Nah, look at how he actively drops back to relieve the pressure as a passing station with no players chasing him, because he's created space. Pogba just receives it with a man in his back, ready to tackle/press. Fred runs a lot more defensively on and off the ball, and that helps an insecure defence
Pogba on the right of a front 3
- Thread starter RayK47
- Start date
Would love to see that. He surely has the ability and even more talent, mobility and strength than the Spaniard.
The thread is about Pogba on the right of a front three, not 'things that would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever happen'.
Ever.
OP's idea is at least theoretically possible. Technically.
Bruno would be far more suitable for that role if it has to happen, with Pogba as the third midfielder. Don't see it happening anytime soon though.
When James and Pogba came on I really thought we were going to see
..................Cavani
Rashford....Bruno.....Pogba
Instead Ole put Bruno on the right which I think killed our momentum for about 10 minutes. Pogba was not up to speed yet and Bruno was running things in the middle nicely before the subs. I hope Ole learns from this mistake.
..................Cavani
Rashford....Bruno.....Pogba
Instead Ole put Bruno on the right which I think killed our momentum for about 10 minutes. Pogba was not up to speed yet and Bruno was running things in the middle nicely before the subs. I hope Ole learns from this mistake.
I think we have spent what is it now 4 years? trying to fit Pogba into a formation and have never managed it, the problem is simply Pogba while he has all the talent in the world he is extremely inconsistent and is just as likely to not be noticeable on the field as he is to show he incredible talent.
For my money,I think we should stop trying to crowbar him into the team, and just use him when we think the formation and game suit him, but realistically be looking for buyers.
For my money,I think we should stop trying to crowbar him into the team, and just use him when we think the formation and game suit him, but realistically be looking for buyers.
I’d swap Mata for Martial / Mason, but otherwise love that line up.
Pogba as a false 9 with rashford and martial either side of him and bruno behind in the no10 would be what I would do.
Think his best position is on the bench frankly. Until he starts performing again. Everyone's against him. Even the commentators have started criticizing him.
He's living off fame alone as of right now.
He's living off fame alone as of right now.
Why are people on here obsessed with wanting to play players out of position? Do other clubs' fans do this? 
Play Pogba at RW
Play VDB in the pivot
Play Telles as a winger
Play TFM as a midfielder
Play McTominay at CB
etc
Play Pogba at RW
Play VDB in the pivot
Play Telles as a winger
Play TFM as a midfielder
Play McTominay at CB
etc
This would simply be a bad idea.
We have a tendency to overcomplicate things. Whenever we go for simple solutions we seem to be doing fine.Why are people on here obsessed with wanting to play players out of position? Do other clubs' fans do this?
Play Pogba at RW
Play VDB in the pivot
Play Telles as a winger
Play TFM as a midfielder
Play McTominay at CB
etc
People putting van de Beek in their lineup in deep midfield ahead of Fred or McTominay is my personal favorite. Donny never played there for us, and played a total of like 30mins in attacking role, but in their head he should start game in deep midfield because Tom displaced a couple of passes last game. Yeah right.
Awful idea. He’s lazy, and not particularly quick. The wingers need to track back and help defend.
Let’s just say what every single one of us on the Caf, the fans, Ole, the board, everyone down to the tea lady at Old Trafford already know our hearts: Pogba is an overrated mercenary who doesn’t care if he wins or loses, as long as he gets paid.
Bench him, sell him, I don’t care. The more we play him, the more we show the rest of the footballing world what an overrated player he is, and the less they’ll pay for him.
Let’s just say what every single one of us on the Caf, the fans, Ole, the board, everyone down to the tea lady at Old Trafford already know our hearts: Pogba is an overrated mercenary who doesn’t care if he wins or loses, as long as he gets paid.
Bench him, sell him, I don’t care. The more we play him, the more we show the rest of the footballing world what an overrated player he is, and the less they’ll pay for him.
