[ChrisNelson]

Thought generally we were quite solid yesterday, DDG did what was needed; there were a few shots that came through crowds, he watched everything well and didn't spill anything.

The back four were good, especially Shaw who I think was a deserved MoM.

I was a bit disappointed with our finishing, we had chances to win the game which would have given us a nice cushion, something we might need although Liverpool do have some difficult games coming up, and in quick succession too.

As for Bruno what can I say? Very disappointing performance. I am taking it generally in isolation because he's been so impressive and important since he signed, scoring some key goals and cool as ice from the penalty spot.

But yesterday he was so far below par I'm surprised Ole didn't sub him earlier. vdB or Mata should have been on midway through the second half IMO.

It's nice to see us top at this stage of the season, something we're not used to seeing these days but I can't help the feeling we should be 6 points clear of them instead of 3.

Hopefully they will go on to drop more points in the next month or so.

 

[Craig Ward]

That would be an idiotic pass. It's clearly what the defender expects, and he would get to it first.

he should have passed - simple. Cavani is a natural finisher so he runs onto that and hits it first time. Better percentage ratio to score that way than going solo.

I thought Rashford done ok actually - he slowed his run slightly in the hope Pogba busts a gut but he didnt so he backed himself for pace. He was a tad unlucky but looking back the through ball to Cavani has to be the best option there

Idiotic to play your striker through one on one isn't the best logic to have really.

 

[youmeletsfly]

That would be an idiotic pass. It's clearly what the defender expects, and he would get to it first.

That would have been a very daft pass.
Fast forward 10 seconds though, Pogba was free on the right. Of course Rashford didn't pass, he didn't even see Paul.

I'll always hate Rashford for that, every god damn time he gets in a good position he just shoves his head in his boots and does not look around. Easily one of the players with the lowest footballing iq in our team.

He's such a good player when he plays on instinct, but when he needs to use his brain he's as stupid as a peanut.

 

[Galinha]

God dammit, we should have won that. We should have ended their home record.. the best thing is I definitely can’t see them winning the title this year.

 

[Craig Ward]

Rode our luck first half - we were poor. Gave Shaqiri and Firmino way too much time and should have been a few goals down.

We sat deep and defended for our lives - we cannot play that way in the first half of big games like this. It's criminal.

But in the end, we had the better chances and should have won.

Overall we were the worst team out there, and feel Liverpool will be the less happy of the two. But thats the way it goes sometimes.

To give Ole credit, he's turned a corner massively from the start of the season.

The combinations we have seem to be a bit stale lately:
Lindelof & Maguire = They just dont look solid enough as a pair. Lindelof is an absolute shambles in isolation, he is a cowardice defender, has little pace and is poor in the air. Liability. Maguire, for his 80mil price tag needs an elite CB partner. He's shaky with lindelof

Fred & McTominey = They sort of do the same job, but equally as poor as each other. When played together it's like having two of them for 1 position. They dont work well together at all and ultimately cost us a space in midfield for someone who can dictate play or do the role both of them are assigned to do competently. We desperately need a DM so we can stop playing these two at the same time. For what they collectively offered against Liverpool, we'd have been better playing 1 of them alone and giving Donny a start. I dont know what he has to do to start games with such average performances ahead of him

Rashford & Martial = It's just not working together, Martial in particular looks a shambles of a player. We need a "proper" CF. If only we had an elite CF on the books whose fit hey?

Sounds like i'm on a bashing - but these little things have and will cost us. If we want to compete - we need to iron out flaws and take the game to top teams.

Fernandes and Pogba each could have scored, but two sloppy finishes cost us 2 points ultimately

 

[Bilbo]

If offered the draw beforehand I would of accepted it but after the game it really does feel like two points dropped.

I've seen this mentioned a lot in various posts, and whilst I kind of agree with the sentiment I refuse to look on it as a negative.

I think most people would have (or should have anyway) been happy with a draw, but there are lots of ways to get a draw. If we'd been battered but hung on that would have been a point gained, but the performance was crap. If we'd missed chance after chance its two points dropped. We'd have praised the performance but been critical of the team for being wasteful. As for yesterday, this was a good way to get a draw.

I think we have many reasons to be happy with the situation. Naturally, we can find things to be critical of. The main one being that we were a little too direct with our use of the ball at times, but we are certainly still evolving as a team. We went toe to toe with them, kept a clean sheet fairly comfortably (let us not forget the criticism our defence has received at times) and had the two best chances to win. Against Liverpool. At Anfield. To stay top of the league.

