He didn’t do much all game but I can accept a performance like that. It’s when he starts sulking in the middle of the game to negatively impact the team, is when I can’t stand him.
6
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 47
- Goals
- 16
- Assists
- 14
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
-
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?
- Status
Measuring improvement? I would include his first season but not without number of chances created by him as Ibrahimovic was ridiculously wasteful (things don’t happen in a vacuum). I’m currently mobile and a quick google search shows an article from April 2017 after a 2-0 win against Chelsea stating that Pogba had completed the most passes (1726) and created the most chances out of any midfielders in the league that season with 53.
I felt he did in the last 25 minutes or so. It was subtle because he ran around, but I paid close attention to him and it was pretty much aimless, without purpose and certainly without intent of getting the ball.
He is very good offensively because he does that. Get into the right position, then make the final move to create something but you have to do that defensively as well. You have to not only get there, you have to do something when you do or at least know what you try to do when you get there. He was just jogging around not trying to get in the rhythm of the play, admiring Barcelona passing game. Frustrating to watch and totally took away from his overall contribution for me this game. I don't know why he does that.
I can accept a performance like that in a sense if that wasn't regularly in his locker. It is a CL knockout game, you simply have to work harder than you normally do all the way. He did less of it.
Btw, His style of play was fine. He was not our worst player. Rashford and Young was terrible. He was not much better than Lukaku and Dalot for me overall. They too was close but not close enough that game just like Pogba, but I feel Pogba and Lukaku just doesn't do enough sometimes in terms of putting in a shift, a real one with purpose to help the team, not just to look good or get points for not being lazy.
Thought he was ok. I'd give him a 6.5
I used to watch Pogba at Moss lane now and then and I thought he was good but thought ravel Morrison was better at that time. A few years later seeing him dominate Serie A with Pirlo and vidal I genuinely felt robbed.
I was over the moon when we re-signed him. It topped Di Maria, Falcao, BFS and even Ibra. I think/thought (not sure atm) he came back to prove a point and to reunite with his mates and the club he adored. He literally speaks like a Manc and acts like Lingard (warrington) and Rashford. To add to that, iirc, he shunned interest from other big clubs to sign for us again.
He's a united player and always will be but regarding his future and tonight...
He was imposing in the middle and didnt get overhwlemed by the occasion but he wasn't great. Having said that I think he is invaluable at times so we should do all we can to keep him.
Having said that though, losing him, Herrera or anyone who wants to leave isn't a disaster - given we can recoup a decent amount. Losing Ronaldo fecked us up and losing a peak Rooney would've but no one in our squad is as instrumental as those 2 mentioned above.
We have a lot of rebuilding to do.
I was over the moon when we re-signed him. It topped Di Maria, Falcao, BFS and even Ibra. I think/thought (not sure atm) he came back to prove a point and to reunite with his mates and the club he adored. He literally speaks like a Manc and acts like Lingard (warrington) and Rashford. To add to that, iirc, he shunned interest from other big clubs to sign for us again.
He's a united player and always will be but regarding his future and tonight...
He was imposing in the middle and didnt get overhwlemed by the occasion but he wasn't great. Having said that I think he is invaluable at times so we should do all we can to keep him.
Having said that though, losing him, Herrera or anyone who wants to leave isn't a disaster - given we can recoup a decent amount. Losing Ronaldo fecked us up and losing a peak Rooney would've but no one in our squad is as instrumental as those 2 mentioned above.
We have a lot of rebuilding to do.
He was alright, which is an improvement from him in big matches.
It seemed like he put his full effort in, which is what we need.
It seemed like he put his full effort in, which is what we need.
Pogba once again demonstrated what we already know: he is immensely gifted just not consistent enough.
@MikeKing i agree, he needs to put much more effort especially in big games that we are expected to get dominated in.
He's very consistent at disappearing when it's his time to shine on the big stage.
