The stats do alter that, since they show that actually, we didn't miss his creativity that badly. We still scored goals, and two of the three games we dropped points in, are fixtures which we have seen zero evidence of Pogba being of any use in. In fact the type of fixtures where it often looks like the team would play better if he wasn't in it. Since he has been back, we have had games such as Burnley and Southampton at home, where we have struggled to create chances, and dropped points. So you can't have it both ways either. Being objective isn't going "oh if you ignore the games where Pogba has played and we've struggled to create chances, and ignore the games where he didn't play and we did create chances, it proves that without Pogba we struggle to create chances" You can prove anything by just making it up.
And not really. I'm not expecting Pogba to be a master at defensive duties, I am just expecting him to not completely abandon his positional responsibility, just because he doesn't want to do it. This is unprofessional. Being subbed off for refusing to listen to instructions from your manager, is unprofessional. It's childish. The idea that moving Pogba into a different position, will stop him from being prone to being childish and irresponsible, without their being any responsibility on Pogba's part to stop being childish and irresponsible, is stupid, and makes no sense. "Oh, sign this player and Pogba will magically grow up"...why will he? Because he's played in a different role?
Pretending that it isn't unprofessional to ignore your duty to the team in order to do whatever you want, ignore your own manager, and leave your team struggling in a game they are losing, is just plain lying. It is indicative of everything Pogba does in a game. He does what he wants. If Paul Pogba wants to take on three defenders on his own, it doesn't matter how good a position a team mate might be in, because Paul Pogba will do what Paul Pogba wants to do. If Paul Pogba wants to have a shot from 40 yards when there isn't even an opening, that's what Paul Pogba will do. If Paul Pogba doesn't want to play in the position he has been put in to play, he doesn't play there.
Literally none of our other players do this. Pogba might be more talented than most but he does nothing near thelevel required to be getting away with this kind of stuff at the age of 24. It's the sort of thing you maybe accept from a cocky 18 year old, on the basis they will learn and wont be trusted yet in the big games anyway. Entire games often pass where Pogba does little other than fanny around.
The need for another midfielder isn't based solely around Paul Pogba, because if we sign one, he still needs to sort his shit out. If he gets played in this fabled position people have decided he needs to be played in, he still needs to grow up. It wont just magically happen. It didn't happen at Juventus yet people are willing again to just pretend it did to suit their argument.
Signing a player based on something you are pretending will happen with Pogba, isn't a good idea. It's a terrible one. Signing a player because they are a good player and will help the team with or without Pogba, is a much better one.
The problem with this is it's again assuming that all of the problems with Pogba's performance stem from him playing in a pair, and that it will magically all get better if he is playing in a three. He has played in a three for us, and his performances have been just as random. He played advance dof a pair at Anfield, and was our worst player. He played in a three at Chelsea last season, twice. Once we lost 4-0 and he was among the worst players, the second time he was a near non entity in a 1-0 defeat. It's presumption based on no evidence at all. THe only argument you get is "you clearly didn't watch him play for Juventus" from someone who also didn't watch him play for Juventus, but can pretend they did because it's the internet.
And no it isn't all based on the Burnley game and it's quite silly to claim it is. Last season it was a running joke on here that Pogba would try to take on and beat players needlessly, or shoot from impossible positions. This season it has been a repeated criticism of him. There was one game at Old Trafford in particular last year, against Liverpool, where he seemed almost determined to spend the entire game making a point of being selfish with his decision making even when it was blatantly obvious it was costing his team.
He needs to grow up and it's not really in any doubt. The problem with a 24 year old is if they haven't started to grow up, when are they going to?
I am not disagreeing that a midfield three, with Pogba absolved of the positional and defensive responsibility of playing in a two, would suit him, because it would. He is naturally an attacking player. He's an athletic player. I think he's similar to Toure, in that you can get away with having him in a two against weak opponents, as he'll simply overpower them. Against a good side they will just have him chasing shadows....but, I don't think taking that responsibility away from him, solves the fundamental problem with how Paul Pogba approaches a game of football. It is just making excuses for him to pretend it does, and again, will just lead to us having this different set up, and then it not quite working, and then again people looking for excuses for it not to be Pogba's fault.
It happens on here all the time, when people decide, for whatever reason, to see that a player can do no wrong. Kagawa played badly because he was played in the wrong role. Mata didn't turn us into world beaters becauseit was the rest of the team's fault for not making the right runs for him. Mhikitaryan was being bullied by Jose and that's why he played badly etc...sometimes you just have to accept that if a player doesn't do what they should do or what you would expect them to in a game, it's not entirely someone else's fault.
