[m1y2]

It's like with Mkhytaryan or any other flashy player, he does one or two things good which are easy on the eye and that makes him look good overall, the truth is he was just terrible in the first half unable to play as a midfielder, I saw ppl praising his dribbling skills and but some of the dribbling in the middle f the pitch or past three players is just very stupid...

He just gets away with so many things because he's Paul Pogba, something like Wayne Rooney who until this season some ppl and most of the commentators thought he was still good enough for us. Pogs is fortunately still very young player for a midfielder and will learn a lot so I have no doubt he will come good but his displays in big games are really worrying, if he played half good as Herrera in those we would be unbeatable on that midfield strength alone

 

[Lawman]

He's an easy target and creates sensation because of the price tag.

Yeah I know if Zlatan hadn't scored and we had got beat the stories would be Zlatan is too old that's how fickle the press are

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

I thought he was good to be honest. One of our better performers.

 

[2cents]

He's very good, and he's going to be great, but he either needs to cut down on, or get a lot better at needlessly inviting opposition players towards him just so he can turn them, because it's an insanely inefficient way of playing football.

I think it's just very tempting for him since he can take two or sometimes three players out of the game when he pulls it off. He's just not very good at it. Probably a habit he picked up as a youth player given his physical advantage over most players in his age group.

 

[golden_blunder]

Evidently Mourinho thought Pogba was the 2nd best too. The trouble with Pogba is he makes difficult things look easy (see his contribution in the 2nd goal - absolutely crucial moment but it looks effortless) and he tries difficult things all of the time. If he took the easier option more often he'd make less mistakes and attract less criticism but he'd be less influential.

That's all well and good but it's the simple things defensively he also needs to work on. Missed a header today, led to a goal. Let tadic stroll past him and got a shot on goal.

Needs to work on focus, but he's young and got alL the tools

 

[Hugh Jass]

Looked very tired even more so in the first half.

Picked it up in the second half but was running on fumes.

At least they have a weeks rest now.

 

[Mockney]

I think it's just very tempting for him since he can take two or sometimes three players out of the game when he pulls it off. He's just not very good at it. Probably a habit he picked up as a youth player given his physical advantage over most players in his age group.

I think he's actually is quite good at it when it's two players. The problem is he gets the ball in space, and rather than playing the early, easy pass to a free team mate, he drags it around like a matador until about four players surround him, and then 7 times out of 10, take it off him. It looks amazing when it comes off, but it's so high risk it's almost madness. Especially in a Jose team.

 

[lsd]

Did anyone else see his Griezmann celebration at the end? Looks like we are in for another summer of teasing

 

[Full bodied red]

Another big match and he was found wanting.....

By this time last year, a 20 years old Martial hadn't needed time to 'settle' into the EPL....So no more of the 'young' and 'new to' please....

He's got enormous talent and potential, and hopefully it will surface in the big games as well - not just matches against poor teams at OT because that's not why we bought him.

 

[Rossa]

I like him, but he really needs to play things simpler. He spends far too much time on the ball.

 

[Ban]

why because he cost £90m he is good enough ??
He isn't currently good enough to get into Bayerns, Reals, Barcas even Citys teams, so why is he definitely good enough for us ??

It's a daft comment.

 

[RedCurry]

He's really a very good player. My only problem with him is his defending for set pieces. He's awful at it, even though someone with his height should really dominate. But in the middle of the field, he's really a step above most midfielders.

 

[Sylar]

He was decent. Our midfield is much better with him in because he makes it tick. Defensively he needs to do better though when in a 2 man midfield. I think hes more suited to 2 man midfield when we are playing teams at OT or away who try and stifle us (so the extra attacker / number 10 helps).
For today, a three man midfield was needed cos we were getting outnumbered there.

His last 15-20 minutes he helped drag us forward.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Wasn't too impressed with him again today, although he is quality... He just needs to play it a bit more simple and functional.

Question - Would Pogba get into the first 11 of these teams, and if so, who would make way for him...

Real
Barca
Bayern
PSG
Chelsea
City
Spurs

 

[Adam-Utd]

Not sure what people wanted pogba to do when our attack was so ineffective in the first half. You can't playmake if your forwards are completely out of the game.

He drove the ball forward well at times but defensively a 2 man midfield was a poor choice against Southampton. Tadic and Redmond used the space behind our midfield really well.

