Was the other way around I believe. He didn’t help out matic. When will you guys acknowledge that pogba doesn’t fancy dropping back to assist in the buildup role? I don’t know why he likes drifting out to the far left wing when we need him operating in the center.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 47
- Goals
- 16
- Assists
- 14
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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I swear some folks on here have a memory of a goldfish. He's been the difference in all of 3 victories in London under Ole's tenure. Poor yesterday for sure but don't re-write history to suit your narrative.
It's tactical, Ole wants to use him as a #10 than a hybrid 8 or 6.
Pogba is playing much further up the pitch now, Matic is supposed to be the link between defense and MF and yesterday that link was missing. Jose already tried that with Pogba and its not what he is good at, Pogba is an AM not a CM
He drifts because that's what Ole wants? He stays higher up the pitch as maybe that's what Ole wants after realizing that's where Pogba is at his best?
Why do you want him to operate from center only? Any ways we have Matic and Herrera in center, Herrera drifts to right side to help in build up play, similarly Pogba drifts left. Looks like it's a clear tactic and it's working well with players like Lingard, Mata, Sanchez, Rashford drifting centrally.
I think people just need to accept the type of player Paul Pogba is.
A very good sometimes great player,that will very rarely control a game but will produce moments of magic that most cannot do, that also has both positional and defensive deficiencies.
He will have big games where he plays very well.
He will have big games where he plays very shit.
He will also have a lot of games in a season where he will be sunday league borderline rooney esque but will get a goal or assist and it wil mask it.
Thats just who he is and will never change.
Many of us knew this before we signed him.
All in all hes worth the money but dont be expecting some Xavi,Iniesta or even Lampard type player.
A very good sometimes great player,that will very rarely control a game but will produce moments of magic that most cannot do, that also has both positional and defensive deficiencies.
He will have big games where he plays very well.
He will have big games where he plays very shit.
He will also have a lot of games in a season where he will be sunday league borderline rooney esque but will get a goal or assist and it wil mask it.
Thats just who he is and will never change.
Many of us knew this before we signed him.
All in all hes worth the money but dont be expecting some Xavi,Iniesta or even Lampard type player.
Nah, 1/10. I mean the stadium announcer did call out his name when announcing the lineups.
What's this suppose to mean?
It means that you should know what you get with him by now.
A good percentage of us knew he had some shit performances like this against big teams in his locker before we signed him.
Mate, literally every top player in the EPl has a shit performance in them every now and then against a top team.
It's just the ability to play well more often than not is what makes them top players. which by the way pogba does.
It's just the ability to play well more often than not is what makes them top players. which by the way pogba does.
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The irony is that whenever Pogba plays and focuses on his football exactly like Jose and Deschamps asked him to, he always looks like the best midfielder out there. He did exactly that at the World Cup and under Ole in those first 10-12 games. Attacking brilliantly while also tracking back to defend, cutting down on theatrics and working very hard for the team. He is often unplayable when like that.
I think people should cut him some slack. He had an average game against Arsenal. He will bounce back because he looks genuinely happy under Ole and we all know he is a phenomenal player.
I think people should cut him some slack. He had an average game against Arsenal. He will bounce back because he looks genuinely happy under Ole and we all know he is a phenomenal player.
I think this is the point. Almost the whole team struggled at some points in the game. This creates a context for proper assessment. It's the same context for judging Lukaku really. I thought it was unfair to blame him for the loss when many others had poor to average games. The Pogba I have seen under Ole has been incredible minus perhaps the last three games. Fingers crossed that he will find his mojo in the next game.
He wasn’t even shit. If we had scored that goal with the sweeping move everyone would be purring about his 60yarder to Lukaku with the wrong foot that set up the goal. Or if Fred had buried that shot that hit the post that was from his pass.
He started the game as LM. When he moved centrally we dominated the midfield and created some great chances. He played well in my book. Things just didn’t go our way.
He started the game as LM. When he moved centrally we dominated the midfield and created some great chances. He played well in my book. Things just didn’t go our way.
This. Arsenal didn't have as much freedom when Pogba moved central. Im still baffled as to why Ole started with a flat 4-4-2.
I agree to an extent, although it's not necessarily a reason not to be better. It could be a reason for not excelling though, for sure, especially in midfield.
Lukaku missing his chances can't be put on the team performance, but it's fair to say his sharpness, or lack of it, will stand out more being the focal point of the attack.
Problem is there are few posters who are persisting with a myth of him being shit in big games and cant wait to criticize him. Thread is awful because of this.
I can’t agree with this. Good midfield play is about control, not about a couple of good moments. He had a very poor day and (I constantly get slated here for pointing this out) he had no idea where he was supposed to be during the game. He really struggles to get into some games because he is always in the wrong place. He’s a very talented footballer but he’s just not a midfielder. I don’t know what his position is.
I agree this. On the days he isn't decisive, it would still be good to see him do this more.
It's ok we don't have to all agree.
Good midfield play is about more things than just control. Liverpool's midfield is all about control and it's generally considered a bit shit. Pogba's prime role is to create chances from midfield and open up play and he's the best in the league at that. He's not there to dictate tempo, that's never been his game. He's not he best at exerting control because by nature he tries a lot of risky stuff, including taking players on. But that's why we've 2 more midfielders in the starting XI.
