I don't think many gives shit about the term world class when everyone has their own definition. Pogba looked class this season and deserves all the plaudits he is getting.
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Deserves a lot more appreciation than the unnecessary, jealous filled hatred he gets from bitter rivals and fans.
Put some respect on Paul Pogba's name.
How was he?
Some are extremely delusional in this thread; there is no debate on whether Pogba would get into the Real Madrid team because he was going to be in the team had we not blown Madrid out of the water in terms of the transfer fee. Pogba said he could have gone to Madrid, and Zidane said that they were in for him.
There is an obsession here with Pogba being a perfect player, if he isnt perfect then he's overrated. He is expected to be as defensively astute as a DM and efficient in the final third as a number 10, yet they seem to miss the point that he is a box to box midfielder that performs in all aspects of midfield at a good level.
This man was a mainstay in a champions league final team, an italian team which places a huge amount of importance on tactical understanding, yet some here would have us believe that he is a nothing player with a few tricks and long shots.
There is an obsession here with Pogba being a perfect player, if he isnt perfect then he's overrated. He is expected to be as defensively astute as a DM and efficient in the final third as a number 10, yet they seem to miss the point that he is a box to box midfielder that performs in all aspects of midfield at a good level.
This man was a mainstay in a champions league final team, an italian team which places a huge amount of importance on tactical understanding, yet some here would have us believe that he is a nothing player with a few tricks and long shots.
Not nominated for the player of the month award for some bizzare reason.
Those who cant get some joy from watching him or dont rate him as top class most likely thought Ronaldo was a one trick pony until we sold him
Has he got his hamstring strapped up in that video?
I'm going to agree that overall, the polarity of the opinions here on Pogba is quite amusing.
However, he's not really a box-to-box that performs ALL aspects of midfield at a GOOD level. Defensively Pogba is very suspect. Whenever the opposing team launches an attack, Pogba only has a knee jerk reaction to run back. He doesn't intercept, he doesn't know where to position, he fails to win balls in the air, he doesn't tackle etc.
Pogba himself admits that he's "more of an attacking player", and although I'm not sure whether he knows how bad he is defensively, the purchase of a specialist defensive midfielder in Matic says it all.
What does this mean? He does intercept, win balls in the air, tackle and hold his position. Not all the time, certainly, but the only players who do that all the time are specialist defensive midfielders. Someone like Xabi Alonso would miss interceptions, be wrongly positioned and miss balls in the air on a semi-frequent basis, but he was by most people's definition a good defensive player.
Wrong. He does tackle, intercept, and win balls in the air. In fact in the PL last season the midfielders that tackled and intercepted more were all defensive midfielders. And he was loads better aerially than all those guys.
Pairing him with a holding midfielder doesn't mean he's defensively poor. Liverpool used to play Xabi Alonso next to Mascherano, does that mean they didn't trust Alonso to defend? Does Chelsea playing Kante next to Matic last year mean Kante is defensively suspect?
John Terry scores goals, does that make him a striker?
Saying that someone just does X is such a stupid comment, why even make it?
I also am not sure why "most people's definition" of a good defensive player matters here, this isn't a vote, it's an opinion forum.
If Pogba doesnt do all those things then i'm not sure what 99% of midfielders actually do. Not only can you watch his performance videos to see that he does do those things but you can check his stats and he outperforms most midfielders in the defensive aspect.
Apparently Pogba has to be a one-man midfield or else he is 'defensively suspect'. Modric is one of the best midfielders in the world but he still has midfield partners that work well with him.
Its not a coincedence that Pogba performs better with Matic as a midfield partner over Carrick, Fellaini and Herrerra. One is a pensioner and the other two are no.10s!
Because you just said he doesn't do that X, and people have pointed out that he does.
That's why I asked what your opinion was. Did you mean that Pogba didn't do it at all, didn't do it much, didn't do it enough or didn't do it a lot? What's the benchmark you use as a "good" defensive player in midfield? I threw Alonso out there as a suggestion. It wasn't supposed to be definitive.