We are doing the team no favours at all if our expectations are moving forwards so quickly that we should come away with a good draw at Anfield and be unhappy about that

 

[Craig Ward]

That would have been a very daft pass.
Fast forward 10 seconds though, Pogba was free on the right. Of course Rashford didn't pass, he didn't even see Paul.

I'll always hate Rashford for that, every god damn time he gets in a good position he just shoves his head in his boots and does not look around. Easily one of the players with the lowest footballing iq in our team.

He's such a good player when he plays on instinct, but when he needs to use his brain he's as stupid as a peanut.

Pogba needed to bust a gut and get ahead of Rashford so he could play it into him. he didnt.

Rashford couldnt have waited any longer with 3 defenders around him.

Cavani was the ball. Pogba wasn't in the right position

 

[Jim Beam]

For all their talk about defensive issues of course Fabinho had to turn in peak Baresi level. Great player tbf.

Feels a bit disappointing this. Happy that Ole thinks the same.

 

[Relfy]

I finished watching that slightly annoyed, but for the right reasons, in that we probably should have won that. Bruno and Pogba could easily have scored their chances but for their efforts being right at their 'keeper. I suppose it's a good thing to be disappointed for only taking a draw when they've beat us there the past few years. It was a good chance to put some room between the pair of us, but I think we find ourselves in a good position in the league about half way through the season. If we can replicate and build on the form in the first half of the season we won't be far off.

Fulham up next which I fancy us to win despite their recent uptick in form. I think the past few games may have stolen more from them than us with our depth. Bounce back with a win there please lads.

 

[Giggzy P]

We deserved to win, we bottled two chances.

Bin dipping twats are lucky to escape with a point.

We really didn't deserve to win, we played with no desire to win the game, Liverpool were there for the taking, had we actually gone for it, we could have beat them.
We were poor the whole game except for maybe 10 minutes, didn't get why we played Pogba on the right, who tried his best but was wasted there. Them playing without a natural CB gave as a chance go at them, have Marcus or Martial run at Henderson, Liverpool are out of form at the moment blighted by injuries, if there was ever a time to go for a win against them, that was our chance.

Would have taken the point before the match, but the performance was disappointing

 

[justsomebloke]

I think this is a difficult game to sort out analytically - there's so much emotion, ambition and expectation playing into how we see it. So I thought it could be useful to take a statistical look at how it compares to Liverpool's previous 3 games - 1-1 against WBA, 0-0 against Newcastle and 0-1 against Southampton. These were all games where Liverpool dominated, but struggled to create big scoring chances, and failed to win. Question is, do the numbers indicate they struggled more against us than they did against these mid/lower tier teams?


1. Possession (Liverpool)

vs WBA 78,4
vs NEW 73,1
vs SH 67%
vs MU 65,7%

2. Shots for Liverpool (total/on goal)

vs WBA 17/2
vs NEW 11/4
vs SH 17/1
vs MU 17/3

3. Shots against Liverpool

WBA 5/3
NEW 8/2
SH 7/3
MU 8/4

What jumps out here is I think how remarkably similar the basic structure of the games are - Liverpool had at least roughly twice as much possession, produced about twice as many shots (except against Newcastle), but had virtually no advantage in shots on target. Their possession decreases with the quality of the teams they play, but they dominate possession by a large margin against all 4 teams. Bottom line - we didn't control or dominate this game (much) more than WBA, Newcastle or Southampton did. Somewhat sobering, that.

However, the big contrast lies in the quality of chances created, as shown by xG:

1. xG for Liverpool

vs WBA 1.45
vs NEW 1.32
vs SH 1.37
vs MU 1.20

2. xG against Liverpool

WBA 0.74
NEW 0.82
SH 0.50
MU 1.19

While the scoring chances Liverpool created against us wasn't a lot worse than in their previous three games, we created much more than any of their previous opponents - in fact, almost exactly the same as Liverpool did.


So I guess where that leaves us is that we are still not in a place where we can play evenly with the best - but we are a team very good at creating quality scoring chances regardless of that, and in this case at least that was enough to bridge the gap and leave us with a chance to win it.

 

[justsomebloke]

We really didn't deserve to win, we played with no desire to win the game, Liverpool were there for the taking, had we actually gone for it, we could have beat them.