 

[Festive Sandvich]

Thought he was bang average, some good, some bad. Yet again looked incapable of changing the course of a game when Saints were piling on the pressure.

Obviously talented on the ball, but needs to learn when to pass. Letting himself get surrounded by two or three players, then losing it half the time is absolutely infuriating.

 

[Andy_Cole]

Wasn't too impressed with him again today, although he is quality... He just needs to play it a bit more simple and functional.

Question - Would Pogba get into the first 11 of these teams, and if so, who would make way for him...

Real - maybe not
Barca - yes for Rafinha or Iniesta
Bayern - yes for Thiago/ Vidal
PSG - yes for Matuidi/ Rabiot
Chelsea - yes for Matic/ Fabregas to partner Kante
City - yes for the Yaya Toure/ Fernandinho/ Gundogen
Spurs

 

[Mr Smith]

Wasn't too impressed with him again today, although he is quality... He just needs to play it a bit more simple and functional.

Question - Would Pogba get into the first 11 of these teams, and if so, who would make way for him...

Real
Barca
Bayern
PSG
Chelsea
City
Spurs

In my opinioin...

Real: No, but no one else would either, they have the two best midfielders in the world comfortably, and Casemiro compliments them in the way he needs to.
Barca: Mostly likely yes. They've struggled a lot with midfielders this season and there's been a lot of rotation there. Would play ahead of Rakitic or Andre Gomez atm.
Bayern: Very narrow call, he's pretty close to both Vidal and Thiago in terms of ability; might depend on what's required in the game.
PSG: Yes, Veratti is the only one close to as good/better than him.
Chelsea: No, but he doesn't suit their system, so it's kind of a moot point.
City: Absolutely, they're crying out for quality in midfield right now. Maybe tougher with Gundogan fit.
Spurs: Yes, but would take Alli or Erikson's place rather than Dembele or Dier/Wanyama's I think.

 

[WhoDaGOAT]

I like him, but he really needs to play things simpler. He spends far too much time on the ball.

I think that comes from him having a physical edge over most players during his youth days, and the slower paced Serie A where he learned his trade.

At times, it's like he's shocked that the opposition dare to dispossess him. He tries to overuse his strength or showboat instead of playing a simple 10 yard pass and moving into space.

Also, he lacks bottle. He half heartedly closes down players and can be lazy to track a runner from midfield. You have to want to defend.

From a technical perspective, he's very gifted. But he's like the Nani of central midfielders at present; not knowing when to pass, shoot or lay it off.

 

[Peshi]

Is there any gif where he made a nice flick in like 53:10th minute of the game?

 

[LouisDanGaal]

I thought he had a pretty much normal game. Came in here and now I don't know what to think.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

I thought he had a pretty much normal game. Came in here and now I don't know what to think.

He's a polarizing player, so it's to be expected.

But I thought he did fine as well.

 

[AR87]

He's a polarizing player, so it's to be expected.

But I thought he did fine as well.

Him doing fine isn't enough for many. I understand that feeling, but I felt he was fine and very impressive in the last 20 minutes when I felt we gained the upper hand again and eventually, obviously, won.

 

[ti vu]

Him doing fine isn't enough for many. I understand that feeling, but I felt he was fine and very impressive in the last 20 minutes when I felt we gained the upper hand again and eventually, obviously, won.

Agree with this. He doesn't dominate, control the midfield enough, but individually definitely better performer in our team. As the game grow, the pissed all over other midfielders.Seems like people expecting MOTM every game from him, while forget that Southampton for most part was the better team, with us missing our best no 10 & Mata was not in game plus we were a mess at the back. That's playing with a man down. Hard to dominate the game on your own in such circumstances

 

[AR87]

He doesn't dominate, control the midfield enough

Agreed. He's able to put together 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there, even an entire half sometimes, but haven't seen him boss the full 90 yet.

 

[AltiUn]

I'm one of Pogba's fans on this forum although I must say today he was below his standards up until about 60 minutes, can't fault his passion and desire though, even when things weren't going his way he kept fighting on. Absolutely brilliant player and we're incredibly lucky to have him, definitely future captain material IMO.

 

[Synco]

Agreed. He's able to put together 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there, even an entire half sometimes, but haven't seen him boss the full 90 yet.

