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2017-18 Performances


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6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
37
Goals
6
Assists
16
Yellow cards
5
Red cards
1
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the way he played today justify why he was on the bench earlier, doesn't look like he is match fit apart of few good moment
 
Sports Illustrated is full of shit with that Pogba story. They know pretty much nothing when it comes to sport rumors about players, especially football. They're great at reporting and writing interesting stories, that's it.
 
Since Sanchez arrived, the French camp was affected and their performance dropped considerably.

Pogba's raising his game coincided with Sanchez coming off.

I don't want to think that there's something in it. Certainly hope not.
 
Since Sanchez arrived, the French camp was affected and their performance dropped considerably.

Pogba's raising his game coincided with Sanchez coming off.

I don't want to think that there's something in it. Certainly hope not.
Yeah but it wouldn't be surprising at the same time. Pogba was the biggest earner and had a special status at the club. No one is immune from being jealous.
 
I'm a huge fan of Pogbas but he was really poor last night. Since Spurs hes been off the pace and i cant tell if hes tired or injuried.

Jose' teams usually start running out of steam come March and we really look like a tired team. Not enough rotation during the season is looking like it will cost us.
 
I think there's a big possibility he's still injured or concerned with an injury, rarely see him sprint lately.

The guys I was watching the game all thought the same. Looked like he was carrying an injury, hopefully this is not a reoccurrence of the old injury. Looks completely uninterested at times though where is the desire.
 
Can I share the post-match press conference here? Mourinho talked extensively about Herrera and his job on the field today, and also basically said Pogba was meant to be doing the same job and "tried to bring the same qualities" and did a "big effort". Also pointed out that with Herrera in the midfield and pressing high up the pitch, Banega was getting no space at all.
Is that what Pogba should be doing though? Sevilla should've been the ones setting up to stop Pogba and not the other way round. I'm just tired of Mourinho's tactics.
 
You really wonder where Mourinho's famed man-management skills have gone to. Granted he's fallen out with high profile players in the past but that's something he's got to learn from as nobody wins when that happens.
 
I'm a huge fan of Pogbas but he was really poor last night. Since Spurs hes been off the pace and i cant tell if hes tired or injuried.

Jose' teams usually start running out of steam come March and we really look like a tired team. Not enough rotation during the season is looking like it will cost us.

I thought Pogba played ok last night. Certainly better than his previous few outings, in which he was very poor.
 
Lets be completely honest,Pogba since he came back to the club has been largely disappointing,Remember the handball last season in the box when no one was near him and so on,he almost seems unprofessional in his overall conduct and seems more interested in his image when he should be actually looking to mature as a footballer,given the fee and his wages we honestly cannot say we have had much of a return can we!
 
Is that what Pogba should be doing though? Sevilla should've been the ones setting up to stop Pogba and not the other way round. I'm just tired of Mourinho's tactics.

Exactly. You don't spend 90m on a player and expect him to do less of what he's good at and more of what he's not good at.

Extreme example but you didn't see Messi putting in a defensive shift back when he was playing deeper, neither did Zidane do much of it, and closer to home even De Bruyne's clear priority is link attack first, defend second - there are others in the City team for that. I don't understand why people expect Roy Keane Mk2. Pogba is not and never will be that player.

This actually all reminds me a bit of when Carrick came in. It took years for people to stop moaning he wasn't as good as Keane or Scholes and understand what he brought to the team.
 
Should pay Pogba more wages. I mean come on Neymar, Dembele, Coutinho cost way more than him and aren't that great anyway.

Pogba is still more capable of creating that moment of brilliance than other players and he created these more often.
 
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Pogba does not seem willing to work hard and any player not giving their all in modern day football will be found out. Not matter how talented he is if you do not cover your ground, mark your man, win your 1vs1 and just focus on what you are asked to do then what are you getting from a modern day midfielder? The guy is getting paid a fortune and does seem to care more about dancing,chatting and his general social image rather than focus on his job. I´m so tired of these guy´s thinking you can get results and not having to do the basic work. I belive the reason we are not getting result´s against the other so called top teams is simply a lack of work ethic and commitment. Spurs and Liverpool just ran over us and we are left wanting against high pressing, hard working teams almost every time. There is hardly anyone making run´s and we are passing the ball around slowly with no width in our play.
I am backing Mourinho in this and no player is bigger than the club and a player not giving his best in every game is not worth having.
 
Is that what Pogba should be doing though? Sevilla should've been the ones setting up to stop Pogba and not the other way round. I'm just tired of Mourinho's tactics.

Pretty sure he means Pogba’s role when not in possession, I doubt that he was limited exclusively to that??

He had 2 dms in his beloved 433 and did jack. I don’t get the mental gymnastics people do around this guy.
 