...Them playing without a natural CB gave as a chance go at them, have Marcus or Martial run at Henderson, Liverpool are out of form at the moment blighted by injuries, if there was ever a time to go for a win against them, that was our chance.

These two points are both non-sensical, why do people keep bringing them up.

Firstly, if they played "with no desire to win the game", they would have spent the last 15 minutes passing the ball around at the back, and would not have come out from the break with an inreased sense of urgency resulting in an improved offensive performance. They looked every bit like a team with a strong desire to win the game to me. As was indeed confirmed by the post-match commentary and its emphasis on disappointment.

Secondly, Liverpool ARE NOT WEAK AND VULNERABLE BECAUSE THEY'RE PLAYING TWO MIDFIELDERS IN DEFENCE. If anyone thought so, they haven't been watching Fabinho play. And they can't have been paying attention yesterday either, because Fabinho and Henderson were excellent, as far as I could tell. As indeed I expected them to be.

Thirdly, yes, Liverpool have injuries and have not performed up to their usual standards lately. That doesn't mean they're not still a very good team that is very hard to beat. They are still dominating games and allow almost no goals (2 in their last 4), they just struggle to break down deep defences and score, at the moment. That does not seem to me like a good argument to loosen up defensively against them. Rather, it seems to make a good case that the way to capitalise on their current vulnerabilities is to do more or less what we did yesterday.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I've seen this mentioned a lot in various posts, and whilst I kind of agree with the sentiment I refuse to look on it as a negative.

I think most people would have (or should have anyway) been happy with a draw, but there are lots of ways to get a draw. If we'd been battered but hung on that would have been a point gained, but the performance was crap. If we'd missed chance after chance its two points dropped. We'd have praised the performance but been critical of the team for being wasteful. As for yesterday, this was a good way to get a draw.

I think we have many reasons to be happy with the situation. Naturally, we can find things to be critical of. The main one being that we were a little too direct with our use of the ball at times, but we are certainly still evolving as a team. We went toe to toe with them, kept a clean sheet fairly comfortably (let us not forget the criticism our defence has received at times) and had the two best chances to win. Against Liverpool. At Anfield. To stay top of the league.

We are doing the team no favours at all if our expectations are moving forwards so quickly that we should come away with a good draw at Anfield and be unhappy about that

It’s one of those results we’ll get a better idea about over the next week or two. If Liverpool continue to drop points against mediocre opposition like they did in the last few games before we played them it will look like a real missed opportunity. If they go on a good run then it will look like a valuable point.

Similarly, our own form in the weeks ahead will tell us a lot about how well we really played yesterday.

As it stands, it isn’t easy to make sense of the game. But it does suck that we created two such high quality chances and didn’t convert either of them. Because winning one nil would definitely have been a good result.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think this is a difficult game to sort out analytically - there's so much emotion, ambition and expectation playing into how we see it. So I thought it could be useful to take a statistical look at how it compares to Liverpool's previous 3 games - 1-1 against WBA, 0-0 against Newcastle and 0-1 against Southampton. These were all games where Liverpool dominated, but struggled to create big scoring chances, and failed to win. Question is, do the numbers indicate they struggled more against us than they did against these mid/lower tier teams?


1. Possession (Liverpool)

vs WBA 78,4
vs NEW 73,1
vs SH 67%
vs MU 65,7%

2. Shots for Liverpool (total/on goal)

vs WBA 17/2
vs NEW 11/4
vs SH 17/1
vs MU 17/3

3. Shots against Liverpool

WBA 5/3
NEW 8/2
SH 7/3
MU 8/4

What jumps out here is I think how remarkably similar the basic structure of the games are - Liverpool had at least roughly twice as much possession, produced about twice as many shots (except against Newcastle), but had virtually no advantage in shots on target. Their possession decreases with the quality of the teams they play, but they dominate possession by a large margin against all 4 teams. Bottom line - we didn't control or dominate this game (much) more than WBA, Newcastle or Southampton did. Somewhat sobering, that.

However, the big contrast lies in the quality of chances created, as shown by xG:

1. xG for Liverpool

vs WBA 1.45
vs NEW 1.32
vs SH 1.37
vs MU 1.20

2. xG against Liverpool

WBA 0.74
NEW 0.82
SH 0.50
MU 1.19

While the scoring chances Liverpool created against us wasn't a lot worse than in their previous three games, we created much more than any of their previous opponents - in fact, almost exactly the same as Liverpool did.


