[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

Scholes was, at times, the player who gained us control in the big games. Pogba hasn't done that for us against a top team.

Look at Scholes against Madrid in 03. An absolute masterclass.

But Scholes was playing alongside higher class of player.
Plus Pogba is not a controlling midfielder.He's a number ten in some regard.If we had Scholes and Pogba tonight it would've been a completely different game.
PSG would need to keep an eye on 2 midfield talents instead of just the one.The one that makes everything we do in the final third click.

Its why we need world class talent like Pogba put alongside other world class talent.Look at City's midfield. Fernandinho,Silva and then KDB. Thats a balanced world class midfield right there who can play circles around any midfield.We dont have that.We have Herrera,who's arguably more effective without the ball,and Matic who's close to winding down his career.

 

[breakout67]

Verratti is miles better than Pogba.

>But muh goals and assists
Lel.

Veratti is a holding midfielder, Pogba is an advanced midfielder?

 

[Slevs]

Immature tonight but been good for 2 months now so won't hold 1 game against him.

 

[Yagami]

At least he gets a rest in the return leg. Quality player. feck the haters.

I've criticised him here but I'm a huge fan who's defended him the majority of his time here. I wish he was available for the return leg. I don't think criticising him means we're "haters".

Of course he has some on here, but criticism is valid tonight, imo.

 

[shahzy]

You're blabling.

Am i though? He didn't play up to scratch, was man marked out the game by Marquinhos because Tuchel knew when you stop Pogba, you stop United. The other two central midfielders aren't going to hurt you as was evidenced in the game when Matic and Herrera couldn't produce anything in an attacking sense. Then we have detractors on here who quite evidently have it in for him (for whatever personal subjective reason) and jump on any chance they get to want him to leave after a bad performance, these same detractors go missing when he plays well for a while. I'm merely just calling it out and others in this thread also are. I mean i really don't see where the blabbing is or what i've missed. This is my last post for the day so i won't be able to respond but frankly i don't expect you to come up with anything coherent or logical in response other than some subjective irrational personal hate you have for the guy

 

[Canagel]

Verratti is miles better than Pogba.

>But muh goals and assists
Lel.

These agenda postings

 

[Amar__]

Pogba had 11th worst passing accuracy in the team. Had just 8 more successful passes than Mata, who came on the pitch in the second half. That's just appaling. People are still trying to excuse his performance somehow.

Matic was decent but Herrera was poor, he had a lot of space and did nothing to take advantage of it.

Herrera had highest number of tackles, and interceptions, had lot of good passes between the lines and out wide, it's not his problem our wide players are shite. He also had very good passing accuracy, which is quite important in game like this.

Herrera did his job magnificently, your problem is that you expected him to do Pogba's job, and that's not what he is there for.

 

[Snafu17]

He's a very different player from Verratti. He's pretty much a flair player, big in moments, but doesn't really control the tempo in the big games, that's just not his game. More of a Lampard than a Scholes. But I think anyone sensible probably knew that already.

 

[sullydnl]

He's a very different player from Verratti. He's pretty much a flair player, big in moments, but doesn't really control the tempo in the big games, that's just not his game. More of a Lampard than a Scholes. But I think anyone sensible probably knew that already.

Yep, it's a silly comparison.

 

[frookydinho]

I feel he would have come alive more in the second half as he has shown in recent games before the injuries. Mata and Sanchez killed any sort of intensity we would have had. There was one point in the game Pogs was going ballistic at Sanchez after Sanchez destroyed another attack. I wonder if anyone could get a gif of it.

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

What "off performances" are you talking about? He was good against Spurs and Arsenal.

Exactly.
People mentioning Scholes and Keane too is quit odd.They do realise that after we won the CL in 99 we were generally outclassed by Munich and Madrid (twice) in the later stages.
Even the world class pairing of the above mentioned were taken to the cleaners more than once in the CL. Keane and Scholes being bossed by the likes of Effenberg,Jeremies,Kovac,Figo,Zidane,Redundo and Steve blooming McManaman.