Criticise him for the things he deserves to be criticised for (and there's quite a few), but that's a load of shit. The reason he's been wanting to leave and refusing to sign a new contract (we almost certainly are offering more than anyone else is) is because we've been poor and not coming close to winning anything notable.
this is all nonsense.
while fred and mctominay are playing better than pogba, play them
keep giving pogba chances
when he starts playing better, play him
he can clearly play in centre mid, it isn't 'impossible because maguire is slow' or whatever excuses given. he just needs to find a way to be effective there
while fred and mctominay are playing better than pogba, play them
keep giving pogba chances
when he starts playing better, play him
he can clearly play in centre mid, it isn't 'impossible because maguire is slow' or whatever excuses given. he just needs to find a way to be effective there
I'd argue he's had a part to play in that. It's not like he's giving 8/10 performances every week and dragging the team up with him a la Bale 12/13. You can't coast in a team game and then complain that the team is poor.
Of course he has to take some blame. He's been inconsistent throughout his time here, and while I believe the position we've mostly played him in contributes to that, he still should have done better. But at the same time we haven't had a single player in the last seven or so years that has been consistent so I don't blame him for that anymore than I blame any of the other players and the failure of the managers. If the entire team constantly plays terribly it's extremely difficult for anybody to be consistent. But as I said, he still should have done better than he has.
Seems like he could be the new Mourinho?
And whose fault is that???? I won’t say it’s 100% Pogba’s, but he has certainly underperformed. So is it 20%? 30%?
See, the difference is this: Messi performs, scores goals. He’s unhappy with the management of the club. Fine, no issues with him wanting to leave. Lewandowski, yes, no problem. Even want away Neymar has performed. Pogba has had one decent season, the rest of the time he’s underperformed and/or been injured.
He’s part of the reason we’ve been poor. He’s been poor.
So tired of the Pogba apologists...
agreed.
As I said he deserves to be criticised for some things. He's been very inconsistent in his time here. I've got no problem with any of that as long as you acknowledge that everyone else has been at least as inconsistent as well.
But that's a completely different thing than saying he's a mercenary who only cares about money and doesn't care whether we win or lose.
Nope, let's not try to bail him out for his lack of work ethic by playing him elsewhere, he has the talent but simply just needs to work harder if he wants to play. Ole is managing this very well.
No, the mercenary comment is a reference to the several times Pogba has said he wants to play for Real Madrid, having his brother say he wants to leave United, his agent, etc. He "wants new challenges" meaning he wants more money at another club, where he can hide on a team of galacticos.
It is his right to want out of United -- but it is my right to judge him for the low-class way he goes about it. Paul Pogba cares only about Paul Pogba, not the club, the badge, his teammates or his manager. I've literally seen him quit on field, what 5, 10 times? Stoke, Everton, Tottenham, Southampton... the list goes on.
Contrast his attitude versus Bruno, who has been here less than a year. Contrast his performance versus Bruno. It's not close. Overrated. Mercenary.
"I think Pogba can play in one of the front three positions upfront, Fernandes ended up playing there on Saturday at the last part of the game" Gary Neville.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-h1ivT9FUk&ab_channel=UTCFOOTBALLTV
Cheers Gary, good input.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-h1ivT9FUk&ab_channel=UTCFOOTBALLTV
Cheers Gary, good input.
More so on the left than the right, like he did at Juventus.
That being said, Bruno has played on the right before, especially for Portugal in a flat 442, so I can only imagine we may see the team set up we saw in the Chelsea game with the following front four:
Martial
Rashford Pogba Bruno
Rashford and Martial to provide the running (although the latter is more suited to coming to the ball) and Pogba and Bruno providing the passing (the latter can roam inside like he did against Chelsea.
That being said, Bruno has played on the right before, especially for Portugal in a flat 442, so I can only imagine we may see the team set up we saw in the Chelsea game with the following front four:
Martial
Rashford Pogba Bruno
Rashford and Martial to provide the running (although the latter is more suited to coming to the ball) and Pogba and Bruno providing the passing (the latter can roam inside like he did against Chelsea.
Not for me tbh, Bruno is our most decisive and creative player in the final third. I love Pogba but I wouldn't touch Bruno's position to accomodate someone else. If Pogba isn't good nor consistent enough to play as a CM then it's his fault. He should be start on the bench for the foreseeable future.
I personally think it's worth looking at it before it's dismissed.
