Neves is an under the radar signing that could have a massive impact for us. A specialist DM with more passing range than McFred. If we’re moving to a 4-3-3 then a Bruno, Neves and VDB midfield would function very well.
Paul Pogba / turned down United offer of 300k as “nothing”
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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What's your point? Are you surprised with those stats?
You are right, it's important to take that into account. It's looks even worse for Pogba if you consider McFred were first choice midfielder against the big sides.
Seems like media BS. We played 4-2-3-1 in the 2 pre-season games. Our whole academy setup plays 4-2-3-1. Just doesnt seem likely.
Agree 100%. At £30M Neves is a steal.
What are you on about? In the league last year, Pogba played:
Spurs - full 90 mins both times
Arsenal - full 90 mins both times
Liverpool - full 90 mins both times
Man City - full 90 mins once, and out with hamstring injury for second match
Chelsea - subbed in at 60 min mark, out with hamstring injury the second match.
Paris Saint-Germain fans demonstrate against a hypothetical arrival of Paul Pogba , with the display of a banner in the vicinity of the stadium: "Pogba, listen to your mother, she does not want you here, neither do we" wrote the followers of the Parisian club.
No one really wants Pogba.
Zidane wanted him but Flo didn't.
Barca have never shown interest.
Only Juve does but does he want to go back to what is now a tier-2 league.
No one really wants Pogba.
Zidane wanted him but Flo didn't.
Barca have never shown interest.
Only Juve does but does he want to go back to what is now a tier-2 league.
We have to wait to see if the addition of Varane could allow us to play with a defensive midfielder who's less worried about protecting the backline, and if that could allow us to switch to a more offensive setup in the middle of the park for 2 of our midfielders. So no definitive answer for me until I see how Varane fares in with Maguire, should the first one come.
What's the mother issue about?
Pogba's parents being Marseille fans. Couple of years ago he said he'd never join Paris for that reason.
Kinda in two mind about selling Pogba. Whether we like him or not, he's a world class player that is better to have. I'm not sure we can get a better midfielder with his 50m (rumor) transfer fee.
So if he's here, and we sign Sancho and Varane. Even if it cost 50m, but him being here can push us to trophies this year, it is well worth it.
Yeh, it's basically another "this is our YEAR" post.
So if he's here, and we sign Sancho and Varane. Even if it cost 50m, but him being here can push us to trophies this year, it is well worth it.
Yeh, it's basically another "this is our YEAR" post.
If Paul's future isn't sorted before the season starts it has the potential to derail the club...if he stays or goes, I'm not fussed, but ideally Ole should sort it before the season starts.
Last season United got off to a slow start and with Rashford(?) missing already plus lots of players only finished their season a few weeks ago, it could be a real messy start come August.
Last season United got off to a slow start and with Rashford(?) missing already plus lots of players only finished their season a few weeks ago, it could be a real messy start come August.
Yup. We don't want the Raiola circus before any/all of our big games. Remember before Leverkusen, that cnut piping up about Pogba? We need him either with us COMPLETELY or out. I'd prefer with personally but either way prefer it sorted this summer.
Clearly we are under paying him.
Hasn’t shown enough to warrant trying to hold onto him if he doesn’t want to be here. Cash in and get an adequate replacement to give more balance to a squad that’s shaping up nicely.
McTominay&Fred started:
1 game vs Spurs (the one we've won)
both games vs Arsenal
both games vs Liverpool
both games vs City
both games vs Chelsea
Compared to McFred:
Pogba missed both games vs Southampton (2 wins, including 9-0), 6-2 win vs Leeds, didn't start in 3-1 win vs Everton (10' cameo), played 36' in unlucky 2-2 draw vs Leicester (McFred started). So you can't say he played against stronger opponents, at least compared to his direct midfield rivals.
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If the presence of one defender means we have to switch our whole formation, that's alarming tbh. And very unstable.
