Paul Pogba image 6

Paul Pogba France flag

2017-18 Performances


View full 2017-18 profile

6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
37
Goals
6
Assists
16
Yellow cards
5
Red cards
1
Status
Not open for further replies.

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,172
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
The temptation to score a spectacular goal was obvious.

I always know a shot is coming when I see a player beat a few men and have an opening on goal. It’s natural, and part of the art of football. We would have not seen many great goals if players looked up and tried to pass at the end of great runs. Martial was in a better position, but Pogba was in a realistic shooting/scoring position. He didn’t play the highest percentage, but I didn’t expect him to. As he skipped past the last man, I shouted ‘now finish it’ at the telly. That’s the natural instinct after such approach play I think. He did the exact same thing against Real in the Supercup, and I thought he should pass then, but can always understand the decision to shoot on such occasions.
Funny because I was like "Please don't shoot!!!" as I have zero trust in his shooting skills. It's a bit unfair but if you're going for glory from there, you better make sure you succeed otherwise it looks so bad on you.
 

Rozay

Master of Hindsight
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
27,201
Location
...
Funny because I was like "Please don't shoot!!!" as I have zero trust in his shooting skills. It's a bit unfair but if you're going for glory from there, you better make sure you succeed otherwise it looks so bad on you.
You sir have no romance!

Most people surely want to see such a run crowned!
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
didn’t have his best game today but his athleticism in the 2nd half shows how important he is to our counter attack. That run really deserved a goal, surprised his didn’t pass as his decision making is usually really good.

Just shows how good his standards are when that’s a “poor game”
 

Yagami

Good post resistant
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
13,532
Funny because I was like "Please don't shoot!!!" as I have zero trust in his shooting skills. It's a bit unfair but if you're going for glory from there, you better make sure you succeed otherwise it looks so bad on you.
I was the same :lol:

Said it at the time but I had flashbacks to the Madrid cup game where he went for the glory instead of laying it off for a player who would've been 1v1.
 

Rozay

Master of Hindsight
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
27,201
Location
...
If it's Martial running there and shooting, I'd encourage him but Pogba cannot shoot for shit. He believes his own hype when it comes to long range shooting.
Not Sure that matters at that stage. Not to me anyway. I’d have wanted Chris Smalling to shoot at the end of such a run, just because the story would never be told otherwise. That’s the beauty of the game. Nobody will care that Pogba didn’t pass tomorrow. We still won. But if he had finished that and we won 0-2, the goal will be talked about for ages.

#HereToCreate I believe is his adidas motto!
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,172
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Not Sure that matters at that stage. Not to me anyway. I’d have wanted Chris Smalling to shoot at the end of such a run, just because the story would never be told otherwise. That’s the beauty of the game. Nobody will care that Pogba didn’t pass tomorrow. We still won. But if he had finished that and we won 0-2, the goal will be talked about for ages.

#HereToCreate I believe is his adidas motto!
That's the beauty of the game of course. I honestly don't give that much of a feck that he didn't play the pass all things considered. Just hoping this isn't something to occur again in a match with less openings. He annoys me Pogba, the talent to be a ballon d'Or is clearly there, he just complicates himself.
 

MalcolmTucker

Full Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
1,810
Did some really good things today but one moment just after they hit the crossbar with the freekick and we were under pressure, I see him sauntering back with a player going past him, fair enough.. then another and another and he didn't track any of them. A cross came in and the third runner was completely free at the far post, luckily it never reached him but I can't understand how a guy who is paid a ridiculous amount of money, who is part of a midfield two and playing infront of 80k fans can just completely shirk his responsibilities. I feel guilty if I let a marker go in 5-a-side ffs.
 

bosnian_red

Worst scout to ever exist
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
58,082
Location
Canada
Not Sure that matters at that stage. Not to me anyway. I’d have wanted Chris Smalling to shoot at the end of such a run, just because the story would never be told otherwise. That’s the beauty of the game. Nobody will care that Pogba didn’t pass tomorrow. We still won. But if he had finished that and we won 0-2, the goal will be talked about for ages.

