[criticalanalysis]

Just a reminder that we ended the game with Pogba being the only recognised centre midfielder.

If you want him to be 'creative', 'drive the team forward' and 'take responsibility' etc, he would have had to literally take the ball off Maguire/Lindelof's feet and dribble past the entire team.

There was nobody for him to actually form a midfield with.

He was at blame for the goal but there are larger fundamental issues far more worrying and he is not one of the biggest ones.

The largest one being feck the diamond and play a proper 4-3-3 and feck Lingard as a starter.

 

[Foxbatt]

What does anyone expect him to do? He is supposed to be the holding midfield player. He is supposed to be the creative midfield player. He is supposed to be the box to box midfield player. It is bleedin obvious that he cannot be all three at once. I blame Ole for playing him in his current position. If Pogba has any sense he would go before the transfer closes.

 

[André Dominguez]

Oh i agree he is more dangerous further forward, making clever give and go's and using his agility/technical skill than when he is deep. But, he still possesses the vision to pick people out if they are available. He can't pick someone out if no-one is making any runs for us. That is the main issue. Our movement is non-existent. That makes Pogba's job as a deep creator almost impossible.

We need width urgently. We play so narrow that we make our opponents defensive work easier

 

[Foxbatt]

Just a reminder that we ended the game with Pogba being the only recognised centre midfielder.

If you want him to be 'creative', 'drive the team forward' and 'take responsibility' etc, he would have had to literally take the ball off Maguire/Lindelof's feet and dribble past the entire team.

There was nobody for him to actually form a midfield with.

He was at blame for the goal but there are larger fundamental issues far more worrying and he is not one of the biggest ones.

The largest one being feck the diamond and play a proper 4-3-3 and feck Lingard as a starter.

I agree with you apart from the last sentence. There is no diamond to feck it. If there was a diamond we would be playing a lot better.

 

[RedTiger]

Pogba played some really good passes in between the lines, only for the attacks to be broken down by a bad touch or a player dwelling on the ball. Wasn't great today, but he wasn't bad. Get a top number 10 ahead of him and we'd look a lot better.

Rather have a strong cm playing behind pogba right now.

 

[Majima]

If he is blamed by some for the last goal then why is his role for the equalizer not even getting a mention ?

If people are blaming him for a perfectly timed tackle with 6 players behind, then the goal going in at De Gea's near post then i give up. The guy is held to absurd standards and is constantly asked to pull rabbits out of hats game after game, which never get appreciated.

Can you imagine us today without Pogba? The stuff of nightmares!

 

[Kush]

His best form came when he played as an AM ahead of two sitting CMs. He takes too much risk to play as a proper CM. The problem is, there's no creativity from the rest of the side either so he can't pick safe passes all game long in the middle, it's a travesty we didn't improve our midfield. It's so light on quality.

Selling him won't make us better, if he misses few games through injuries/suspension. The staggering lack of creativity will be further amplified.

 

[kouroux]

If people are blaming him for a perfectly timed tackle with 6 players behind, then the goal going in at De Gea's near post then i give up. The guy is held to absurd standards and is constantly asked to pull rabbits out of hats game after game, which never get appreciated.

Can you imagine us today without Pogba? The stuff of nightmares!

Gerard Houllier ended David Ginola's career in 93 just like that. Blamed him for a lost ball inside the box when attacking after which Kostadinov scored the crucial goal for qualifying to the WC. Crazy mentality

 

[RedTiger]

It's called a team for a reason. If others aren't good enough, they'll be sorted by the manager.

How is the manager gonna sort out the other underperforming players? Drop them for a better player in the squad?

 

[Adam-Utd]

People wanted him to work hard and show desire - he had that in abundance today.

Yes he got tackled but so bloody what, everybody gets fouled! the goal is on the defence and DDG for not dealing with it.

Surprised people aren’t moaning at him for not taking the penalty off Rashford

 

[Andersonson]

Slopppy when he lost the ball on 1-1, but someone should take the yellow and stop the counter. The game was lost on defensive errors and the fact that our attackers aint good enough/ stabile enough

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Rather have a strong cm playing behind pogba right now.

I agree that we could do with a strong centre midfielder, but I very much doubt he'd have made a difference in today's game. We lost because of two silly mistakes, and because we struggle to break down a low block. Same thing has been said throughout the summer and nothing was done. So fecking annoying.

 

[Son]

Pogba should be a number 10 for us further up the field. He's much better when he has the option to gamble & always makes things happen. We need an actual playmaker behind him who gambles less in possession! McTomminay is awful btw so maybe not have him in the first 11. Pogba is pure quality if not put in a position that limits him.

 

[ManUArfa]

His best form came when he played as an AM ahead of two sitting CMs. He takes too much risk to play as a proper CM. The problem is, there's no creativity from the rest of the side either so he can't pick safe passes all game long in the middle, it's a travesty we didn't improve our midfield. It's so light on quality.