Pogba does not seem willing to work hard and any player not giving their all in modern day football will be found out. Not matter how talented he is if you do not cover your ground, mark your man, win your 1vs1 and just focus on what you are asked to do then what are you getting from a modern day midfielder? The guy is getting paid a fortune and does seem to care more about dancing,chatting and his general social image rather than focus on his job. I´m so tired of these guy´s thinking you can get results and not having to do the basic work. I belive the reason we are not getting result´s against the other so called top teams is simply a lack of work ethic and commitment. Spurs and Liverpool just ran over us and we are left wanting against high pressing, hard working teams almost every time. There is hardly anyone making run´s and we are passing the ball around slowly with no width in our play.
I am backing Mourinho in this and no player is bigger than the club and a player not giving his best in every game is not worth having.
What's Mourinho's excuse for Sanchez/Martial/Matic/Lukaku's inconsistent and less than stellar performances then?
 
He looks burnt out/as if he's still carrying an injury. Shame there's an international tournament this summer, looks like he could use the time off.
 
Even when the team’s not playing well, Sanchez is usually one of our better players, works hard and takes a good kick in.

I think Martial looks dangerous every time he comes on, if anything, the issue is buying Sanchez and then sticking him in Marti’s position.

Matic is knackered from being a 1 man midfield most the season and playing almost every game.

Lukaku has always been patchy and inconsistent. The fact that our midfield fails to dominate means we don’t get the kinds of service in to him that he prefers and end up hoofing and hoping. You’d expect for this to begin to change though now that we’re 433 and Pogba is LCM. The leash is off let him run riot.

If it still doesn’t work Mou should give him a new contract with an extra 100k a week and give him a cuddle and say please. Then it’ll definitely work I’m sure. If not then sack Jose and sell some of our players as they’re just not the right fit for pogba probably.
 
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What's Mourinho's excuse for Sanchez/Martial/Matic/Lukaku's inconsistent and less than stellar performances then?
Like I said I´m backing Mourinho in his stand against Pogba as I feel he is not behaving like a professional footballer should. But to your question I would say that the team looks slow, not as fit as Spurs/Liverpool/City as they can play at a much higher tempo then we do. Is the fitness of the team not good enough? Why is that? Also I feel that we are just without a clear attacking plan or plans and at times we are just hoofing the ball upwards and hoping for the best. Mourinho is responsible for that but no player should not follow instructions and not giving their all no matter what.
For me either we play 4-3-3 with Martial on the left and Sanchez on the right or a 4-4-2 diamond formation with either Martial or Rashford upfront with Lukaku and Sanchez behind them. But no matter what tactics we use if the players do not play to their roles and give everything in each match.
 
I thought Scholes’ comments were fairly damning. He said that when he was young and considered himself an attacking midfielder he would consider it a bad performance if he didn’t score or create a goal. As he got older he’d settle for feeling that he had dictated the game. Been the main influence on the the pattern of play. Pulling the strings and getting the best out of everyone around him.

Now I’ve already said that I thought Pogba played reasonably well. Certainly a big improvement on his last outing. But shouldn’t we expect more? He certainly didn’t tick either of Scholes boxes and - if we’re honest - how often has he done that all season? And if this is how he performs in a formation which is supposed to get the very best out of him (at the expense of including another more attacking player in the team) then that’s a big worry.
 
Pogba does not seem willing to work hard and any player not giving their all in modern day football will be found out. Not matter how talented he is if you do not cover your ground, mark your man, win your 1vs1 and just focus on what you are asked to do then what are you getting from a modern day midfielder? The guy is getting paid a fortune and does seem to care more about dancing,chatting and his general social image rather than focus on his job. I´m so tired of these guy´s thinking you can get results and not having to do the basic work. I belive the reason we are not getting result´s against the other so called top teams is simply a lack of work ethic and commitment. Spurs and Liverpool just ran over us and we are left wanting against high pressing, hard working teams almost every time. There is hardly anyone making run´s and we are passing the ball around slowly with no width in our play.
I am backing Mourinho in this and no player is bigger than the club and a player not giving his best in every game is not worth having.
"Spurs and Liverpool just ran over us and we are left wanting against high pressing, hard working teams almost every time. There is hardly anyone making run´s and we are passing the ball around slowly with no width in our play.
I am backing Mourinho in this"
Don't you see there is a contradiction here.

Question: why is it high pressing teams run over us? Because Mourinho has not coached a style of play that responds to the high press. His tactics are uninspired and anathema to United's tradition. Sit back and take a pasting then hope for some individual brilliance in a counter that never happens quickly enough as Mourinho has stifled our creative players. Dull coaching and tactics that are proving completely out dated to both the contemporary high press of todays better teams and to the organised defences of lesser teams.

Question: Why don't the team work hard?
Firstly they do not work as a team. Again this lack of any obvious team dynamic points to lack of clarity of game plan and roles. There is no team fluency just rigid conservatism. Add to the mix Mourinho wants to throw individual players under the bus.
Now Pogba is targeted by Mourinho and so is being called out as lazy by Mourinho's fan boys. He is being played out of position, in a shyte formation that will not get the best out of him and Mourinho has now stupidly involved him in a bizarre power struggle that is of Mourinho's own massive ego-ic making. If this conflict becomes more toxic it will backfire on Mourinho as he will be in danger of splitting or losing the dressing room.

