[Dr. Dwayne]

I think he was trying to throw himself to the ground, then flung his arms up when it looked like he wasn’t going to get under the ball. If he’d just stood still (or turned his face away) it would have hit him on the torso. His face wasn’t in danger until after he shit the bed.

Whatever it was it was stupid beyond belief. A wee hop and it's hitting him on the crest

 

[Hugh Jass]

We would be doing well to get 65/70 million for him, which i would take.

 

[El Jefe]

Let's be honest, he needs to be sold. Four seasons and he still hasn't been close to what we wanted or expected. What you see is what you get with him.

He might be the superstar midfielder we think he is at another club but for United this is as good as it gets.

 

[RK]

I watched the highlight again like ten times and I don't think he was coward. It was just pure instinct to protect his face.

However if you watch the highlight again you'd see everyone were ready to the shot but him. Bruno was running up to block the shot, man this guy read the situation super fast. Others like Fosu-Mensha tried to turn away so the ball would not hit his face. But Pogba, he was like caught off that moment and just realised the situation after Rice shot. Then by his instinct he forgot that he's in the penalty area and raised his hand to protect his face. He's not concentrated and not focused at all. And imo, it's even worse.

Yeah I think this is a more reasonable argument even if I'm not sure I agree with it yet.

Remind me the last time you saw a professional footballer lose the flight of the ball and react by flinging his arms up to push the ball away from him? The problem here is the nature of his “instinctive reaction” and elite sports is all about making the correct reactions on instinct.

This isn't too far off. 6 days ago. Not sure why Silva ducks and moves his arm back in front of his face (and across). I'm sure it's a comparison one could pick holes in but I've only spent 30s thinking about it.
Maybe Silva isn't elite either.

 

[tjb]

Peope talk a lot of nonsense, 2 weeks ago everyone here loved him. Regardless of today's performance, I'm still happy that he stuck to his role. He isn't perfect, his touches can be heavy and his lack of defensive awareness is still average, but he's doing the job we want him to do rather than playing the scattergun attack that some people would have him do. Everyone makes mistakes ( even though that was a terrible one).

 

[Foxbatt]

SAF was correct. He is not a Manchester United player. He strolls along and put all the pressure on Matic and Bruno.
I want him sold. On recent performances Grealish would be a massive upgrade on Pogba. He sure has the talent but what does he bring to the team?

 

[M16Red]

Peope talk a lot of nonsense, 2 weeks ago everyone here loved him. Regardless of today's performance, I'm still happy that he stuck to his role. He isn't perfect, his touches can be heavy and his lack of defensive awareness is still average, but he's doing the job we want him to do rather than playing the scattergun attack that some people would have him do. Everyone makes mistakes ( even though that was a terrible one).

No. Not true. Search if you want.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This isn't too far off. 6 days ago. Not sure why Silva ducks and moves his arm back in front of his face (and across). I'm sure it's a comparison one could pick holes in but I've only spent 30s thinking about it.
Maybe Silva isn't elite either.

That’s a weird reaction from Silva too. Although he at least has the excuse of needing to react to a ball that he only realised was coming his way when it was a couple of meters away.

Plus he didn’t react by using both arms to forcefully push the ball away. If he did he would also be the laughing stock that Pogba is for most football fans (and Michail Antonio) tonight.

 

[starman]

...while lowering your face to the ball's level. fecking jump, man! Unbelievable.

Ole should make him stand on the training pitch with his hands behind his back while the whole team blasts shots at him.

Or don't put your hands up away from your body, its a pretty simply premise.

 

[sammsky1]

He's not committed? All the indications are he'll likely sign a new contract very soon.

Only because no one else in the world is stupid enough to sign him. You know all of this.
This will be worse than Sanchez.

 

[The Original]

SAF was correct. He is not a Manchester United player. He strolls along and put all the pressure on Matic and Bruno.
I want him sold. On recent performances Grealish would be a massive upgrade on Pogba. He sure has the talent but what does he bring to the team?

Ferguson only ever had good things to say about Pogba...would be quite obliged if you could show where he ever said Pogba wasn't a Man Utd player.

 

[Holocene]

SAF was correct. He is not a Manchester United player. He strolls along and put all the pressure on Matic and Bruno.
I want him sold. On recent performances Grealish would be a massive upgrade on Pogba. He sure has the talent but what does he bring to the team?

