Take up tiddlywinks, lad.
6
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 51
- Goals
- 9
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 10
- Status
Taken from /r/reddevils.
Feel a bit sorry for him. Overplayed him because we desperately needed someone of his quality in the team. His performances have naturally declined due to fatigue and exhaustion and now he's fecking injured. All this after playing in the summer all the way to the Euro finals only to lose. And to top it off, he's the one player who's currently getting the most criticism and abuse from the fans and media alike.
Feel a bit sorry for him. Overplayed him because we desperately needed someone of his quality in the team. His performances have naturally declined due to fatigue and exhaustion and now he's fecking injured. All this after playing in the summer all the way to the Euro finals only to lose. And to top it off, he's the one player who's currently getting the most criticism and abuse from the fans and media alike.
I pray the injury keeps him out till after internationals. He needs the rest.
Everyone but Mourinho could see he'd been overworked.
Oh look, a thousand more minutes played than Kante, but who cares, lets compare him to Kante vs 10 man united. 
Thought we lost control of the game when he went off. First half we created chances with him in, and were stretching play. When he went off we were worse, but thankfully Rostov had to push forward to get that goal which left us a chance for the counter.
Hope he returns right after the International break.
Hope he returns right after the International break.
I would be very very happy if he doesn't go play for france this break.
Next time try and watch the actual match you are commenting on mate. No offense but what game were you actually watching?
He keeping things simple and showed the odd moment of quality which was what a lot of us were asking him to do. Decent performance. But by no means great or even good. Like, Fellaini came on and gave a similar performance and Pogba is better than Fellaini and so he should be doing more.
Don't think Fellaini brought a lot after he came in for Pogba. But the one positive thing that happened was that Herrera got the freedom to push forward and that helped us improve our attacking display.
Just get the feeling that his performances will improve quite soon. Something is just not falling in place. His confidence is definitely very low.
Feel bad to see him out injured. Hopefully he will get some much needed rest and we will see a different Pogba to what we have been seeing since the start of this year.
Don't think Fellaini brought a lot after he came in for Pogba. But the one positive thing that happened was that Herrera got the freedom to push forward and that helped us improve our attacking display.
Just get the feeling that his performances will improve quite soon. Something is just not falling in place. His confidence is definitely very low.
Feel bad to see him out injured. Hopefully he will get some much needed rest and we will see a different Pogba to what we have been seeing since the start of this year.
Fair point this. Some of Pogba's shots were so bad it was a bit impressive. He also had an opportunity to burst forward and be in a dangerous position, but instead did his dilly dallying and passed sideways. Maybe that was a Jose instruction though.
Glad he can have a rest, although the team sheet looks pretty tame without Pogba and Zlatan in it.
Without preseasonTaken from /r/reddevils.
Feel a bit sorry for him. Overplayed him because we desperately needed someone of his quality in the team. His performances have naturally declined due to fatigue and exhaustion and now he's fecking injured. All this after playing in the summer all the way to the Euro finals only to lose. And to top it off, he's the one player who's currently getting the most criticism and abuse from the fans and media alike.
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The injury might just be what he needed. Gives him a break (Jose clearly wasn't going to) and hopefully takes him out of the limelight.
The negative attention he's getting at the moment is a bit baffling for me. Sure, he's not set the world alight in his first season in a team thats struggled in recent times and with a new manager but its the least of Man Utd's problems.
The negative attention he's getting at the moment is a bit baffling for me. Sure, he's not set the world alight in his first season in a team thats struggled in recent times and with a new manager but its the least of Man Utd's problems.
Shame about his injury but if all of our other midfielders are fit i'd dare say we are better without Pogba anyway. I think we would be better a team with a midfield of Herrera and Carrick behind Mhki in a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 with Carrick in DM with Herrera and Mhki a little more advanced.
Some will say claim we'd be crazy to leave Pogba out but the fact is he has been crap in every big game and average in pretty much all of our other games bar 2 or 3 where he has played well.