Mentioning the likes of Southampton, Leeds, Everton, you essentially made my point which is bolded in my quoted post. Plus he’s never really directly competed with Mctominay for a spot. His direct competition is Fred or Rashford I would say.
Let me be clear, I understand that Pogba isn’t the ideal midfielder for us. He’s never exactly fit in. But the moments of brilliance and how he can carry the team at times is far more important than anything Fred or Mctominay will ever do for us. Selling him for a mere 50 million euro would be a disaster. We are better off letting him go for free next year and get the most out of our squad this year with Sancho and Varane improving the squad immensely. If Pogba leaves, it’s like taking 2 steps forward but a massive one backwards. There are no good midfielders I can think of that we’d be able to replace him with for 50 mil.
Not necessarily. Ferguson had to adapt when Rio lost his pace, not just for Rio, but for the entire team. Klopp could play different football when Van Dike came. Ederson makes it possible to play from the back that only he can facilitate. Individuals can make the team tick and even alter the entire style of a team.
He has some Carrick like tendencies. Very high on long passes and interceptions. Not bad on the stats side of things. Could be more suited in the DM role than any of our current guys. Possible that playing in the championship toughened him up
https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=QuOUJ0grvWuKlJoKtYRDj
Not really sure how you've managed to come to this conclusion.
Exactly, given how limited his key performances / moments are i'd take the £50m and put it towards a player that can make the squad better and help us win trophies year on year.
It does though when you're the only top club that has 2 traditional central midfielders. Pogba isn't combative enough in central midfield and it's easy to mark him out while pushing him farther away from goal or just have players marking him throughout.
The team functioned without Pogba in central midfield better because they provided cover, energy, and pressed high. They won the ball back at higher positions because their central midfield. Their awareness is better than Pogbas.
Pogba isn't just an attacking midfielder, he can be a traditional midfielder, however his awareness and discipline is just lacking....especially as part of a midfield two. In the Premier League, he can be limited and it shows. He's always been surrounded by two other central midfielders for France and Juve, and that's where he excels. United don't play that way and shouldn't when it has shown that they can win without Pogba, in addition to having at least one central midfielder not really that good or well rounded (e.g. McTominay).
Paul Scholes wasn't good at defending, but he wasn't a passenger. Why? Because he was aware of his surroundings and was okay playing the ball "safe" and rarely getting caught in compromising positions. One touch, move, get the ball back, pass, move, boom.
Wondering if Pogba leaves then players like Varane / Carmavinga may not join us
Varane has thought highly of United since before Pogba and will continue to do so. Camavinga is interested by United, but not as much as playing in Spain which is he preferred move.
Varane has been a fan of Rio Ferdinand since his United days and been courted by SAF/United 10 years ago. Pogba isn't dependent on anyone, except himself. Varane makes his own decisions and the 'project' he's joining is with or without Pogba.
Varane and Pogba had a massive falling out during the Euro's, Varane basically hates Pogba now #truestory
What are you implying here? It seems you only strengthened the poster’s point because your stats don’t say we are better with Pogba. If anything, it shows Pogba is less effective than Fred in our team means it doesn’t change the point of the poster you replied.
I kinda stopped caring whether Pogba stays or goes for about a year now. It's not even because of any of the off-the-field stuff (Raiola). He just hasn't been dependable in terms of performances for us. Even last season, he had a run of 4-5 good (maybe great) games but again got injured. From my pov, it would be great business if we managed to get 50M for him this summer.
Those 50m that we can get from Pogba can be used on one of Saul, Kessie, Bissouma, Camavinga, Goretzka, Brozović. They might not be as good as Pogba as an individual player but as a team, they fit to the system more than Pogba.
Who do you suggest we sign instead? Who do you think could come in, replace him, make our midfield better and turn us into contenders? Or are you suggesting relying on McFred to win titles?
They had a row during a game over a goal i wouldn't say it's a lifelong hate situation.
If he does go i would prefer us to to give games to the likes of Van Der Beek, Hannibal and Garner rather than spend 50 million on anyone else.