So I guess where that leaves us is that we are still not in a place where we can play evenly with the best - but we are a team very good at creating quality scoring chances regardless of that, and in this case at least that was enough to bridge the gap and leave us with a chance to win it.

Good/interesting post.

And I never thought I’d say that about an analysis involving xG!

 

[Sarni]

This 'they played two midfielders in defence' is nonsense. Fabinho started off as a defender and is still a very capable defender, they even bought him as a right back and only started playing him in midfield because of Alexander-Arnold's emergence onto the scene.

 

[justsomebloke]

Rode our luck first half - we were poor. Gave Shaqiri and Firmino way too much time and should have been a few goals down.

We sat deep and defended for our lives - we cannot play that way in the first half of big games like this. It's criminal.

But in the end, we had the better chances and should have won.

1. Liverpool had an xG of 1.20 for the whole game. They would have hugely overperformed in their finishing to be a few goals up at the break.

2. I agree they did not succeed in imposing themselves on the game in the first half. But the defending we did yesterday is IMO exactly what we should be doing in big games like this - maintain shape, stay in control in the box. It works. We just shouldn't have to be doing so much of it.

3. Our xG was 1.19. We had the best chances towards the end yes, but match seen as a whole Liverpool was as likely to score as us. Sometimes it's not the biggest chances that are converted. We could have won. Should is overstating it.

 

[croadyman]

It’s one of those results we’ll get a better idea about over the next week or two. If Liverpool continue to drop points against mediocre opposition like they did in the last few games before we played them it will look like a real missed opportunity. If they go on a good run then it will look like a valuable point.

Similarly, our own form in the weeks ahead will tell us a lot about how well we really played yesterday.

As it stands, it isn’t easy to make sense of the game. But it does suck that we created two such high quality chances and didn’t convert either of them. Because winning one nil would definitely have been a good result.

Yeah there is a definite sense of frustration waking up today that we lacked a bit of coolness at the two crucial moments. Maybe our previous results in these big six league games this season got into their heads a bit yesterday

 

[Chairman Steve]

Fabinho was the embodiment of that cliche where a player plays in an unfamiliar position and plays out of their skin (e.g. Phil Neville in central midfield against Arsenal in 02/03).

I‘m content with the draw. I thought we looked better attacking wise when Cavani replaced Martial.

If I was a Liverpool fan, I’d feel more concerned about my team where even though injuries have decimated the defence, that front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino barely carried much of a threat, and currently look a shadow of what they have been. They could be down to 5th based on the league table and Everton having a game in hand on them.

So rather us than them.

 

[Craig Ward]

1. Liverpool had an xG of 1.20 for the whole game. They would have hugely overperformed in their finishing to be a few goals up at the break.

2. I agree they did not succeed in imposing themselves on the game in the first half. But the defending we did yesterday is IMO exactly what we should be doing in big games like this - maintain shape, stay in control in the box. It works. We just shouldn't have to be doing so much of it.

3. Our xG was 1.19. We had the best chances towards the end yes, but match seen as a whole Liverpool was as likely to score as us. Sometimes it's not the biggest chances that are converted. We could have won. Should is overstating it.

No - we should have won. Fernandes chance was more difficult but Pogba, for all the good he done in the connection slammed it right at Alison. It was a sweet strike but totally inaccurate. A top player scores that.

I disagree - we shouldnt be inviting pressure and defending with bodies on the line like it's the last minute in the first half! shambolic. What game plan is that? Invite pressure and hope the opposition have an off day? Give me a break.

I admire the commitment to the cause, throwing bodies at the ball and blocks etc - but the point is thats totally avoidable in the first half of a game we are more than capable of winning.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Rashford and Greenwood - the most overrated players in the world. Need to learn how to pass the ball first.

not overrated just not ready to have a team of this size on their shoulders, hence why we still need a couple more world class signings but then you have the argument, will it hamper their development?

 

[Bilbo]

It’s one of those results we’ll get a better idea about over the next week or two. If Liverpool continue to drop points against mediocre opposition like they did in the last few games before we played them it will look like a real missed opportunity. If they go on a good run then it will look like a valuable point.

Similarly, our own form in the weeks ahead will tell us a lot about how well we really played yesterday.

As it stands, it isn’t easy to make sense of the game. But it does suck that we created two such high quality chances and didn’t convert either of them. Because winning one nil would definitely have been a good result.