Question: Why is there no one making runs?
The answer is fear instiled by Mourinho's stifling coaching. Players fear they will lose the defensive positioning if they make forward runs. Just as there's no joy in watching this team play their tumescent version of José's football it can't be much fun playing under such restrictive instructions. All joy sucked out of the game so that pragmatism wins.
There are no apparent passages of passing football coached, no trained patterns emerge and individual players look too nervous to go on the kind of runs they are capable of.

Question: Why no width?
Mourinho has chosen the hard working Young over the dynamic Luke Shaw and this has seriously affected our play. Shaw is a natural over lapping winger who can bring that lightning threat to help our attack but no, the defensive minded Mourinho doesnt trust him.
None of our players are improving under José. In fact many are in danger of regression with the confusion of tactics and formation and the stifling of their creativity.
Also why is Sanchez played on the left when Martial is very capable of excelling in that position ? Another tactical bizarre choice from the manager.

Mourinho's done well enough with recruitment but in terms of tactics, formation, motivation, man management skills and player performance enhancement he is failing miserably.
Let's hope he can pull it together before the end of the season. If not he will have proved himself the wrong man for the club. Admittedly his management, fair play to him, has got us into the top 4 and scraping through in Europe, at the price of becoming both dull and average. That can only be accepted if the manager guarantees premier title or Champions league. He is far from guaranteeing either and meanwhile the atmosphere is brewing headily.
 
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I thought Scholes’ comments were fairly damning. He said that when he was young and considered himself an attacking midfielder he would consider it a bad performance if he didn’t score or create a goal. As he got older he’d settle for feeling that he had dictated the game. Been the main influence on the the pattern of play. Pulling the strings and getting the best out of everyone around him.

Now I’ve already said that I thought Pogba played reasonably well. Certainly a big improvement on his last outing. But shouldn’t we expect more? He certainly didn’t tick either of Scholes boxes and - if we’re honest - how often has he done that all season? And if this is how he performs in a formation which is supposed to get the very best out of him (at the expense of including another more attacking player in the team) then that’s a big worry.
But we've seen him produce good performances this season where he's ticked those boxes. Not every game, I'll grant you that, but you could really pose the same questions to a number of our players and get the same response. How many players can you honestly say have performed at their best this season? Only DDG gets an emphatic yes, possibly Young and Valencia at a stretch... but the individual performances have been inconsistent for the most part, often doing just enough and that's a problem from the manager's side, as he's the one that signed these players and directs them on the field.
 
But we've seen him produce good performances this season where he's ticked those boxes. Not every game, I'll grant you that, but you could really pose the same questions to a number of our players and get the same response. How many players can you honestly say have performed at their best this season? Only DDG gets an emphatic yes, possibly Young and Valencia at a stretch... but the individual performances have been inconsistent for the most part, often doing just enough and that's a problem from the manager's side, as he's the one that signed these players and directs them on the field.

I'm talking specifically about Paul Pogba (who this thread is about?) and whether or not he's doing the job he's supposed to be doing as a central midfielder (not to mention that he is also supposed to be our best player, in any position).
 
I thought Scholes’ comments were fairly damning. He said that when he was young and considered himself an attacking midfielder he would consider it a bad performance if he didn’t score or create a goal. As he got older he’d settle for feeling that he had dictated the game. Been the main influence on the the pattern of play. Pulling the strings and getting the best out of everyone around him.

Now I’ve already said that I thought Pogba played reasonably well. Certainly a big improvement on his last outing. But shouldn’t we expect more? He certainly didn’t tick either of Scholes boxes and - if we’re honest - how often has he done that all season? And if this is how he performs in a formation which is supposed to get the very best out of him (at the expense of including another more attacking player in the team) then that’s a big worry.

Tbh I thought it was the exactly the same, no effort, no intensity performance we got against Newcastle albeit with a touch more positional discipline than we're used to from him. Certainly not the performance from someone who had a point to prove.

Maybe he has been ill after all?
 
I'm talking specifically about Paul Pogba (who this thread is about?) and whether or not he's doing the job he's supposed to be doing as a central midfielder (not to mention that he is also supposed to be our best player, in any position).
I'll agree that he hasn't been doing the job at the moment. I'm also suggesting that the blame for that lies mostly at the feet of the manager.
 
I'll agree that he hasn't been doing the job at the moment. I'm also suggesting that the blame for that lies mostly at the feet of the manager.

The blame for everything lies at the feet of the manager. He signs the players and has to get the best out of them. This thread is about the performances of Paul Pogba, though. I reckon you won't find it too difficult to find a thread to have a moan about the manager, if that's what you'd prefer to do.
 
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