Surprised neither he nor Matic is up for EPL player of the month but Lukaku and Mkhi are. I personally would have voted for Paul, as I think he has been the hub of our attacking play and the key force driving forward. Jones is also nominated, so he got my vote.
Two pensioners. Do you know how old Matic is?
Hilarious watching Giroud with frustration in that Holland performance video.Surprising comments on him not contributing defensively, If the ball is far away from him, do you expect him to run like 18 year old Rooney charging towards the ball? Bonkers.
Herrera is more an 8 than a 10, but Pogba is also an 8.
One pensioner as in Carrick.
Given the current state of the market, Pogba was cheap. Cudos to Jose for pulling it off.
Hererra's preferred position is a no.10, that is the position he played at Bilbao. He was barely played by LVG and used as a swiss army knife like midfielder under Mourinho. Hererra and Mourinho had a discussion about him playing as a no.10 and they came to the conclusion that he wasnt good enough in the final third and so was moved backwards.
He is in a similar situation to Juan Mata in that they are not at the top level as no.10s so are moved to different positions. Mata is a wide forward because he has a good final ball and scores and assists regularly. Hererra is moved backwards because he is physical and has a good work rate.
Both Hererra and Mata have a good understanding of the game, and so have adapted very well to a new position.
Some performance that.
He's our midfielder. Paul fecking Pogba
We're sorted for the next 10 years with this guy.
Mata is way more of a classic 10. Pretty sure Herrera played as an attacking midfielder in a midfield 3, which isn't really the role of a classic 10, who plays either in the hole or as a second striker. De Marcos played just as if, not more advanced than him with Javi Martinez shielding the D behind them.
Classic number association doesn't really hold in certain formations. A 4-3-3 tends to basically have a 6 and 2 8's, with there not really being a 10.
Fellaini just got an upgrade
Why does he have physio tape on the inside of his knee????He's our midfielder. Paul fecking Pogba
We're sorted for the next 10 years with this guy.
Its semantics, so im not bothered. Hererra viewed himself as a number 10, his definition is probably not very classical, but an attacking midfielder like you said. Some would say Iniesta was a no.10 in a midfield 3.
In the end he ended up playing as the furthest back midfielder shielding the back-4
Herrera has done a fantastic job at adapting his game to the manager's needs. For that he will always get games under Mourinho. He values someone that is talented but will put the team ahead of himself.
Looked like a frustrating game for him.
Some poor execution in the final third but seemed like mostly the right decisions.
His close control in tight spaces is something else and he's become a hell of a lot better at dictating play from deep than when he first came back to us.
Luxembourg. They'd might as well upload a clip of his pre-match warmup.
He hit the woodwork again lolol. This surely must be a record.
Interestingly Kante's touch compilation is recommended at the end of the video and by comparison it looks like he had a pretty effective and efficient game.
Pogba has a lot to learn with shooting technique and when to hold, when to dribble and when to playmake.
@Pogue Mahone : I know it's not a United match so not that important but Pogba showed last night for France, the kinda immaturity in his play that a lot of people dislike. He kept hogging the ball instead of moving it quicker, kept trying to do everything by himself.
@criticalanalysis : Spot on. Pogba can still be a "stupid" footballer tbh on his day just as he can a world class performer.
@criticalanalysis : Spot on. Pogba can still be a "stupid" footballer tbh on his day just as he can a world class performer.
Kante was completely pointless for a game like yesterday against Luxembourg. Pogba was trying to breakthrough then but like the team in general frustration grew the longer it stayed 0-0.
I'm a big fan of Pogba, but mr.Pogue was spot on, he was trying to do everything by himself in that luxembourg game.
The widemen let France (and me) down last night, not Pogba.
All of his passing options were sideways, the wingers either failed to beat the first man or simply passed the buck and squared it inside.
The gameplan seemed to be pass it to Paul so he can create space
All of his passing options were sideways, the wingers either failed to beat the first man or simply passed the buck and squared it inside.
The gameplan seemed to be pass it to Paul so he can create space
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