Some will say claim we'd be crazy to leave Pogba out but the fact is he has been crap in every big game and average in pretty much all of our other games bar 2 or 3 where he has played well.
People will claim its crazy because it quite blatantly is batshit crazy. His big game performances have been shit but otherwise he's been very good and creates feck load of chances which gets forgotten because Ibra misses all of them.
He repeatedly pings the long ball over the top which any decent midfielder should be capable of doing. That is the only chances he creates and we would probably have a far more fluid attack without Pogba holding the ball up repeatedly or losing possession.
He has that clever touch on the ball and can find the best spaces while keeping the ball and start an attack.. It's not something exist in many players around let alone our team.. We'll miss him the next match, but I hope Carrick/Herrera duo can deliver `
We might have a more dynamic game but the idea that his only contribution is long, direct balls is silly. Of the 1400 players that have played at least 90 minutes across the top 5 leagues, he ranks 17th for average passes per game. 2nd in the Premier League. Ahead of the likes of Kroos, Weigl, Koke, Silva, Modric and many other caf favourites.
Of those 75 passes per game, 5.5 of them are what is categorised as "long passes". The likes of Kroos (8), Alcantara (7), Henderson (7), Alonso (6) make more long passes overall, and as a proportion of their passes either the same proportion or higher are long passes.
That's a long way of saying Pogba makes a feck-tonne of short passes. 70 a game. More than the vast, vast, vast majority in Europe. If that isn't an indication of his influence on our team then I'm not sure what is. It's obviouslt true that making a short pass does not equal influencing the game, but making that volume of passes undoubtedly underlines a level of influence. There's a reason the other midfielders in there are all recognised as key players in their team.
We take it for granted that Pogba has that level of involvement because we hold him to such high standards in every facet of the game - defending, controlling the game, creating, scoring. We do that because he has a vast array of talents and pops up in all areas, but the reality is that one talent for ball circulation is hugely influential for us. We might well be more dynamic but we generally lose a level of control when he's not playing. We've played dominant attacking football throughout this season and that's undoubtedly partly down to Pogba. The fact his fatigue has coincided with our loss of dominance is hardly surprising in that context.
So the first half that we hit the post and dominated and had Rostov pegged basically in their own box the whole.
But we looked better in the second half when Rostov were more in the game, Romero made 2 great saves to save the game for us and we didn't exactly create much, bar the goal.
Stats from manutd.com
HALF-TIME MATCH STATS
Possession: United 78% Rostov 22%
Shots: United 12 Rostov 0
Shots on target: United 2 Rostov 0
Corners: United 6 Rostov 0
FULL-TIME MATCH STATS
Possession: United 69% Rostov 31%
Shots: United 18 Rostov 5
Shots on target: United 4 Rostov 3
Corners: United 6 Rostov 2
But yeah, we looked great.
We could have Kroos and complain he doesn't run enough or have Modric and complain he doesn't win all his headers.
Beggar's belief.
Beggar's belief.
Good post.
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He'll only miss 'boro and the France matches.
Get the 3 points v Boro and it'll be a good thing that he stays in Manchester during the international break, as long as he is ready to go again straight after.
This injury could be a major boost for him and our season. Recharge those batteries Paul.
Hadn't heard the details of the drama getting back from London before. FFS. Did we not need that.
Yup, real clusterfeck.
I can take him a lot more seriously when he reverts back to a normal head of hair like he did in midweek.
Which is like 3-4 times this happened with travel arrangements to and from London. We need fire our Logistical Support already.
He's better than Kroos and Modric.
Pogba is the complete midfielder. Height, physicality, strength, dribbling, shooting, short passing, long passing, defending, attacking... He's got it all.
People mistake form for brilliance. It only takes one game to change a million peoples minds. Unfortunately he's not in amazing form at the minute but talent wise? Hes up there with the best in the world.
The only CM I'd say is better would probably be Vidal. He is a dream signing for me.