Agreed. Its all about the bigger picture. We are now W9 D3 from our last twelve league games, and we know that the three draws were against our rivals, but we will most likely win the league (or be extremely close) if we keep putting the rest away with the consistency that we have been.

Fulham and Sheff Utd up next. Two nice fixtures and 6 points will put yesterdays draw into the correct context for us, which is that it was a great point.

After that its Arsenal away which is huge for us, because our February fixtures vary in toughness but are all very winnable fixtures leading up to Chelsea away at the end of it. With our consistency we could not only still be top by that Chelsea game but also have put some daylight between ourselves and whoever is in 5th.

 

[Bilbo]

No - we should have won. Fernandes chance was more difficult but Pogba, for all the good he done in the connection slammed it right at Alison. It was a sweet strike but totally inaccurate. A top player scores that.

I disagree - we shouldnt be inviting pressure and defending with bodies on the line like it's the last minute in the first half! shambolic. What game plan is that? Invite pressure and hope the opposition have an off day? Give me a break.

I admire the commitment to the cause, throwing bodies at the ball and blocks etc - but the point is thats totally avoidable in the first half of a game we are more than capable of winning.

That isn't what we were doing at all. Not even close

 

[pascell]

Best transition play I've seen us play since that counter attack goal vs Brighton last season. This is why I'm annoyed at Ole for how we played yesterday, we should have backed ourselves more with the ball in the build up, rather than whacking it over the top every time.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Agreed. Its all about the bigger picture. We are now W9 D3 from our last twelve league games, and we know that the three draws were against our rivals, but we will most likely win the league (or be extremely close) if we keep putting the rest away with the consistency that we have been.

Fulham and Sheff Utd up next. Two nice fixtures and 6 points will put yesterdays draw into the correct context for us, which is that it was a great point.

After that its Arsenal away which is huge for us, because our February fixtures vary in toughness but are all very winnable fixtures leading up to Chelsea away at the end of it. With our consistency we could not only still be top by that Chelsea game but also have put some daylight between ourselves and whoever is in 5th.

I’m a bit worried about Fulham. They’ve drawn with Liverpool, Spurs and Southampton in recent weeks. If they hadn’t had a red card they would probably have drawn with Chelsea too. They started the season terribly but have become a tough nut to crack. A convincing win against them would go a long way to removing any remaining doubts I have about this team/manager.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Best transition play I've seen us play since that counter attack goal vs Brighton last season. This is why I'm annoyed at Ole for how we played yesterday, we should have backed ourselves more with the ball in the build up, rather than whacking it over the top every time.

So that didn’t happen.

 

[The Original]

There are serious problems with the attacking quartet that need to be addressed sharpish.

Martial can't finish a bowl of cereal
Rashford is guaranteed to miss one on ones
Bruno is too inconsistent in his passing
The right-wing might as well not exist

The quality is theoretically there but on current form, this is not a title-challenging attack.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Best transition play I've seen us play since that counter attack goal vs Brighton last season. This is why I'm annoyed at Ole for how we played yesterday, we should have backed ourselves more with the ball in the build up, rather than whacking it over the top every time.

Maguires ball to Rashford was good!

 

[DomesticTadpole]

not overrated just not ready to have a team of this size on their shoulders, hence why we still need a couple more world class signings but then you have the argument, will it hamper their development?

Think this is true. Both got put in the team very young and not fully developed as players or people and then as you said had the hope of the team thrust onto them. They have had no loans away to develop, like Harry Kane or started down the leagues like Vardy. They both need to learn that sometimes it is better to pass the ball. Hopefully they will learn it.

 

[Galactic]

The bigger picture here is: we need a proper DM. We had to play both Fred and McT/Matic against big teams. We can’t possibly continue like this. Imagine if we have a Kante. We can play another creative player besides him. Perhaps Ole is hoping McT will develop into one and is willing to be patient with him.

 

[justsomebloke]

I disagree - we shouldnt be inviting pressure and defending with bodies on the line like it's the last minute in the first half! shambolic. What game plan is that? Invite pressure and hope the opposition have an off day? Give me a break.

Er, what? This is how we always defend, and how we try to defend, once the opponent is established in our half. Maintain shape, control the box. It wasn't any different than pretty much any game the last 12 months. It's just Liverpool are rather better than most teams we meet at controlling the ball into the opposition half.