 

[Zlatattack]

I don't know what game people were watching, but he was the only one who tried to do anything dangerous with the ball today. He drove forwards, but was marked out of the game. PSG knew we don't have an attacking threat in Matic or Herrera, so they just focused on Pogba. Shaw was always there to give the ball to Pogba but never ahead of him to take it back. With Martial and Lingard off, Mata and Sanchez offered nothing in terms of movement. He had no options other than Rashford and again - PSG knew it.

 

[Yagami]

But Scholes was playing alongside higher class of player.
Plus Pogba is not a controlling midfielder.He's a number ten in some regard.If we had Scholes and Pogba tonight it would've been a completely different game.
PSG would need to keep an eye on 2 midfield talents instead of just the one.The one that makes everything we do in the final third click.

Its why we need world class talent like Pogba put alongside other world class talent.Look at City's midfield. Fernandinho,Silva and then KDB. Thats a balanced world class midfield right there who can play circles around any midfield.We dont have that.We have Herrera,who's arguably more effective without the ball,and Matic who's close to winding down his career.

Scholes did, but he wasn't carried by said players. In fact, I remember in the early 00s him being the one to, at times, carry us. I remember away to Deportivo, he and Becks were the only ones who could keep the ball. Scholes was a #10 around that time ahead of Keane and Butt/Veron, too.

That's what made Scholes great. He didn't need the team to be on form to produce good performances like Pogba does.

I'm a huge Pogba fan and rate him as one of the best players in the league, but i think he has a long way to go to be compared to Scholes.

I wholeheartedly agree with your 2nd paragraph.

 

[Silas]

First yellow was bollocks, but the 2nd was definitely deserved. Annoying, but Pogba's use of his body in his playstyle always risks fouls being given the other way. I've seen him successfully pull of what he tried to do multiple times so I guess it was just unlucky this time around.

 

[spiriticon]

I thought he was good but he came up against equally good defenders today. Not everyone you play is of the Tyrone Mings standard, Paul.

Shouldn't get so easily frustrated but meh.

 

[Garethw]

I've criticised him here but I'm a huge fan who's defended him the majority of his time here. I wish he was available for the return leg. I don't think criticising him means we're "haters".

Of course he has some on here, but criticism is valid tonight, imo.

This was directed at you at all mate. It was related to those that backed Mourinho over him.

 

[Shark]

I don’t think he was that bad tonight at all. Expecting him to take PSG on his own is daft, and he did try and do that at times. Really doesn’t deserve the scrutiny.

 

[SteveW]

I don't know what game people were watching, but he was the only one who tried to do anything dangerous with the ball today. He drove forwards, but was marked out of the game. PSG knew we don't have an attacking threat in Matic or Herrera, so they just focused on Pogba. Shaw was always there to give the ball to Pogba but never ahead of him to take it back. With Martial and Lingard off, Mata and Sanchez offered nothing in terms of movement. He had no options other than Rashford and again - PSG knew it.

Pretty much. The yellow card didn't help. He had to be a bit careful couldn't use his strength as much as usual.

I didn't think he was awful. He was just very heavily marked. That SHOULD create space for others but the others didnt have the craft to make any use of it.

 

[Litch]

But Scholes was playing alongside higher class of player.
Plus Pogba is not a controlling midfielder.He's a number ten in some regard.If we had Scholes and Pogba tonight it would've been a completely different game.
PSG would need to keep an eye on 2 midfield talents instead of just the one.The one that makes everything we do in the final third click.

Its why we need world class talent like Pogba put alongside other world class talent.Look at City's midfield. Fernandinho,Silva and then KDB. Thats a balanced world class midfield right there who can play circles around any midfield.We dont have that.We have Herrera,who's arguably more effective without the ball,and Matic who's close to winding down his career.

Agree. Amazing how easier the game becomes when you play along side other quality players. Herrera and Matic are good prem players but they aren't going to win you the prem much less against one of the top teams in Europe.

