I think you've got to play a system that lets you get the best out of Pogba, I feel a midfield 2 might restrict him somewhat.
What do you think is our best XI?
- Thread starter Eddy_JukeZ
- Start date
This is what I'd like to see I think to begin the season with. But unfortunately, Rooney will be in the first XI for the foreseeable future.
Rojo can't jump either he could have cost us last game with his shirt pulling then losing his man. The guy honks, first player I hope we get rid off.
I really hope Rojo is a better player than me at least.
This
4 pages and I don't think one poster has put our captain in their best 11.
I still expect the team to include him, but in tougher games (which frankly is a larger proportion than ever now), I can't see him starting Pogba in a midfield 2. This means he will almost certainly be moved forward for many games in favour of an extra midfielder.
I still expect the team to include him, but in tougher games (which frankly is a larger proportion than ever now), I can't see him starting Pogba in a midfield 2. This means he will almost certainly be moved forward for many games in favour of an extra midfielder.
Think we all like that, but reality is Rooney is going to be in there somewhere which fecks the whole thing up
Agreed.
I hope/know Mourinho will do the best thing for us after viewing the matches. It is good to say this finally. In Jose, we trust!
I somehow like this.
4-3-3 with Schneiderlin and Blind doing the defensive work. Would like to see Rashford instead of Ibra in the Long run which would finally give us the Long needed movement, pace and flexibility back we have been missing for a while.
Do all you guys really think Jose will continue to pick Rooney no matter what other players and how he is playing?
You think that little of him as a manager?
I don't, he will drop him unless he becomes the player of old again which is extremely unlikely to happen.
You think that little of him as a manager?
I don't, he will drop him unless he becomes the player of old again which is extremely unlikely to happen.
An aging Carrick as DM? That team would concede a lot of goals.
Carrick is probably going to play 30+ games as a DM this season. Whether Pogba is alongside him or he's flanked by both Pogba and Micky wouldn't make much difference. Their pace and high work rates should cover for his age.
Could easily swap him out for Schneiderlin though.
Agreed on Rashford in the medium to long term but he will still see plenty of minutes this year, covering the front 3 in a lineup as above.
I like the idea of Blind in a deep lying playmaker role. He'll have the legs and physicality of Schneiderlin and Pogba alongside him to cover his weaknesses while his best attributes (defensive reading of the game and ability to pick out a clever and accurate long ball) will be best used in that deeper role he used to play in Holland. He'll allow Morgan and especially Pogba to advance with the ball in their best positions and can even drop back to cover Shaw, Bailly or Smalling if necessary.
---------DDG----------
--valencia--Smalling---Bailly--Shaw--
------------Carrick/Morgan------
--------Herrera -----Po6ba -----
---Mikhitaryan----Zlatan----Martial
Above is the best XI we can put based on their form for last season and this pre-season. We need a 3 man midfield to utilize Pogba most effectively and if Rooney plays, we are not going to use a 3 man midfield. Jose has a decision to make in coming matches - either to play club captain or play the most expensive player in the history.
--valencia--Smalling---Bailly--Shaw--
------------Carrick/Morgan------
--------Herrera -----Po6ba -----
---Mikhitaryan----Zlatan----Martial
Above is the best XI we can put based on their form for last season and this pre-season. We need a 3 man midfield to utilize Pogba most effectively and if Rooney plays, we are not going to use a 3 man midfield. Jose has a decision to make in coming matches - either to play club captain or play the most expensive player in the history.
No matter what combination of players Jose chooses, if he persists on including Rooney as the CF/CAM, we never hit our potential.
But lets be honest. Rooney won't be competing with Pogba in that system, he'll be competing with Herrera. They'll say Pogba is playing behind Rooney, but that won't always be evident on the feild.
Don't have another option, apart from Schweinsteiger who's obviously on his way out.
Unfortunately this is the truth. I'd like to think with Jose's reputation of being ruthless that if Rooney continues to suck he'll get dropped from the starting XI. He's become a liability and an anchor.
...........................DDG.................................
Darmian(Fabinho?)....Smalling...Baily......Shaw..
..............Pogba...........Herrera.......................
Mickey................Rash...................Martial......
........................Zlatan..................................
Though in reality Wazza will play every game probably
Darmian(Fabinho?)....Smalling...Baily......Shaw..
..............Pogba...........Herrera.......................
Mickey................Rash...................Martial......
........................Zlatan..................................