You have a source on that?

 

[Silverman]

Poor performance. Dust himself down and go again.

 

[crossy1686]

I like Paul, he’s a very good player and very likeable as a person, but what really pisses me off is if we don’t make the top 4 he’ll be the first to hand his notice in and ask for a transfer, despite doing feck all except expect his team mates to dig him out again and hand him CL football.

 

[Foxbatt]

Ferguson only ever had good things to say about Pogba...would be quite obliged if you could show where he ever said Pogba wasn't a Man Utd player.

There is a few on the internet. Just Google it.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Bad game. Shame. Hopefully he’ll rebound against Leicester and bag a goal and MoM performance.

How often has that happened in his United career?

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

I like Paul, he’s a very good player and very likeable as a person, but what really pisses me off is if we don’t make the top 4 he’ll be the first to hand his notice in and ask for a transfer, despite doing feck all except expect his team mates to dig him out again and hand him CL football.

Agree with this. To be frank, if he wants to go at this point than feck him anyways. Not performed like a world class midfielder for us 80% of the time unfortunately. Time for the reigns to be passed to Bruno.

 

[DickDastardly]

We need to find a better place for him to play.

He's not delivering as a 10, plus we got Bruno now, he's not comfortable as a 6....i don't know actually...

Put him on the left in a 3 man midfield? Change to a 4-3-3?

 

[Rajma]

As good as he can be on his day I would sell him. That's coming from someone who appreciated him all the way.

 

[M16Red]

We need to find a better place for him to play.

He's not delivering as a 10, plus we got Bruno now, he's not comfortable as a 6....i don't know actually...

Put him on the left in a 3 man midfield? Change to a 4-3-3?

I have a huge back garden.

 

[bosnian_red]

We need to find a better place for him to play.

He's not delivering as a 10, plus we got Bruno now, he's not comfortable as a 6....i don't know actually...

Put him on the left in a 3 man midfield? Change to a 4-3-3?

Not at United? Or the premier league more specifically. Would have more time to shine in other slower leagues. He's not suited for the premier league as it's too fast paced for him. He likes playing at a slower pace.

 

[TheReligion]

If you're playing him deep pair him with Mctominay or Fred. Not Matic who likes to take his time on the ball much like Pogba.

 

[sammsky1]

Watching the skill, application and dedication of Liverpool and Chelsea midfielders is such a damning indictment for Pogba.

He plays like he is owed a living, like it’s up to others to ensure he plays on world cups finals, Champions League or compete for titles. Others must do the graft and work, just so he can make a few fancy passes for his YouTube reel so he can steal all the glory.

 

[sammsky1]

We need to find a better place for him to play.

He's not delivering as a 10, plus we got Bruno now, he's not comfortable as a 6....i don't know actually...

Put him on the left in a 3 man midfield? Change to a 4-3-3?

Are we really going to go through all this again?

 

[el3mel]

Not at United? Or the premier league more specifically. Would have more time to shine in other slower leagues. He's not suited for the premier league as it's too fast paced for him. He likes playing at a slower pace.

Thought you were starting to get a little bit soft about him ? I remember seeing you praising him a lot recently. To be fair I also did, but that's Pogba. Each time I try to be optimistic about him, he fecks it up and makes me return to slaughter him.

 

[Valencia's Left Foot]

SAF was correct. He is not a Manchester United player. He strolls along and put all the pressure on Matic and Bruno.
I want him sold. On recent performances Grealish would be a massive upgrade on Pogba. He sure has the talent but what does he bring to the team?

He’s a luxury player when you have the other positions around him sorted out. Move him on and use the money to fix multiple positions. He’s never gonna be the guy who grabs the game by the scruff of the neck when things are going poorly.

 

[No Love]

Surely the most divisive player we’ve ever had. Tonight he’s the pantomime villain, yet somewhere he has a cast of vehement supporters who tell anyone who’ll listen that he’s an incredible midfielder. Expect these guys to come out in full force the next time he slides a decent pass through to one of the forwards.

I’d rather he left, tbh. There’s just too much nonsense that comes along with him. In years to come I’ll always look at Pogba as the prime example of why you must consistently watch a player for 90 minutes if you want appraise them in a holistic and fair manner. You can perform a quick YouTube search for compilations that make Paul look incredible. I’d wager his nuthuggers and perhaps even opposition fans are most likely to form their opinion of him this way. We, as supporters of Man Utd have had a chance to watch Pogba extensively. Surely even his most ardent supporters would agree he’s been very underwhelming.