As talented as he is, for a midfielder, he does almost nothing when it comes to really imposing himself, controlling games, knowing how and when and where to find space to constantly be open and just keep the game moving so we can keep possession well. Hes great at holding it up when he does get it, but he's just so easy to mark out of games I feel like. So many times we struggle to dictate games on the ball or look settled on it, even when we set out to do that, even if we play against significantly inferior midfields. Of course a bit part of that is tactics, training, coaching, but it's also due to most of them just not being technically up to par or just not knowing how to control games on the ball. Fred today was one of the first times we've seen a United midfielder do proper on the ball midfielding in years (to make up a term). We need all 3 of our midfielders to be comfortable on the ball, know how to find the space and know how to control games with quick passing. Only then will we be able to step it up and assert ourselves in big games. Whether Pogba is capable of that remains to be seen, but he's never shown himself to be that type of player, so hes very much just a player who you have to play in attacking positions and find a system that gets the most of his attacking qualities, because he's just not "alive" until he gets in the final third.
So basically a selective Stat without all the facts? That's poor.
Why not list the numbers and discuss them?
Chelsea : He played all the games against them these 3 seasons bar 1, which are 7 games. Had only 1 significant performance in the cup game this season, in which both his goal and assist against them came. The rest ae forgettable, including a shocker in 4-0.
City : He played 2 games out of 3 in first season and 1 out of 2 last season. None this season so far. Again 1 great performance, and in which both his 2 goals came. The other 2 games were pretty bad.
Liverpool: 2 game in his first season, none in his second season and 1 in this season. Nothing significance in any of these, but ad includes a shocker in the 1-1 game in his first season.
Spurs : One game out of 2 in first season, 2 out of 3 in his second and 2 in the current one. Had 3 very good games against them, 2 of which he assisted in each one of them, and a shocker last season. Overall, usually good against them.
Arsenal : 1 game in his first season, 2 in his second and 2 in the current one. Definitely looks like the best big team he usually performs against, as he had 2 great games last season against them (2 assists and 1 goal) and good game in the cup this season. Even his first game against them in his first season was decent.
So overall he seems to have pretty good stats while playing Arsenal and Spurs, but his record against Chelsea, City and Liverpool is really nothing to look at. 2-3 memorable games in 13 ones, in comparison to about 5-6 memorable games out of 10 against Spurs and Arsenal combined.
You write it yourself: to be the weakest link in a midfield dominating Barcelona. And I’ll continue: shows that you must still be doing something right.
Now I don’t agree he was the weakest link either. Either way, you give Fred and McT cred for taking, but it’s the three of them taking control. And if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t be able to take control over a Barca midfield with Messi dropping low regularly.
I agree with the comments on Pogba not controlling games, etc, as I've said earlier in the thread.
However, I don't think you can be too critical of him last night, as he was up against a much better team, including, in my opinion, the greatest player ever. I didn't expect him to have any impact whatsoever, which was exactly what transpired.
However, I don't think you can be too critical of him last night, as he was up against a much better team, including, in my opinion, the greatest player ever. I didn't expect him to have any impact whatsoever, which was exactly what transpired.
Pogba is my concern with Ander leaving. We saw last night that McTominay can do a different job but somewhat replace him when he plays well, Fred can replace Matic right away... But when Ander is playing well Pogba normally plays well. And last night Pogba was probably the worst of our midfield 3. So while the other 2 had a very good account of themselves, it still didnt show us that Pogba can be that star player for us like he can be with Ander in the team.
Hopefully he'll get used to the different setup with those 2 players next to him and get back to playing well. But until we see it, it may not happen
Hopefully he'll get used to the different setup with those 2 players next to him and get back to playing well. But until we see it, it may not happen
I don't get why people think pogba had a bad game. Were ya'll expecting him to have a goal or an assist against one of the best teams in the world while having so little of the ball? His role in the team is not to dictate play but to move the team up and create chances when he can and he did. Don't compare him to fred and mctominay cos they play totally different roles. Has it occurred to you that how he is playing now might be how Ole instructed him to play and as a result could go toe-to-toe against barca's midfield?
This. He's not the guy to hold that midfield together.
Let’s hope Ole sits him down and shows him a video of Fred and McTominay yesterday because if he realises he needs to put a little more effort into his game he could potentially be a world class player.
He has never done that in his career.
Talk about selective and then move the argument I was responding to from “does not show in big games” to “does not show against xyz”. That’s poor.
Besides, does it not show improvement over time? Or is football a static thing?
Well, that part is true. One of the reasons we are found wanting games which decides trophies and titles.