Though in reality Wazza will play every game probably
It's depressing how many people have pogba as a defensive mid
. A defensive midfielder he certainly is not. Needs to be up the pitch in Rooneys place. That's the only position we will get maximum effect from him.I don't think many have Pogba as the dm. Unless I missed it most have him paired with Carrick or Schniederlin as the DM allowing Pogba to push forward. I do agree with you that he is not a DM at all. Unfortunate that LVG messed around with DiMaria. Would have been one hell of a lineup with him and Pogba and allow them to play a excellent team in a 4-3-3It's depressing how many people have pogba as a defensive mid
Pogba has so far in his career been very average when played deeper or in a midfield 2. Best case scenario is him being the furthers forward in a midfield 3. This has been pointed out many times. Playing Pogba in a role he's not comfortable with is setting him up for failure. Mourinho already said Pogba will have a Lampard/Gerrard/Scholes role in the team so hopefully there won't be such a problem!
Won't ever happen but:
De Gea
Valencia Smalling Bailly Shaw
Schweini
Herrera Pogba
Mkhitaryan Zlatan Martial
Valencia Smalling Bailly Shaw
Schweini
Herrera Pogba
Mkhitaryan Zlatan Martial
DDG
Valencia-Bailly-Smalling-Shaw
Schneiderlin
Mkhitaryan-Mata-Pogba-Martial
Ibra
2nd
DDG
Darmian-Jones-Smalling-Shaw
Pogba-Blind
Lindgard-Miki-Martial
Rashford
Random thoughts: I'm done trying to convince myself that Wayne is a top player for our top team... He doesn't fit and his touch is SO bad. He's not creative and adds little to our attack.
I wish Fousa Mensa could find a way into the squad.
I think Schweinsteiger would be great in this team as I rated him highly when he played last season as he is a master at keeping possession and is a masterful 2nd level passer. I'd try him out at holding mid in the top team I listed.
I like Blind's versatility, able to play holding, CB and LB.
I LOVE Miki
Martial is in a bit of a funk the last 2 pre-season games, hopefully he finds his groove again soon as I'm a huge fan of what he ads to our team and I think he can play any of the positions in the top 3 of a 433.
I think we are missing 2 major pieces to be a Euro contender. I think we need Dimitri Payet at holding mid and a player like Reus on a wing. Martial could easily play up top along with Rashford for the pace and alternate with Ibra.
Valencia-Bailly-Smalling-Shaw
Schneiderlin
Mkhitaryan-Mata-Pogba-Martial
Ibra
2nd
DDG
Darmian-Jones-Smalling-Shaw
Pogba-Blind
Lindgard-Miki-Martial
Rashford
Random thoughts: I'm done trying to convince myself that Wayne is a top player for our top team... He doesn't fit and his touch is SO bad. He's not creative and adds little to our attack.
I wish Fousa Mensa could find a way into the squad.
I think Schweinsteiger would be great in this team as I rated him highly when he played last season as he is a master at keeping possession and is a masterful 2nd level passer. I'd try him out at holding mid in the top team I listed.
I like Blind's versatility, able to play holding, CB and LB.
I LOVE Miki
Martial is in a bit of a funk the last 2 pre-season games, hopefully he finds his groove again soon as I'm a huge fan of what he ads to our team and I think he can play any of the positions in the top 3 of a 433.
I think we are missing 2 major pieces to be a Euro contender. I think we need Dimitri Payet at holding mid and a player like Reus on a wing. Martial could easily play up top along with Rashford for the pace and alternate with Ibra.
Now that we've got Pogba (still can't quite believe it), I'd say it's:
De Gea
Valencia Smalling Bailly Shaw
Carrick
Herrera Pogba
Mkhitaryan--------------------Martial
Ibrahimovic
Valencia Smalling Bailly Shaw
Carrick
Herrera Pogba
Mkhitaryan--------------------Martial
Ibrahimovic
You been drinking?
All I hope is that Rooney plays 10 and Pogba is part of a midfield two. Jose is too good to keep it as that for a considerable time but that's how I hope he begins the season. Pogba as part of a three man midfield has the potential to be as deadly as Yaya was back in the day for us - that I don't want to see!
Rooney is going to compete with Pogba in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system in most of the matches IMO.
If we set up with Rooney- pogba - carrick midfield in 4-3-3 formation, we would be outrun heavily through the middle which Jose would not allow. Herrera - Pogba/Rooney - Carrick midfield brings more energy, runs to the box and defensive stability as Ander is a better midfielder than Rooney.
If we set up with 4-2-3-1 with Carrick- Pogba - Lingard - Rooney- Martial as our midfield five, we would not be able to control the game and leave lots of holes through the middle of the pitch. It is a good attacking team for last 20 mins of a game but for 90 mins this team lacks the defensive stability to contain the opposition. So in either formation we are going to play only one of Rooney and Pogba( I am considering Zlatan as our #9).
Nearly everyone making teams on here has Pogba next to Carrick as a defensive mid and in a midfield 2. This is the worse position to have pogba, he can't influence matches playing too deep, he really needs to be up in Rooneys position.