 

[DickDastardly]

Are we really going to go through all this again?

Feck it.

You iz right. One can hope right

 

[No Love]

We need to find a better place for him to play.

He's not delivering as a 10, plus we got Bruno now, he's not comfortable as a 6....i don't know actually...

Put him on the left in a 3 man midfield? Change to a 4-3-3?

Have to disagree, unfortunately. I think we’ve tried everything with him, at this stage. The fact we’re even discussing this four years removed from his return to the club is a damning indictment on the success of the transfer.

 

[bosnian_red]

Thought you were starting to get a little bit soft about him ? I remember seeing you praising him a lot recently. To be fair I also did, but that's Pogba. Each time I try to be optimistic about him, he fecks it up and makes me return to slaughter him.

Yup. Had a couple of encouraging games and I thought it was getting better. Dog shit the last couple of weeks and attitude was horrendous after some pressure on him, and then today was pathetic. Even if you ignore the handball, you expect a big player to bounce back from it. At least in work rate. He decided he didn't want to be out there instead so just started walking around, passing it off to the closest player square, and pretty much doing nothing. One too many times IMO. He's a player who thinks he is someone who he isn't close too, and I think he'll find that there's a lot fewer suiters for him than he thinks there will be.

 

[2mufc0]

This thread is so toxic.

 

[el3mel]

Yup. Had a couple of encouraging games and I thought it was getting better. Dog shit the last couple of weeks and attitude was horrendous after some pressure on him, and then today was pathetic. Even if you ignore the handball, you expect a big player to bounce back from it. At least in work rate. He decided he didn't want to be out there instead so just started walking around, passing it off to the closest player square, and pretty much doing nothing. One too many times IMO. He's a player who thinks he is someone who he isn't close too, and I think he'll find that there's a lot fewer suiters for him than he thinks there will be.

It's hard to make your mind out about him. He's so inconsistent it's ridiculous, but one thing for sure is he has shown he can't be the main man even while playing well, which is a big waste.

 

[Jibbs]

Only because no one else in the world is stupid enough to sign him. You know all of this.
This will be worse than Sanchez.

This.

 

[Sultan]

Only because no one else in the world is stupid enough to sign him. You know all of this.
This will be worse than Sanchez.

United and the club know his worth and other clubs cannot afford him. There would be a queue if United wanted to sell.

 

[Jibbs]

It's hard to make your mind out about him. He's so inconsistent it's ridiculous, but one thing for sure is he has shown he can't be the main man even while playing well, which is a big waste.

One instant in last minutes summed up his attitude. In the last minutes, somebody passed the ball to Pogba. Nobody was very close to him. Instead of doing something and talking the responsibility. He back passed it to Williams.

 

[E-mal]

I won't be bothered if we could replace him with someone of the quality of Thiago (Non injured) or De jong.
As good as he is, he is very poor defensively and hardly covers slot of ground. Teams find it easy to play through our midfield, of course Matic adds to this problem.

 

[Jibbs]

United and the club know his worth and other clubs cannot afford him. There would be a queue if United wanted to sell.

Goodluck with that. Nobody would pay more than 50m for him right now and that too if we are lucky.

 

[M16Red]

United and the club know his worth and other clubs cannot afford him. There would be a queue if United wanted to sell.

I hope so. Because he needs to be somewhere else.

 

[el3mel]

United and the club know his worth and other clubs cannot afford him. There would be a queue if United wanted to sell.

Not "cannot afford him". They think he's not worth the money we're asking for, and he's not.

 

[sammsky1]

United and the club know his worth and other clubs cannot afford him. There would be a queue if United wanted to sell.

What’s is this worth? I mean footballing worth and not his incredible and carefully curated social media worth. Where is the evidence?

I’m also not sure any club would spend £100m on him, age 27 and with a very erratic body of work in his recent past.

I think it’s best for everyone if another club would take him this summer. COVID-19 has wrecked that plan which Pogba himself wanted. it’s the only reason he’d sign an extension for loads more money (for marketing and not football worth).

I was right about this guy since my elephant in the room thread. 3.5 years later, So many more have also see that.