At some point you have to trust the players you already have
Didn't we already replace him with Bruno?
Like it, we need players like Varane who are so keen to join us
When is Pogba back in Manchester?
The fact people have to micro analyse Pogba's game say's everything you need to know about whether or not we should sell him.
Bayern and City also play a 4-2-3-1. Liverpool has played that way last season a few times(with Firmino as a #10 and Salah up top).
Yeah cause they are CMs. Unlike Pogba.
Your whole point seems to be "Pogba is a CM but is not good enough to be a CM". But he is not a CM. Whatever you said about Pogba in bold, can easily be said about any #10 or 8/10 hybrid like Grealish or Maddison. "Oh Grealish can be a traditional midfielder, however his awareness and discipline is lacking" yeah no shit sherlock that's because he is not a centre midfielder. "Oh Messi would be a great right back, just his tackling and discliple is lacking" jesus fecking wept
Paul Scholes has almost always played as a CM, he was not an attacking midfielder(apart from that 2002/03 season and a few games here and there). Pogba is not Scholes. And he doesnt have to be just because you want him to. Just because Bruno cannot play as a DLP like Scholes wouldnt make him a passenger would it?
Pogba has always played his best football in a 3 as the furthest forward, like many other players like Isco or Fabregas. Or even Bruno for that matter. That's just his position, its not a flaw in his game. His defensive contribution as an AM is just fine. Shoehorning them as centre midfielders in a 2 wont work. Using that as a reason to call a player as a passenger doesnt make sense. When he is not played out of position(like for France or when he's not playing so deep for United), he actually is productive and works hard for the team as he is not asked to do things that are not his game. And he's far from being a "passenger".
TLDR : Your whole argument seems to be despite the fact that Pogba is an attacking midfielder, he needs to be shoehorned into a 2 man midfield, played out of position, and if he cant do that, that's a huge flaw of his game despite his "talent". Weird.
Paris Saint-Germain fans put up anti-Paul Pogba banners against potential transfer from Manchester United
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...nsfer-news/paul-pogba-psg-fans-angry-21134110
Great start Paul...
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...nsfer-news/paul-pogba-psg-fans-angry-21134110
Great start Paul...
We can't get a decent performance out of him. We also can't get a decent fee for him. He and his agent can feck off and feck off some more. Clearly needs to be told he either sign or leave this start of the season or will not start games until contact expiry. I can imagine him walking around the pitch careless with the usual zidane turns here and there otherwise. Oh the PTSD
Pogba's talent doesn't fit for what the team is trying to do. Pogba is a central midfielder. For all his attacking prowess, which you believe in more than others, his outputs in terms of goals and assists are that good. Bruno is an attacking midfielder, even if he's more of a 10/2nd striker.
Pogba has top talent, but in a league like the Premier League, a central midfield two has to be a much more box to box player because there's so much ground and players to cover.
City play with 3 central midfielders and a narrow setup. They all press and condense the pitch, which can only be done with players who are willing and able to work hard and quick off the ball and out of possession.
Straight swap for Varane. Everybody wins.
As CM:
Spurs - 90 mins and we lost 6-1 on October 4th
Chelsea - 32 mins as a substitute on October 24th
Arsenal - 90 mins and he gave away the goal that meant we lost 1-0 on November 1st
As either a LM or RM:
City - 90 mins
Leicester - 36 mins
Liverpool - 90 mins and 90 mins
Arsenal - 90 mins
Spurs - 90 mins
Pogba's last appearance in midfield against a big(ish) team was Arsenal on November 1st (the game he gave away the goal that lost us the game). The only other match he's started in midfield was the 6-1 loss to Tottenham.
Let that sink in. Ole hasn't picked Pogba in a big PL game in midfield since last Autumn. McFred have been our clear first choice in that part of the field.
So Pogba's main competition next season won't be Fred or McTominay. It'll be Rashford, Sancho, Martial and Greenwood. And I'd fancy any of them ahead of Pogba.