Fecking Rooney just messes everything up and he's going to be stopping this team progressing as it should, it'd be so stupid of Mourinho to go out and break the transfer record and then proceed to play the player in a postion he's not very good in Just to accomadate Rooney.
Most of these are fairly straightforward choices, but it's a close race between a few. I'll explain those.
Carrick needs to be on his game to be the best pick here, but in terms of defensive positioning and controlling the tempo of the game there are only a handful of players in the world as good as he is when he's on song. Blind has shown the ability to play the role, but struggles against teams that play a high-intensity pressing game. Basti could fill in too, but I think he'll leave before the window closes. I'm sort of hung up on this player having 'the playmaker gene', so I don't see Fosu-Mensah in this role at the moment, even though I'm sure we'd be a good team with him there too.
Schneiderlin is picked over Herrera and Fellaini because he's a better runner and more solid in defence. With Carrick and Schneiderlin doing the defensive work, Pogba gets more freedom to express himself going forward, which will be crucial if we want to get the most out of our record signing.
Mkhitaryan gets a creative role with freedom to drift around like he did at Dortmund, with Zlatan being the focal point up front, occupying defenders and giving Martial and Mkhi the chance get in behind the opposition back line.
A very well-rounded and complete team with good depth, at least for this season. Zlatan and Carrick are obviously temporary solutions and the right back is a bit of a sore spot, but otherwise there's a very solid foundation for the next few years. I haven't been this excited about a United team in a long, long time. Here's hoping Mourinho gets them clicking quickly and manages to remove the mental shackles put on the players by Moyes and LvG.
I doubt Jose will do this.
He will play 4-3-3, maybe not straight away but very soon.
He will buy a DM before the end of August and we will switch formations I think.
I thought all our incomings would be complete now, hasn't he always said he wanted a new spine to the team? He's definately got that now, great centre back, great midfielder, great striker and a great creator. Hard to see us making anymore signings now maybe that Fabinho guy though. Even if we go to 433 there's no room for Rooney he's already shown he's not a good midfielder plus Mourinho has said he won't play there either. So signing defensive mid wouldn't be a bad idea at all
Sorry, I didn't read all that but I agree with the picture. I'd play those 11 in some form, depending on the game.
Most of these are fairly straightforward choices, but it's a close race between a few. I'll explain those.
Carrick needs to be on his game to be the best pick here, but in terms of defensive positioning and controlling the tempo of the game there are only a handful of players in the world as good as he is when he's on song. Blind has shown the ability to play the role, but struggles against teams that play a high-intensity pressing game. Basti could fill in too, but I think he'll leave before the window closes. I'm sort of hung up on this player having 'the playmaker gene', so I don't see Fosu-Mensah in this role at the moment, even though I'm sure we'd be a good team with him there too.
Schneiderlin is picked over Herrera and Fellaini because he's a better runner and more solid in defence. With Carrick and Schneiderlin doing the defensive work, Pogba gets more freedom to express himself going forward, which will be crucial if we want to get the most out of our record signing.
Mkhitaryan gets a creative role with freedom to drift around like he did at Dortmund, with Zlatan being the focal point up front, occupying defenders and giving Martial and Mkhi the chance get in behind the opposition back line.
A very well-rounded and complete team with good depth, at least for this season. Zlatan and Carrick are obviously temporary solutions and the right back is a bit of a sore spot, but otherwise there's a very solid foundation for the next few years. I haven't been this excited about a United team in a long, long time. Here's hoping Mourinho gets them clicking quickly and manages to remove the mental shackles put on the players by Moyes and LvG.
Yes... BUT.. Payet may not be a holding mid but could easily fit into a 3 man midfield with his french brothers. He was easily one of the best players in that french squad in the Euros and had a great 2016 for West Ham.
I honestly think he can grow into that role. But in my opinion he has been brought in to replace Rooney in the long term. It all depends on how Rooney does this season. With the team he has and the chances he is going to get if he manages anything less than 15 goals that's a failure of a season for him and Mou might move him along next summer.
That would be my choice as well. Rooney is going to find it very tough to get a game this season. Pogba is vastly superior as a #10, as is Miki and Ibra & Rashford are both streets ahead of him as a #9. This might finally be the season where he is phased out. If you buy Pogba for a world record fee, you had better play him in his best position and build the team around him.
--------------de Gea
Darmian---Smalling-Bailly---Shaw
----Schneiderlin----Pogba
Lingard-------Micky------Martial
--------Zlatan/Rashford
Darmian---Smalling-Bailly---Shaw
----Schneiderlin----Pogba
Lingard-------Micky------Martial
--------Zlatan/Rashford
Schneiderlin and Pogba behind Mata PLEASE.