Are there 2 more frustrating players to watch than Sanchez and Pogba in the league?

[Valencia's Left Foot]

Quoting a stat doesn't tell the true story. If you were at the match you would have seen how hard Sanchez was trying to make something happen, trying the difficult pass to get Lukaku in, trying to break down a Palace defensive and midfield line playing deep. He kept coming back in to make something happen, because Pogba was playing shite.

It was clear to see that Pogba's mental focus is not right. In the first half he was playing balls to people who simply weren't there. Then trying to do too much himself, take on too many players and lose the ball.

Re-watch the game, you will Sanchez and Lukaku having a go at Pogba, telling him to sort it out. You will also see Sanchez urging players to push up, press, use their heads. Pogba wasn't doing any of that. Sanchez was more of leader last night that Pogba was.

Maybe that's why Pogba's attitude has dropped because he's seen a new guy come in and act like a leader and feels threatened by that?

Pogba will never be a leader for this team, simply doesn't have that type of mentality to put his team on his back when things get tough. However, I've been really impressed with Lukaku's grit and determination this year, could see him becoming more of an on field leader as he progresses.

 

[Josep Dowling]

You have your views on what we need and I agree we do need strengthening; but we still should be performing better than this, in terms of cohesion, understanding and our attacking. I ask myself; why are we not doing this? For we've got fairly talented squad. I see that team like Swansea, who managed to play truly excellent football under 3 different managers in recent years. And then I ask myself - why, again?

As for who else other than Mourinho? I've no answer for that. Jupp Heykens, maybe? If he's going to be let go again by Bayern. After that I don't see no clear pedegee. It's all gambles after that imo.

I can’t imagine Heynkes will do anything but retire after this season. He’s just there to steady the ship at Bayern, he’s 72.

I agree with the style of play though. The problem is it has been the same with 3 managers. The players are as much to blame for the lack of intensity shown. They need a kick up the backside in first halves.

 

[baskinginthesun]

Not sure why these two are now getting singled out.

I thought they both played as well as the rest of the team yesterday. Pogba’s hold up work is incredible in midfield. He consistently beat 2 or 3 players in tight spaces as well and got the team moving forward. While his passing wasn’t quite on point he did a lot of really good things that obviously went unnoticed.

Sanchez hit the bar which contributed to the 2nd goal. Regardless of the deflection he made that happen. He seemed to link up well with Lukaku and was trying to make things happen.

 

[Adebesi]

Not sure why these two are now getting singled out.

With respect, that's pretty obvious. They're our best outfield players, the most talented, the highest paid. They're the ones expected to make a difference. If we are woeful as a tesm, and especially if they are poor as individuals, they are going to get more criticism than the less talented players around them. That's pretty standard stuff, the same as the likes of Rooney endured before them.

 

[Marcky411]

No. They're not being coached. Look at Sanchez at Arsenal.. Okay he still gave the ball away but he ran riot as well. Look at Pogba for Juve. He was sensational at times.

They're frustrating because Jose doesn't know how to utilise them properly.

Jose only knows how to defend, or throw caution to the wind and let everyone attack and see where the pieces fall. At CP it paid off but against a good team we will get slaughtered. We can analyse those 2 players till the cows come home, but it isn't only them but the team in general, until a true game plan and style of play gets decided on, then we will keep seeing these disjointed performances.

 

[Water Melon]

Jose only knows how to defend, or throw caution to the wind and let everyone attack and see where the pieces fall. At CP it paid off but against a good team we will get slaughtered. We can analyse those 2 players till the cows come home, but it isn't only them but the team in general, until a true game plan and style of play gets decided on, then we will keep seeing these disjointed performances.

Agreed. We are not really good as a team. Individually, we definitely are, but as a team, we do not attack properly, we do not defend properly. We have no identity or we are the Billy Milligan of the 21st century football.

 

[Marcky411]

THere was one point at 2-2 where Palace got to the byline in our box and easily could have scored, all because Pogba couldn't be bothered to jog a bit faster to get to the ball, even though he could clearly see the danger there the whole time.

Comparing that to Sanchez running round like a maniac and being guilty of trying too hard is an absolute joke.

Sanchez I have confidence will find his form because the attitude is spot on. He's just very frustrating when it isn't coming off and he starts trying to force things. Pogba you can't say that about when it's impossible to tell whether he is sulking or strutting and constantly seems to be one or the other...I mean, he looked alive in the first half and wasn't terrible...but we stuck the mystical extra midfielder in to give him this freedom everyone kept banging on about, and what did he actually do? Rashford offered more attacking creativity within 2 minutes of coming on.

Pogba is a joke, people have been making excuses for him for nearly 2 years. Instead of him improving and showing the world why Utd paid that money he seems to be regressing and the regression has got even worse since Sanchez has come in. If he would leave in the summer he wouldn't really be missed, if you compare him to the youngsters we have got out on loan. At the moment he was really money wasted, the boy has got all this talent and is wasting it, before you know it he could end up being the next Ravel Morrison or Mario Balotelli.

As for Sanchez, he is maybe trying to hard instead of keeping things simple. He has taken in Lingard position in the team, running around like a chicken without a head, being very active and involved but with nothing really happening. What irritates me the most is he has to play on the left but 90% of the time he is trying everything through the centre and leaving the wing totally unoccupied, making our attack so narrow and predictable, easy to defend. Besides losing possession continually he just doesn't seem to be as fit as you would expect. If you compare Sanchez at Utd compared to the Sanchez at Arsenal there is no comparison. He is now 29 years old and I really hope we haven't bought Rooney 2.0 who was physically finished when he should've been in his prime.

 

[edgar allan]

Not sure why these two are now getting singled out.

I thought they both played as well as the rest of the team yesterday. Pogba’s hold up work is incredible in midfield. He consistently beat 2 or 3 players in tight spaces as well and got the team moving forward. While his passing wasn’t quite on point he did a lot of really good things that obviously went unnoticed.

Sanchez hit the bar which contributed to the 2nd goal. Regardless of the deflection he made that happen. He seemed to link up well with Lukaku and was trying to make things happen.

Are you sure you weren't watching the highlights of some pre-season friendly? I seen little to none of what you were suggesting in his performance.
His passing was atrocious and his lack of effort especially in the first half was obvious, he couldn't have complained if taken off with McTominey.

He played well at the start of the season but he has been poor for along time now.

 

[Greck]

Pogba is a joke, people have been making excuses for him for nearly 2 years. Instead of him improving and showing the world why Utd paid that money he seems to be regressing and the regression has got even worse since Sanchez has come in. If he would leave in the summer he wouldn't really be missed, if you compare him to the youngsters we have got out on loan. At the moment he was really money wasted, the boy has got all this talent and is wasting it, before you know it he could end up being the next Ravel Morrison or Mario Balotelli.

As for Sanchez, he is maybe trying to hard instead of keeping things simple. He has taken in Lingard position in the team, running around like a chicken without a head, being very active and involved but with nothing really happening. What irritates me the most is he has to play on the left but 90% of the time he is trying everything through the centre and leaving the wing totally unoccupied, making our attack so narrow and predictable, easy to defend. Besides losing possession continually he just doesn't seem to be as fit as you would expect. If you compare Sanchez at Utd compared to the Sanchez at Arsenal there is no comparison. He is now 29 years old and I really hope we haven't bought Rooney 2.0 who was physically finished when he should've been in his prime.

If running around excused giving the ball away cheaply Rashford would never have been dropped. Sanchez will come good but the concern is that it needs to happen sooner than later.