). But he is showing his passing range. He is showing his close control. He is starting to link up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and showing the rest of the squad the standards they need to reach. United have paid a high price for the transfer, but anyone calling him a fraud shows only their ignorance.

Ibrahimovic also took pelters as he got used to the Premier League. He is, knowingly, more than happy to tell everyone his own inflated sense of himself. Going back to his days at Ajax, he was content to let anyone near him know they were, 's***,' if they were going to tackle him roughly.

He came to England at 34, having won and earned everything he needed to. It took him a few months to warm up, as it did the rest of the United squad, but now he just keeps scoring. He is like Wayne Rooney was about six years ago - largely static but able to score when the chance presents itself.

It is still unclear where Ibrahimovic will be next season, but as he showed with a crucial intervention at Blackburn, a finish that had superfically lazy calm written all over it, he still matters. It's not like he can get any slower, after all.

According to the English and Spanish press, who are both notoriously reliable, Mauricio Pochettino is one of Luis Enrique's possible replacements for Barcelona. Pochettino played for and managed at Espanyol,, but they aren't a serious enough rival for that to actually make a difference.

What is important to Barcelona is that Pochettino would fit at Barcelona. You can see that by what he's done at Spurs. They run hard, they move the ball forward quickly, they can defend properly and - just as importantly - he has developed local and young talent.

Spurs have done well for Pochettino. They have proven that he is not a one-off in England. First Southampton, now this. He is on the cusp of building a Spurs side that are actually title challengers, and well prepared for the future - this has not happened in decades. But let's be realistic. There is United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to compete with. This will never be an easy league to negotiate.

As good as Pochettino is, he must soon wonder if he can break through the Spurs culture, the relative lack of money compared to peers, and the competition around him, and wonder if Barcelona (and perhaps Atletico Madrid) wouldn't offer not just more glamour, but an easier task. With the league gone, and the Europa League on a knife-edge, the FA Cup might be necessary to persuade Pochettino to give it another season.

Wenger has to go to Sutton United and deal with an awkward but obviously winnable fixture. Even Arsenal in their worst state should be able to get through with a couple of goals and not too much sweat.

Once there, his side will take on Lincoln City. Again, that should be no difficult. At that point, Arsenal would then be in the semi-finals, back at Wembley in a tournament that Arsenal have shown recently they can actually win. In the past, FA Cup trophies have given Wenger succour. He has taken the victories not as vindication, but as a reason to continue with his methods.

It seems that Wenger knows that a FA Cup will no longer make a difference. He talks of four more years, but this time says it will be at Arsenal or somewhere else. He is finally entertaining a departure, and this time the trophy might not be enough.

There are managers of smaller clubs who get a little bit of attention, and they can't help themselves. They might talk up what a delicious bottle of red wine that they're going to give to 'Sir Alex' after the game. They, more usually, go on long, long pre-match interviews about what they've done to be so amazingly brilliant, and what methods they're using to make their team almost as brilliant as they are.

Danny Cowley isn't like that. He has overseen an impressive cup run, and he's honest about the limits of his own career. But it doesn't detract from his achievements. Against Burnley, as against the teams they have already beaten, Lincoln knew they were underdogs but they approached the game with a leveller. They were prepared to fight when needed, run more than their opposition, and defend with well-drilled organisation.

It might not have been the most flowing way to win a game, converting a late set piece, but it symbolises making the most of the opportunities afforded to them.

Chelsea will not have to rest anyone. They don't have the distraction of European competition. They only need to win a game a week, and they will win the Premier League by some margin. They can probaby coast to the league title if they choose to, with a few draws and some conserved bodies along the way.

Manchester United, however, should still have some distractions. They are competing against Southampton for the League Cup next weekend, which occupies a weekend they should be playing in the league. They will probably have to compete in the Europa League unless something goes horrendously wrong against St Etienne. They are currently in sixth, and will have to get their act together if they are to make sure they qualify for the Champions League.

There is another advantage for Chelsea. Simply put, they are better. United are busier, and have a dodgy central defence, and sometimes even have to field Jesse Lingard. Chelsea have Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and a strong defensive set-up. It will be a test for Jose Mourinho's temperament to lose at Stamford Bridge, but it shouldn't be a test for Chelsea at all.

Valencia have made a series of errors. Peter Lim took over Valencia just as third-party ownership was outlawed in Europe, meaning one of the most profitable avenues for Lim was closed down early. Money for rebuilding the club has been intermittent and piecemeal. Managers came and went, and one of them was Gary Neville, whose experience would have seriously rattled less confident men.

But today they managed to defeat Athletic Bilbao, when Luis Nani and Simone Zaza guided them to victory. Zaza is something of a desperate signing, a man who couldn't cut it at West Ham, and Nani is infuriatingly consistent. Nonetheless, they are capable of special contributions to a team. Valencia are seven points clear of the relegation zone for now - it should be enough, and then Lim can try again in the summer.