Selling him won't make us better, if he misses few games through injuries/suspension. The staggering lack of creativity will be further amplified.

This.

He needs to be played right behind the front three, especially against teams siting back. With Mata being too old he's the only player who can unlock defences with his passes, bully CDMs, and get behind centre backs with the threat of runs into the box.

Our problem is not replacing Carrick/Matic in the sitting role and pairing them alongside a mobile hard tackler who keeps the ball moving when we're in possession.

 

[Majima]

Gerard Houllier ended David Ginola's career in 93 just like that. Blamed him for a lost ball inside the box when attacking after which Kostadinov scored the crucial goal for qualifying to the WC. Crazy mentality

I did not know that. I just looked up the goal on youtube and briefly read a bit. My first reaction is how can anyone in their right mind blame him for that goal. That is insane. That's much worse than today but I can see the parallels for sure. Scared team with weak tactics, whilst a mercurial talent tries to not be fazed by it and take control himself.

Pogba is the only one capable of creating anything for us and he's the only one constantly singled out whenever anything goes wrong. Sounds about right.

 

[humdinger]

I feel bad for the guy, he's expected to move mountains on his own with all the odds against him. Honestly he is the one of few that seems like he truly cares.

That’s how I see it too. We rely on him to do absolutely everything for us as the other midfielders and attaches are inconsistent or just plain not very good. He can’t do everything by himself all the time, although at least he has the guts to try.

And I’m actually not a big fan of him since his comments early in the summer. I do definitely sympathise with him though.

 

[kouroux]

I did not know that. I just looked up the goal on youtube and briefly read a bit. My first reaction is how can anyone in their right mind blame him for that goal. That is insane. That's much worse than today but I can see the parallels for sure. Scared team with weak tactics, whilst a mercurial talent tries to not be fazed by it and take control himself.

Pogba is the only one capable of creating anything for us and he's the only one constantly singled out whenever anything goes wrong. Sounds about right.

There are lots of parallels. Up to this day, there is still bad blood between the 2 because of this I am happy to criticize Pogba for any lost ball and that one too but to directly blame him for the goal is madness

 

[Mibabalou]

Martial
Rashford - Pogba - James
Mct - Fred


Watch how much better he plays.

 

[el3mel]

He did try. Second half he was better. I’m not going to fault him for the 2nd goal. We moan about passing backwards, yet he tried a quick turn to make something happen but dallied looking for a good option.

Second goal came down to no one available to track van Aanholt, AWB clearly fatigued tracking back and yet another bollock dropped from de Gea.

A lot more on the pitch today at fault than Pog.

Yep. People know my opinion on him and that I don't like him much but nothing to fault him much about today. He was decent. For the second goal, he lost the ball in their half. Literally no way to blame for that when Palace took the ball through our entire half and DDG ended up fecking it on the close angle.

I'll blame Ole, Rashford and DDG for such loss, and of course Woodward ahead of all of them for fecking up the squad so hard like this.

 

[Majima]

There are lots of parallels. Up to this day, there is still bad blood between the 2 because of this I am happy to criticize Pogba for any lost ball and that one too but to directly blame him for the goal is madness

Houllier sounds like a nasty piece of work! I agree, mistakes are to happen sometimes when you are as creative as him. Thanks for the little bit of french info, was informative.

 

[Fracture90]

That’s how I see it too. We rely on him to do absolutely everything for us as the other midfielders and attaches are inconsistent or just plain not very good. He can’t do everything by himself all the time, although at least he has the guts to try.

And I’m actually not a big fan of him since his comments early in the summer. I do definitely sympathise with him though.

Exactly I really don't hold it against him for losing the ball before we concede 2nd goal, he's the only one with enough cojones to try something and Ole threw him a curveball by taking out MCT.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

What are people smoking talking about ballon dor for pogba, useless today.

 

[Amar__]

It was your average Herrera performance. Except the lack of running around, and he gave away the ball in classic Pogba manner for their goal.

I am really not sure what he did today, apart from the goal which was nice work from him to be fair? Did he create single chance today?

 

[Falcow]

Quick scroll through this page and there are at least 10 different excuses for pogba from formations to being let down by manager and team mates, anything bar our hero having to take responsibility. His ability to lose the ball in key areas is unprecedented for a united player. If this guy is the standard bearer at this great club we are well and truly screwed.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

It was your average Herrera performance. Except the lack of running around, and he gave away the ball in classic Pogba manner for their goal.

I am really not sure what he did today, apart from the goal which was nice work from him to be fair? Did he create single chance today?

There was not one moment apart from the goal he did anything above an average player level. This is Crystal Palace, how is he going to perform against better teams?

 

[Fracture90]

It was your average Herrera performance. Except the lack of running around, and he gave away the ball in classic Pogba manner for their goal.

I am really not sure what he did today, apart from the goal which was nice work from him to be fair? Did he create single chance today?