As for Pogba not being good enough in CM (more like CDM in a 4231) then maybe it's because he's not actually a CDM. Why not put VdB or Bruno there and see how they fare?
I would rather see Greenwood get a bunch of games on the right before considering this..
I do think we will continue to try and take advantage of his attacking abilities now, when he gets subbed on.
That will be on the left, right or central.
He seems to be able to do it for 30 minutes.
That will be on the left, right or central.
He seems to be able to do it for 30 minutes.
I’m in awe of Pogba’s ability, but his lack of heart troubles me. He plays like a footballer who really doesn’t want to be part of this project, which on some level is understandable. But he made the choice to come back to OT and he’s being paid a fortune — he owes it to the club and fans to play like it really matters.
Most of our players have never put in the same amount of world class performances as Pogba has done for us, but at the same time most of players have never put in the same level of bad performances for us as Pogba and certainly not at the same rate. Which makes it a bit confusing. How can your best player be your worst or vice versa. We always try to find the right words to explain that, but it just is what it is.
I actually don't think he's had that many truly atrocious games, and they were mostly during the end of Mourinho's time when he was being publicly attacked by the manager (he had two starts and a sub performance which rank up there amongst the worst games I've ever seen) and perhaps the first few games of this season when he was being played despite only just getting over Covid. Otherwise I don't think he's ever really been our 'worst' player, it's just that the expectations on him were higher so the fact he was no better than his teammates made him stand out. So he's been 'average' far too often, but not actually 'bad' as often as people make out.
Compare him to Matic (his main partner over the years) and the reality is that Matic has had far worse runs of bad performances. Overall he's had less than 12 months of good form over the three years he's been here, and some of those other periods he's been truly disgraceful (most of 18/19 most notably). People just quickly forget about it though because it's barely talked about and he's low profile.
I really lost track of the amount of ideas we have to come up with to fit Pogba into the team
Double Pivot? Didn't work
Deep Lying playmaker? Didn't work
Left CM of a midfield 3? Worked for a couple games, then stopped working
Tip of midfield diamond? once or twice, only meh
Now Right of a front 3? What is our back up plan if that also doesn't work? Left of a front 3? 10 False 9? Center back? Assistant Coach? CEO?
Double Pivot? Didn't work
Deep Lying playmaker? Didn't work
Left CM of a midfield 3? Worked for a couple games, then stopped working
Tip of midfield diamond? once or twice, only meh
Now Right of a front 3? What is our back up plan if that also doesn't work? Left of a front 3? 10 False 9? Center back? Assistant Coach? CEO?
Anywhere that doesn’t let him do any defensive work. He lacks discipline, doesn’t know the game and basic as midfielder. He’s not a proper midfielder, he’s just a fancy footballer who has skills & flair, much more suitable playing street football.
In Juventus, he played with 3 centre backs, 2 wing backs & Pirlo plus Vidal. In France, he played with 4 defenders, Kante & Matuidi. Any team that Pogba has played at never put 4 or 5 attacking players alongside Pogba.
He's so daft. Jaime really put him to shame in the skysports segment
So we move one of our most, if not our most productive players, who gives everything every match he plays in, away from his best position to try and accommodate Pogba?
Exactly.
Yes. I certainly feel it's something we should try anyway. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.
Yes, you are also speaking facts here. The main thing is that the expectations for him is higher than say Matic. He is also a class player and capable of dominating performances, and while Matic did get a lot of criticism when he was atrocious he doesn't get the same hype about him going when he has a great game. That's also because hes old, so the expectations is lower. There is no facade with Matic. My example was more towards players that don't compare in their top level. I mean you can find players that might never be capable of some things that Pogba do, but they have never played as bad as Pogba, not even once. It's rare thing to have but there is a lot in between too. He is a polarising figure on many levels.
----Martial------------Rash--------
----------------Bruno------------------
---Pogba-----------------Fred------
---------------McTom-----------------
That's the way if he's playing well. Van de Beek if not.
----------------Bruno------------------
---Pogba-----------------Fred------
---------------McTom-----------------
That's the way if he's playing well. Van de Beek if not.