#HereToCreate I believe is his adidas motto!
It shouldn't matter, but what he (and anyone) should do is pick out the best option. Not think about "what a goal this could be". That's selfish thinking and the type of mentality that keeps him from joining the truly best midfielders in the world IMO. If/when his decision making improves, especially for moments like that where there's an obvious better option in a potentially key part of the game, that'll be the step up for him. Look at Messi and how many runs he has like that. He'll almost always lay it off to the wing because they're in a great position to just slide it back across goal where he can tap it in or the other player can tap it in. taking too long and taking it on on your own when there's somebody in front is frustrating as feck
 

Rozay

Master of Hindsight
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
27,201
Location
...
It shouldn't matter, but what he (and anyone) should do is pick out the best option. Not think about "what a goal this could be". That's selfish thinking and the type of mentality that keeps him from joining the truly best midfielders in the world IMO. If/when his decision making improves, especially for moments like that where there's an obvious better option in a potentially key part of the game, that'll be the step up for him. Look at Messi and how many runs he has like that. He'll almost always lay it off to the wing because they're in a great position to just slide it back across goal where he can tap it in or the other player can tap it in. taking too long and taking it on on your own when there's somebody in front is frustrating as feck
Not sure. Great forwards and players are often selfish. And Pogba isn’t. He creates. All the time. But as a natural creative and artist, he was always going to see the opportunity to create something special there.

And the ‘truly best players’ are often put into that bracket by scoring goals like the one he tried to score. In general, I agree with you, but in this particular case, I think there was a strong enough opening to shoot. Taking on a very difficult shot I can agree with, but although Martial was in a better position, I think Pogba was in a good enough one to be selfish. You mention Messi, but his star was catapulted when he scored that goal against Getafe, and I’m pretty sure that passing never occurred to him once he passed that last defender. That can wait for other opportunities, at that moment, he owed it to himself and almost to football in general to try and score. Only difference is that he did. Of course, I don’t expect him to always do that, and he doesn’t, but I’m confident that if he even today, if he had run the length of the pitch and worked himself into a good shooting position, he’s not looking up.
 

Dare to Zlatan

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
203
Supports
Zlatan
Made some poor decisions today, particularly after the fantastic run he did in the second half where he could have easily slid either Martial or Lukaku in on goal.
 

Hugh Jass

Shave Dass
Joined
Apr 16, 2016
Messages
11,305
Made some poor decisions today, particularly after the fantastic run he did in the second half where he could have easily slid either Martial or Lukaku in on goal.
No doubt Mourinho will be having a word with him about that. Pass it left or right and its a certain goal and game over.
 

Jib

New Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2015
Messages
1,767
Did some really good things today but one moment just after they hit the crossbar with the freekick and we were under pressure, I see him sauntering back with a player going past him, fair enough.. then another and another and he didn't track any of them. A cross came in and the third runner was completely free at the far post, luckily it never reached him but I can't understand how a guy who is paid a ridiculous amount of money, who is part of a midfield two and playing infront of 80k fans can just completely shirk his responsibilities. I feel guilty if I let a marker go in 5-a-side ffs.
The Adidas poster boy will never be a DM.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

Full Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Messages
17,130
That run was excellent, but man why did he have to shoot? I was up in excitement after the run and him laying it off to Martial or Lukaku hopefully.

Then he shoots, and I'm throwing a tantrum out here.

Thought he made some poor decisions today.
 

Sandikan

aka sex on the beach
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
53,366
No doubt Mourinho will be having a word with him about that. Pass it left or right and its a certain goal and game over.
Maybe not certain, but far better odds in passing, when he had to go through a defender and beat a keeper!
 

kouroux

45k posts to finally achieve this tagline
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
96,172
Location
Djibouti (La terre des braves)
Not sure. Great forwards and players are often selfish. And Pogba isn’t. He creates. All the time. But as a natural creative and artist, he was always going to see the opportunity to create something special there.

And the ‘truly best players’ are often put into that bracket by scoring goals like the one he tried to score. In general, I agree with you, but in this particular case, I think there was a strong enough opening to shoot. Taking on a very difficult shot I can agree with, but although Martial was in a better position, I think Pogba was in a good enough one to be selfish. You mention Messi, but his star was catapulted when he scored that goal against Getafe, and I’m pretty sure that passing never occurred to him once he passed that last defender. That can wait for other opportunities, at that moment, he owed it to himself and almost to football in general to try and score. Only difference is that he did. Of course, I don’t expect him to always do that, and he doesn’t, but I’m confident that if he even today, if he had run the length of the pitch and worked himself into a good shooting position, he’s not looking up.
Those are important words. I'd have not as much issue if this is a pure forward making a decision like that because they live and dive by their stats. Pogba is a midfielder, he doesn't need to be selfish. He doesn't need to score goals to prove his importance or his awesomeness.
 

cyberman

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
37,331
That story is too convenient and sounds completely made up but Im hoping its true as long as we get him to sign.
 