 

[RooneyLegend]

The annoying thing is Herrera and Matic not being able to advantage of the space left behind.

This. Those two are squaddies in a team trying to compete for the very highest of honours. Their passing is rudimentary at best.

 

[charlenefan]

Teams will start paying closer attention to Pogba now than they did when he was playing under Mourinho, a new challenge for him to rise to

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

Are we going to sign world class players who will take some of the creative burden off Pogba or are we going to continue to fork out 50 million on no-shows like Fred ?
Big questions asked of the board.If we dont invest then we'll continue to go nowhere.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He’s so productive it’s almost impossible not to play him and he’s a fantastic asset in matches where we’re going to comfortably dominate midfield. When things are tight in midfield though, he’s a real headache for the manager.

The warning signs were there against Spurs, who had an iron grip of central midfield after half time, despite having pretty much every central midfielder in their squad out injured. That should not have happned. The real worry about tonight is that Matic and Hererra both played ok. Pogba barely contributed at all. Hate to say it but there’s a very good chance we’ll see the same pattern against the dippers.

 

[Zlatattack]

Pretty much. The yellow card didn't help. He had to be a bit careful couldn't use his strength as much as usual.

I didn't think he was awful. He was just very heavily marked. That SHOULD create space for others but the others didnt have the craft to make any use of it.

Yeah. I also think he got petulant towards the end with some of the challenges, saw him nudge players with his arms a few times - but on the whole he was marked out of the game, because nobody else provided much of an attacking threat.

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

This. Those two are squaddies in a team trying to compete for the very highest of honours. Their passing is rudimentary at best.

Yep.Two solid players who are more effective without the ball. Neither can control the tempo of the game and neither have a good set of passing skills. It really was Pogba or nothing tonight.

 

[Zlatattack]

He’s so productive it’s almost impossible not to play him and he’s a fantastic asset in matches where we’re going to comfortably dominate midfield. When things are tight, and in midfield though, he’s a real headache for the manager.

The warning signs were there against Spurs, who had an iron grip of central midfield after half time, despite having pretty much every central midfielder in their squad out injured. That should not have happned. The real worry about tonight is that Matic and Hererra both played ok. Pogba barely contributed at all.

What did you see in Matic and Herreras performances? I'm curious whether you judge them as ok because you have different expectations of them, or because they did something Pogba didn't? don't mean this in a passive aggressive way- just interested.

 

[Litch]

I don’t think he was that bad tonight at all. Expecting him to take PSG on his own is daft, and he did try and do that at times. Really doesn’t deserve the scrutiny.

Nope, losing means we need to return to the rhetoric bullshit about him. We think somehow he should be able to show his quality against a team that's likely to win the CL. He's just a scapegoat for primary school mentality fans who need to vent cause we lost.

 

[Patrick08]

He’s so productive it’s almost impossible not to play him and he’s a fantastic asset in matches where we’re going to comfortably dominate midfield. When things are tight in midfield though, he’s a real headache for the manager.

The warning signs were there against Spurs, who had an iron grip of central midfield after half time, despite having pretty much every central midfielder in their squad out injured. That should not have happned. The real worry about tonight is that Matic and Hererra both played ok. Pogba barely contributed at all. Hate to say it but there’s a very good chance we’ll see the same pattern against the dippers.

I don't think matic was okay, he was poor as well, poorest of the three.

 

[Welbeckham]

Agree. Amazing how easier the game becomes when you play along side other quality players. Herrera and Matic are good prem players but they aren't going to win you the prem much less against one of the top teams in Europe.

Herrera is good enough at defending, pressing and keeping the ball, good enough if used right. Matic isn’t dynamic enough and we lack another player like Pogba who could dominate with sheer technical brilliance and give those key passes, granted Pogba couldn’t do it today. Players are dependable of the players around them.

 

[Silas]

Verratti is miles better than Pogba.

>But muh goals and assists
Lel.

Username checks out.

 

[spiriticon]

Are we going to sign world class players who will take some of the creative burden off Pogba or are we going to continue to fork out 50 million on no-shows like Fred ?
Big questions asked of the board.If we dont invest then we'll continue to go nowhere.