It's funny, people criticise him for not doing the dog work, but praise Mctominay and Fred at the same time. HELLO that's there jobs!, they're in there to do the running and win the ball back.
Pogba's job is to link the midfield to attack and playmake, which I thought he did well enough in considering it was tight and congested.
If Young hadn't been awful things could have been very different.
Pogba's job is to link the midfield to attack and playmake, which I thought he did well enough in considering it was tight and congested.
If Young hadn't been awful things could have been very different.
Played well last night. Had one of the best ever in his position (Busquets) on the ropes for prolonged periods. Unfortunately we were lacking in the final third last night, but I thought the three in midfield played well.
I'm not overly worried about losing him. He's excellent on his day, one of the best.. but he just doesn't look interested half the time.
I'm happy for Bruno Hernandez to replace him as out attacking/creative midfielder of a 3.
I'm happy for Bruno Hernandez to replace him as out attacking/creative midfielder of a 3.
This is how you get Ashley Young as captain of Manchester United.
You are happy to replace him with a player you don't even know the name of? Excellent.
Played OK but was our worst midfielder again. Fred and McTominay influenced the game more.
It doesn't hurt to work harder without the ball to make more of the impact with and without the ball. Without the ball when our team is in possession he should work more harder to create space for himself and make dangerous penetrating runs forward while without the ball don't switch off but use the energy to press and catch the opposition napping.
He just doesn't realize importance of hardwork when he doesn't have the ball and you always feel wanting more from him.
He has been eaisily nullified by top oppositions time and time again but his attitude never changes without the ball.
The top teams can happily double mark him knowing there is no threat from certain players in our team. Until we strike a good balance and have threat on both sides of the pitch players in the middle won’t find space.
It’s no coincidence he plays better when we have only 1 striker as the amc with a free role.
I personally think we need to back to the 4231 we started so well with. Mctominay/Fred/martial/Lingard/pogba/Rashford.
Upgrade the RW and RB and we look much stronger again, it’ll give the midfield boys more room.
Correct.
Simple as that.
Or as is MORE likely. Your head needs examining...
Indeed
We should also be mindful that Fred and McT both had their best games for the club because Barca were more likely focused on stopping Pogba. Just him being there allowed the other two to have great games
I agree. Its becoming pointless to discuss Pogba on here. Some people will simply insist on fantasy
Don't think he can be scapegoated for last night. Certainly wasn't brilliant, but it was a passable performance when you saw how he was unable to link up incisively with the poor Lukaku and Rashford combo.
And this is coming from someone who is pretty fed up with Pogba.
And this is coming from someone who is pretty fed up with Pogba.
Both camps insist on fantasy. Truth is somewhere in the middle.
If Paul Scholes turned in performances during his career like Paul Pogba has during the last 3 years, what would you say?
Rubbish last night really for a so called world class player (as was messi yep) and falling out with Ole now so he can force his move according to the mail (yes i know your favourite paper). Need to get some money back and get some lads in that want to play for the shirt not the pay packet. Raiola has ruined Pogba and its a shame, big shame.
Top teams will certainly find ways to nullify opponents best players, it doesn't mean he stops doing extra effort to outfox them and still find spaces and make an impact, that what top players do, which he doesn't and thus he gets owned by opponents. He just strolls around until he receives the ball and goes back to strolling around after the pass. That sort of attitude will never make him a top impactful player in high profile games.
Of course the attack has to improve in movements and intelligence but he is not helping himself as well with the effort he puts in. Scott mctominay found the space better than him when he found martial with his better positioning to receive fred's pass but pogba couldn't do it all night long when it was his job.q
Also we ain't playing a sole striker just to play pogba in a position which he is happy playing and sacrifice others game time and best positions. We have 4 strikers at the club so its a necessity to play 2 of them up front in their best positions too. With 3 midfielders pogba has all the freedom in the world to do the damage attacking wise with the ball, nobody is stopping him but himself due to his poor work rate and lazy attitude without the ball.
A 4231 will stop us pressing high effectively against a 433 and stuggle to get the ball for long periods, how will be cope with that when you won't have the ball for long periods against possession based teams?
Last edited:
It’s getting to the stage with him when you’re beginning to think that £100m + is just too tempting.
- Status