He's playing far too deep in order to create anything that isn't a long ball behind opposition defence, something that cannot be done against an opponent that sits deep and doesn't leave space in behind. We're sacrificing Pogba's offensive output in order to play Lingard.

 

[Slevs]

Martial
Rashford - Pogba - James
Mct - Fred


Watch how much better he plays.

I agree. Force him to play in a position where his one touch passing and movement is a positive instead of DLP where he dithers on the ball.

 

[kouroux]

Houllier sounds like a nasty piece of work! I agree, mistakes are to happen sometimes when you are as creative as him. Thanks for the little bit of french info, was informative.

In other circumstances, I would have been to give this bit of french football history but tonight...

 

[DickDastardly]

Martial
Rashford - Pogba - James
Mct - Fred


Watch how much better he plays.

Or watch him lose possesion even easier leading to more goals in the back of our net.

 

[Amar__]

He's playing far too deep in order to create anything that isn't a long ball behind opposition defence, something that cannot be done against an opponent that sits deep and doesn't leave space in behind. We're sacrificing Pogba's offensive output in order to play Lingard.

I can understand that - if we were playing Liverpool today. But we played Wolves who spend majority of the game in their box.

People started accusing McTominay today of not doing anything with the ball. We literally sold Herrera because we thought he wasn't good enough with the ball at his feet as a box to box(despite that not being his best attribute anyway), but when Pogba doesn't do anything with the ball it's because he is playing out of position.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

People wanted him to work hard and show desire - he had that in abundance today.

Yes he got tackled but so bloody what, everybody gets fouled! the goal is on the defence and DDG for not dealing with it.

Surprised people aren’t moaning at him for not taking the penalty off Rashford

It’s funny, I thought it was a really half arsed performance from him, his head wasn’t in the game at all I thought, he was on the verge of losing it a few times. Apart from that tackle back he made after losing the ball I didn’t see much desire. I thought it was a ‘I wanna be in Madrid’ performance.

His mistake contributed to the goal but DDG is one who really let himself down in that phase of play.

 

[Irwin99]

Thought Palace players were trying to wind him up all game. Decent performance, ups and downs as usual. Ridiculous amount of pressure on him to create absolutely everything.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

Thought Palace players were trying to wind him up all game. Decent performance, ups and downs as usual. Ridiculous amount of pressure on him to create absolutely everything.

I’m sure he is compensated pretty well for that pressure.

 

[Alexit]

Best outfield player my bum. He's easily our best player, period.

He's expected to do too much, and is clearly wasted in a midfield two that doesn't suit either him or Scotty. But when you don't reinforce the gaping hole in the midfield what do you expect.

From a purely footballing perspective he deserves better than the crap he's surrounded with. Wouldn't mind seeing him at Madrid next summer.

 

[Fracture90]

I can understand that - if we were playing Liverpool today. But we played Wolves who spend majority of the game in their box.

People started accusing McTominay today of not doing anything with the ball. We literally sold Herrera because we thought he wasn't good enough with the ball at his feet as a box to box(despite that not being his best attribute anyway), but when Pogba doesn't do anything with the ball it's because he is playing out of position.

You asked why hasn't he created anything (except being a large part of our goal) and I explained to you that he's playing way too deep, too far away from the positions from which he can make things happen. To make things harder he's gotta go through Lingard who's got absolutely abysmal touch and permanently abysmal passing range.

 

[Amar__]

You asked why hasn't he created anything (except being a large part of our goal) and I explained to you that he's playing way too deep, too far away from the positions from which he can make things happen. To make things harder he's gotta go through Lingard who's got absolutely abysmal touch and permanently abysmal passing range.

Then there's no point in playing him in midfield, because he is hardly good defensively either.

 

[Fracture90]

Then there's no point in playing him in midfield, because he is hardly good defensively either.

You do understand that there are variously positions in MF, right?

 

[2cents]

Gerard Houllier ended David Ginola's career in 93 just like that. Blamed him for a lost ball inside the box when attacking after which Kostadinov scored the crucial goal for qualifying to the WC. Crazy mentality

Houllier sounds like a nasty piece of work! I agree, mistakes are to happen sometimes when you are as creative as him. Thanks for the little bit of french info, was informative.

Fergie also kind of ostracized Nani for doing something similar in that crazy League Cup game at Stamford Bridge in 2012:

“Ferguson blamed Nani for giving the ball away in the 94th minute at the end of normal time with United leading 3-2. It ended with Wootton fouling Ramires and gifting substitute Eden Hazard the penalty that would take the game into extra-time. "Nani decided to try and beat a player and we ended up conceding a penalty kick," Ferguson said.”

https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.ind...es-nani-for-decisive-penalty-8270011.html?amp

 

[Halal Jalal]

Our only world class player, once again.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

Our only world class player, once again.

World class? This was a bad performance amongst many. A world class player shows up game after game. Pogba does it when we are already winning mostly.