No player can dominate as an individual, that's just an unfulfillable expectation. Much of it is dependent on collective performance. The poster you quoted got it exactly right:

Southampton for most part was the better team (...) Hard to dominate the game on your own in such circumstances

 

[AltiUn]

Evidently Mourinho thought Pogba was the 2nd best too. The trouble with Pogba is he makes difficult things look easy (see his contribution in the 2nd goal - absolutely crucial moment but it looks effortless) and he tries difficult things all of the time. If he took the easier option more often he'd make less mistakes and attract less criticism but he'd be less influential.

This is a really good way of putting hit, completely agree.

 

[Nighteyes]

I can't believe some thought that was a very good performance. At the start of the season he ripped Southampton a new one when he was half fit. That was a very good performance. For the first hour or so he was quite poor to diabolical. Did improve as the game went to be fair to be him but to suggest that was a good performance is doing Pogba's talent a massive disservice. He's a lot better than he showed yesterday.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I thought over the 90 minutes he was one of our better players, he put in a shift too and dug in more at 2-2 rather than shrinking which was good to see.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Which is exactly what happened. Our two best players, by a margin.

Mourinho certainly agreed with & said so himself in his post match interview.

Thought Pogba had a decent game myself, and considering how poor I thought 6-7 players were, that was no mean feat.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Mourinho certainly agreed with & said so himself in his post match interview.

Thought Pogba had a decent game myself, and considering how poor I thought 6-7 players were, that was no mean feat.

We all have players we're inclined to defend or inclined to criticise. Pogba is firmly in the latter category for me. He's had me tearing my hair out this season. However, at half time yesterday - after watching an absolute shambles of a team performance - I turned to my son and said "at least Pogba is playing well"

The fact he improved from there to be instrumental in our comeback towards the end of the game does him credit and he's one of very few United players who did themself justice on the day. Which hasn't always been the case for him in big games this season.

I'm genuinely baffled to see this thread so full of criticism. I can only assume people are influenced by pundits giving him a mauling and/or his very recognisable head mistiming two or three headers in our box.

 

[syrian_scholes]

If you want an objective (but flawed) metric he was voted the 3rd best player in our team today according to WhoScored, just behind Herrera after his matchwinning cross. He had more touches than anyone else and more dribbles than anyone else too. When the pressure started to pile on he was probably the best player on the pitch for me.

That's what I thought as well.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Thought he was bang average, some good, some bad. Yet again looked incapable of changing the course of a game when Saints were piling on the pressure.

Obviously talented on the ball, but needs to learn when to pass. Letting himself get surrounded by two or three players, then losing it half the time is absolutely infuriating.

He was dispossessed 3 times in 90 minutes. He touched the ball 86 times and had more succesful dribbles than any other player on the pitch. It is infuriating but you're misremembering how often it happened.

 

[Unmutual]

Im perfectly happy with Pogba's overall development, however the fact that his quietest performances tend to come in the big games is a definite problem he has to overcome. He was okay yesterday, but he's capable of a hell of a lot more.

Still, I remember how Ronaldo had a hurdle about playing in Europe until that Roma 7-1 game when he finally got a breakthrough, after which he dominated Europe for years afterwards. Sometimes the last step is the hardest. Hopefully Pogba will get some kind of breakthrough in these games soon.

 

[Ashley R1+O]

Getting that deep lying support player will be crucial to next season. DM - Pogba Herrera in front of him will be an avenue to blossoming his game and giving him free reign to be on the ball a lot more.

 

[kafta]

I thought he was ok. Not good enough defensively on many occasions, but when we needed someone to drive the ball and relieve the defense, he did it very well. He is going to get so much better. We need to be patient with him, he's not the finished product yet.

 

[Ole90+3]

Getting that deep lying support player will be crucial to next season. DM - Pogba Herrera in front of him will be an avenue to blossoming his game and giving him free reign to be on the ball a lot more.

I think the long term vision from Mourinho is to have Pogba and Herrera as the deeper midfielders with Griezmann in "the hole" in front of them, pretty much how a traditional 4-2-3-1 would look. Maybe for the more intense games like yesterday, we could play with a deeper midfielder behind Pogba and Herrera, with Griezmann as an inside forward.

 

[TwoSheds]

Awful yesterday, particularly in the first half. Lazy, strolling around, out of position. He was often milling around next to Lingard while Herrera was trying to defend against 3 players on his own.

Not impressed at all, needs to work a lot harder.

 

[Adam-Utd]

@GifLord can we have the turn in the first half where he went passed 2 players with a little cruyff touch. Magestic.