The board has forked out 50 million on no-shows like Fred, so the investment is there. The thing is, can we trust Ole not to blow the cash on utter shite like the 3 managers before him?

I absolutely don't trust a single soul with the transfer kitty these days.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

First yellow wasn't a yellow, the one which got him sent off was definitely worthy of a card.

Mixed performance. Clearly frustrated by Marquinhos, and looked isolated without the pace of Martial to open spaces outside.

A few odd comments in here. Clearly a few want to be right about him not being good enough, when he's spent the last 2 months dragging us from mid table to leapfrogging Arsenal and Chelsea almost single-handedly. Weird

 

[adexkola]

He wasn't terrible, but I thought Herrera and Matic were better in the first half. It's not the lack of creativity that concerned me (he was manmarked), it was his inability to help us grab a hold of the midfield that was concerning.

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

He’s so productive it’s almost impossible not to play him and he’s a fantastic asset in matches where we’re going to comfortably dominate midfield. When things are tight in midfield though, he’s a real headache for the manager.

The warning signs were there against Spurs, who had an iron grip of central midfield after half time, despite having pretty much every central midfielder in their squad out injured. That should not have happned. The real worry about tonight is that Matic and Hererra both played ok. Pogba barely contributed at all. Hate to say it but there’s a very good chance we’ll see the same pattern against the dippers.

They played ok but that's purely down to the fact that very little is asked of them.They're effectively solid midfielders,arguably water-carriers.
They dont offer anything on the creative side and they dont have a great deal of control in games.Our possession stats haven't been great the past two years with Jose and its telling.
We are in need of world class talent.In defence,in midfield and uptop.

 

[Sylar]

Marquinos did a job on him.

Thought he was unlucky with the second yellow given how it happened

 

[NinjaFletch]

He’s so productive it’s almost impossible not to play him and he’s a fantastic asset in matches where we’re going to comfortably dominate midfield. When things are tight in midfield though, he’s a real headache for the manager.

The warning signs were there against Spurs, who had an iron grip of central midfield after half time, despite having pretty much every central midfielder in their squad out injured. That should not have happned. The real worry about tonight is that Matic and Hererra both played ok. Pogba barely contributed at all. Hate to say it but there’s a very good chance we’ll see the same pattern against the dippers.

I think you've identified a symptom rather than the problem. The problem is that Pogba is the only midfielder who can hurt an opposition. If they are good enough defensively to crowd him out then Matic and Herrera aren't able to fill in and run the game themselves.

 

[Adnan]

I don't know what game people were watching, but he was the only one who tried to do anything dangerous with the ball today. He drove forwards, but was marked out of the game. PSG knew we don't have an attacking threat in Matic or Herrera, so they just focused on Pogba. Shaw was always there to give the ball to Pogba but never ahead of him to take it back. With Martial and Lingard off, Mata and Sanchez offered nothing in terms of movement. He had no options other than Rashford and again - PSG knew it.

This is exactly as I saw it too. He was good and our best attacking player.

 

[Litch]

Herrera is good enough at defending, pressing and keeping the ball, good enough if used right. Matic isn’t dynamic enough and we lack another player like Pogba who could dominate with sheer technical brilliance and give those key passes, granted Pogba couldn’t do it today. Players are dependable of the players around them.

Amazing how the best players in the world are playing with the best players in the world.....

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

The board has forked out 50 million on no-shows like Fred, so the investment is there. The thing is, can we trust Ole not to blow the cash on utter shite like the 3 managers before him?

I absolutely don't trust a single soul with the transfer kitty these days.

I would like to think Ole has an idea of the type of players we're missing.We need a midfielder to control the tempo of the game.Let Pogba be Pogba because he's great at it.
If we had prime Scholes alongside Pogba that would be magic.

Heck,I would move for Modric in the summer.

 

[Hammondo]

Just like yourself for the last month

I read the cafe, I just have not posted much. Tonight was a big night.