 

[gajender]

Think this is true. Both got put in the team very young and not fully developed as players or people and then as you said had the hope of the team thrust onto them. They have had no loans away to develop, like Harry Kane or started down the leagues like Vardy. They both need to learn that sometimes it is better to pass the ball. Hopefully they will learn it.

Greenwood is young and learning but it's about time that Rashford and Martial add consistency to their game they no longer have the excuse of lack of experience.

 

[pascell]

So that didn’t happen.

Happened too often for my liking and was very ineffective. Instead of looking to counter, we should have looked after the ball better and used the movement of our players in and around the box to create openings, like we did for the Bruno chance.

Maguires ball to Rashford was good!

I agree it was, it opened up the pitch for us to run into perfectly. That passing phase was brilliant, we switched the ball from one side of the pitch, to the other in two passes and we then used clever movement and dribbling from Rashford, Shaw and Fernandes to create the opening. This is something we should look to do more often, you get the opposition moving across the pitch then back towards their goal, with clever movement it then becomes unpredictable and causes panic in the opposition then we would have them right where we want them.

 

[bsCallout]

There are serious problems with the attacking quartet that need to be addressed sharpish.

Martial can't finish a bowl of cereal
Rashford is guaranteed to miss one on ones
Bruno is too inconsistent in his passing
The right-wing might as well not exist

The quality is theoretically there but on current form, this is not a title-challenging attack.

Does any team have a title challenging attack?

 

[justsomebloke]

The bigger picture here is: we need a proper DM. We had to play both Fred and McT/Matic against big teams. We can’t possibly continue like this. Imagine if we have a Kante. We can play another creative player besides him. Perhaps Ole is hoping McT will develop into one and is willing to be patient with him.

Not sure I buy into this description of reality. Neither Fred or McTominay are really clear-cut defensive midfielders, and I think it can be questioned if a double pivot with those two amounts to playing two defensive midfielders. It seems too simple. They both get involved going forward, Fred especially. But it varies with the opponent.

 

[Ferguson’s Hairdryer]

Rashford and Greenwood - the most overrated players in the world. Need to learn how to pass the ball first.

Exactly, At 18 and 23 you’d expect them to be the complete product with no room for improvement

 

[Bilbo]

I’m a bit worried about Fulham. They’ve drawn with Liverpool, Spurs and Southampton in recent weeks. If they hadn’t had a red card they would probably have drawn with Chelsea too. They started the season terribly but have become a tough nut to crack. A convincing win against them would go a long way to removing any remaining doubts I have about this team/manager.

Yeah they've stepped it up a bit recently but still one of the easier hits we are going to get in this league. I reckon we'll put Fulham and Sheff Utd aside without too many difficulties.

 

[Bilbo]

Not sure I buy into this description of reality. Neither Fred or McTominay are really clear-cut defensive midfielders, and I think it can be questioned if a double pivot with those two amounts to playing two defensive midfielders. It seems too simple. They both get involved going forward, Fred especially. But it varies with the opponent.

Yes I agree with this. McFred have been pigeonholed into being two players that they aren't really. They give this team a platform to work from that we don't get from any other combination that we've use, and its clearly one that Ole trusts.

What I would like to see is Donny used in more combinations though. He's an intelligent player and a better passer than both of them.

 

[Matt851]

Our record against the big teams this season has been awful (only scored one goal in all games) so will be interesting to see how ole approaches the second round of games. I think we need to find a way of changing the balance in central mid, either by putting pogba or vdb in one of the deeper positions for one of mcfred

 

[The Original]

Does any team have a title challenging attack?

Spurs might, City without a doubt, and Liverpool obviously.

 

[Jeffthered]

I thought Pogba did very well in the first half. We did struggle defensively on that side though.

He is a top player, playing well. He would have done well at centre half, but that's not the point. Paul Pogba playing well, plays Centre Midfield, before anyone else at Man Utd and many other clubs in fact. He drives and inspires the team. Out on the right, he played well, but had less of an impact. Look at Thiago, who orchestrated the game at time. Unless he playing in that barnstorming Juve' style, from the left side of midfield, where he had lots of top passers etc alongside him, then I play him central.. Pogba is better than either Fred or McTominay, and he would have given them something to think about from central midfield.

Centre Midfield isn't a place where you just 'defend'... that's a horrible mindset that has crept into Football. Modric, Kroos, Thiago... these are Central Midfielders who set the tempo for games. We lacked that.