Pogba is the complete midfielder. Height, physicality, strength, dribbling, shooting, short passing, long passing, defending, attacking... He's got it all.
People mistake form for brilliance. It only takes one game to change a million peoples minds. Unfortunately he's not in amazing form at the minute but talent wise? Hes up there with the best in the world.
The only CM I'd say is better would probably be Vidal. He is a dream signing for me.
People don't like stats ffs. It's what they see from stretford end that matters.
So the first half that we hit the post and dominated and had Rostov pegged basically in their own box the whole.
But we looked better in the second half when Rostov were more in the game, Romero made 2 great saves to save the game for us and we didn't exactly create much, bar the goal.
Stats from manutd.com
HALF-TIME MATCH STATS
Possession: United 78% Rostov 22%
Shots: United 12 Rostov 0
Shots on target: United 2 Rostov 0
Corners: United 6 Rostov 0
FULL-TIME MATCH STATS
Possession: United 69% Rostov 31%
Shots: United 18 Rostov 5
Shots on target: United 4 Rostov 3
Corners: United 6 Rostov 2
But yeah, we looked great.
Great post but is he better than Kante?
Overall? I think so.
Kante is world class at interceptions, stamina and tackling but Pogba has all of those things and more. Its all of a matter of whether you prefer someone who's good at everything or someone who is brilliant at one or two things.
Kante is world class though.
Have you seen Kroos and Modric much? Despite having no height, being slow, and generally small, they have dominated almost every midfield they have come up against, creating chances, passing forwards, helping in building from the back.
In your list you don't have things like consistency, discipline, and the intuituve understanding of the game's tempo that those 2 have but Pogba at United hasn't shown. They're far more consistent in short passing, attacking passes, and dribbling, at a very high level against any opposition.
Sometimes arguments seem to be made based on theory rather than actual performances. The most important skill is to know when and how to utilise your talent.
I agree. Expecting him to control the game, attack, defend, score goals, create chances, make assists is very theoretical and impossible.
Of those two, one is 27yr old and the other is 31yrs. Pull both of their records at the age of 23/24.
That alone is a testament to Pogba.
That's irrelevant when the reply is to a post saying he's better than the 2 atm.Of those two, one is 27yr old and the other is 31yrs. Pull both of their records at the age of 23/24.
That alone is a testament to Pogba.
And have you noticed the kind of players both Modric and Kroos play with and the kind of league they play in? Most Madrid players are all good two tiers above any United player bar Pogba and DDG. Not really hard to look consistent in a world class team in which players can collect whatever pass you hit at them, finish off hardest of chances, pull opposition players all over the pitch and create space for Modric and Kroos to dribble forward and the team is destined to win most of the matches thanks to all the game-changers running around on the pitch, where Kroos and Modric aren't supposed to be the focal point of all the creativity because other players, even defenders, can chip in with quality play. We won't find out if Pogba is better until we surround him with same quality of players but I bet he has the potential to improve even that near perfect, world beating Real Madrid midfield. Like you said, Pogba has the height and physicality too apart from the ability to hit every single pass Kroos and Modric can pull off.
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Not sure how much of Modric you saw. But he was better at 24 than what I've seen of Pogba at United this season IMO. Don't agree that this is as clear an argument as many claim. I rarely hype up Spurs players, but Modric was absolute class. And in his last few seasons was absolute world class.Of those two, one is 27yr old and the other is 31yrs. Pull both of their records at the age of 23/24.
That alone is a testament to Pogba.
In any case. I'm willing to give Pogba some time. And although his first season may be underwhelming at best (unless he makes a big contribution towards the end of the season). I think it's likely that he will improve quite a bit next season, although not as 100% certain as some posters.
There are mitigating factors, and his talent is very obvious. The only thing I find strange is how aggressively some people defend him, and what steps are taken to justify his performances. In my opinion he has not been good enough so far, he will most likely improve if he has good coaching and attitude. How much remains to be seen.
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