VancouverUtdFan

New Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
2,514
Supports
Canucks + NE Patriots
didn’t have his best game today but his athleticism in the 2nd half shows how important he is to our counter attack. That run really deserved a goal, surprised his didn’t pass as his decision making is usually really good.

Just shows how good his standards are when that’s a “poor game”
 

cyberman

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
37,331
@Hellboy
Pressure all he wants, we never lose players because of wage demands.
Pogba is like De Gea, give him what he wants as long as he stays.
Remember Raiola was negotiating with Arsenal, not us.
We signed his clients with ease, why would there be drama now?
 

The Firestarter

Full Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
28,266

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
Away from the source is Mirror, Pogba will get a pay rise anyway, sooner or later.
 

LoCalXT

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Mar 16, 2015
Messages
382
Very selfish game by him today, thought he was very poor overall tbh. The same balls he lost in the middle WILL be punished by a good team.
 

El Zoido

Full Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
12,371
Location
UK

OldTrevil

Full Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
2,896
The got to him with constant fouling with a ref that was too lenient maybe in the name of letting the game flow. This is an area he has to improve like the way Ronaldo did in his young days. From then on Pogba seemed to take everything personally including a Martial annoyed reaction after making a good run. Other teams especially dogged middle and lower teams will continue to target him for sure until he learns to deal with it, he will have another chance to show it in games ahead. I thought he had an above average game which to his standards is a low performance, but even the best in the world have a few of those.
 

Adnan

Talent Spotter
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
29,893
Location
England
The Mirror story is from Simon Mullock who is as ABU as they come.

Not his best game but no where near as bad as some are making it sound. As for should he have squared it to Martial? with hindsight yes he should've, but... at the time I was screaming for him to shoot at goal to put the gloss on a fantastic run where he dribbled past two players. Would've been a goal to savour and one that would've lived long in the memory.
 

RedStarUnited

Full Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
8,139
I think he might be the greediest player I've ever seen.

He takes 12 pot shots per game from unrealistic distances, when the ball isn't even set right and there's defenders in the way.

Then you have the 2 instances today where he shot straight at the defender instead of sliding in a team mate to score which were just criminal.

His talent is fantastic but Mourinho needs to get a grip on him, he wants to do everything himself too often, and wastes too many attacks with his pot shots.
He doesnt even shoot enough for me. I dont the greedy stuff at all. He had a bad game for sure.

Also, Jose needs to accept he will never be great defensively and plan accordingly. This is a Zidane level attacking midfielder, he shouldnt be chasing people back in to his own box.
 
Last edited:

Adnan

Talent Spotter
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
29,893
Location
England
He doesnt even shoot enough for me. I dont the greedy stuff at all. He had a bad game for sure.

Also, Jose needs to accept he will never be great defensively and plan accordingly. This is a Zidane level attacking midfielder, he shouldnt be chasing people back in to his own box.
Agreed..

His flamboyance and flair needs to be encouraged in a three man midfield for him to realise his enormous potential. As good as Lingard has been for us, I'd still replace him with Herrera or Carrick in a heart-beat.
 

Shark

@NotShark
Joined
Feb 1, 2012
Messages
26,525
Location
Ireland
The Mirror story is from Simon Mullock who is as ABU as they come.

Not his best game but no where near as bad as some are making it sound. As for should he have squared it to Martial? with hindsight yes he should've, but... at the time I was screaming for him to shoot at goal to put the gloss on a fantastic run where he dribbled past two players. Would've been a goal to savour and one that would've lived long in the memory.
Who are these posters that are making him sound worse than he was? Most of what I see is justified criticism based on the game he had.
 

Adnan

Talent Spotter
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
29,893
Location
England
Who are these posters that are making him sound worse than he was? Most of what I see is justified criticism based on the game he had.
I've read posts that he was the worst player on the pitch, I completely disagree with that. It just seems like certain posters are waiting for him to have a sub par game so they could slate him.
 

roonster09

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world
Scout
Joined
May 10, 2009
Messages
36,772
He had a good enough game but the chance he messed up could have costed 2 points. Martial and Lukaku were free, it was 3 vs 1 and he tried to shoot from outside the box. Very poor decision, luckily it didn't cost us anything but very poor effort.

Also not sure what he should do to win free kicks, at least 2 players fouls him but he holds his ground to play out of the trouble as long as possible and foul isn't given when he loses possession. Very frustrating and poor performances from refs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.