We played Arsenal away from home, we created the most and best chances, we had more of the ball (more possession, touches, passes). Pogba played a big role in all that. The outcome was dictated by individual mistakes at the back and our strikers' failure to convert their chances. Not lack of control.
You say you're constantly slated for your opinion. I think ridiculous hyperbole might have something to do with it. "no idea where he's supposed to be" and "always in the wrong place" is not really based on reality. Sounds like something Souness would say and get laughed at for.
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He needs a more controlling and creative midfield partner behind him. Let him do his thing upfront.
Pointing out his positional weakness is neither ridiculous nor hyperbolic. To me it is obvious.
Do you honestly believe Pogba had an impact on the game yesterday?
(Admittedly he did give away a few cheap turnovers, creating nice situations for Arsenal, so he did have an impact)
Look, I recognise the talent that is there but he presents a complex problem for the coach. How do you maximize those talents for the good of the team?
That's just not really his game though is it? Never has been.
Yep, he did have a (positive) impact and yes, you're being hugely hyperbolic. And no, he's not even remotely a problem for the coach or he wouldn't be wanted by every manager (including this one) and have league and world cup titles to his name. Seems we're not gonna get remotely close to agreeing on Pogba, so let's leave it at that. Our views are entirely antithetical.
He's showed he could do it so yeah it's part of his game when he wants it. At the end of the day it's a very tough balance to find for him.
End of the day it's what coach wants. Do you want Pogba to play deeper trying to control the game or play him higher and get best out of him and for team.
Slap a 250m price tag on him and they'll be gone.
I want him to adapt depending on the game. I realize it's almost an impossible task but his talent is so unique I think he could pull it off.
Like you said it's near impossible, especially just to adapt in the game. Whole team should be in sync to control the game, you can't do that by one player wanting to switch roles in between games.
I haven't seen so much nonsense being posted about 1 player like people do on Pogba. He had good enough first season and second season he was very good for most part but somehow now he was shit in his first 2 seasons.
He started season well and was having good season before underwhelming 5-7 games, somehow that changed it he was shit before Ole took over.
Ridiculous how his career is played down and the unrealistic expectations on him means no matter what he does people will always have something to moan about.
For sure but it's his thread so just focusing on the things he can still improve from an individual POV
The point is this will keep repeating in the future as he is very very average at midfield basics and it gets highlighted time and time again when the opponent midfield know their stuff and keep winning most of second balls and are positionally brilliant. He was and still is the cherry on top of the cake but not the actual cake who will provide the platform for midfield dominance crucial to play attacking football on front foot specially in high profile games which is where he goes missing almost 70% of those type of games as he is asked to play as a left sided cm with restrictions in those games.
It would be incredibly naive to be solely dependent on him through out the campaign next season and I think adding another mobile mid controller and a playmaker to the mid unit is a must alongside pogba so that we don't have to play him as a cm specially in high profile games where he gets exposed.
The world cup attitude and maturity will only be seen in flashes here who so ever is in charge
Pogba isn't about control though and every midfielder needn't be. He is a midfielder in the Gerrard mould, albiet less gritty and much more technical/creative. But he's essentially the creative genius of our midfield who excels at making the difference going forward, being a ball carrier and splitting decences . If we're expecting him to dictate things like Scholes or Xavi or Iniesta would then we're going to be disappointed. I don't see why there isn't place for a Busquets, a Scholes and a Pogba in a three man midfield. He does his job superbly and has done so this season for sure.
Do I wish Pogba could playmake a little better ? Of course but it's fine, you can't have everything in one player. I'm sure Chelsea wish Kante was better technically as well but you have to be greatful for the good. And Pogba has more good in him than most.
What about 70 % of high profile games he flops? I don't like to brush it under the carpet .
He can control when he puts his mind into it as we saw in world cup campaign but he won't carry that sort of attitude through out whole season. It will be intresting to see when he ages and looses fitness and flair then what kind of midfielder he evolves to be.
France didn't win world cup by controlling midfield. They played like Leicester City, playing deep and on counters.
I've seen you mention this a few times now. It's not a case of not fancying it, and more to do with it not being his job. It's a akin to criticizing Matic for not getting into the box more often. A huge aspect of Matic's job is to assist the back 4 in playing out from the back and he is failing in doing so at the moment. We shouldn't need our most attacking midfielder dropping deep to collect the ball when we have someone already employed to do that, particularly when it will leave a gaping hole between our attacking and midfield.
Mane would be their best attacker.
And pogba provided a good defensive block alongside kante and matuidi to control the midfield without the the ball like a proper b2b controller and he wasn't caught stolling out of position, griezmann took the responsibility to start counter attacks most of the time.
Your post seem to indicate you just interpret mid control in a wrong sense.
Now you are talking about control without the ball when you wanted him to dictate the game in all your posts. Like I said, maybe your expectations on the player and what the coach wants from the player is different.
Also Pogba if he plays like he played for France, then it would be big waste of his talent. He isn't a defensive mid and we don't play a month long tournament with just 7-8 games. On top of that, we don't have Mbappe, Griezmann like attackers.
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