[LawCharltonBest]

So.. why do we hate Pogba today?

Did he do a hair dab on his internet?

 

[Rozay]

Mate, you can't say 'I've not heard anything solid, therefore it's not true'. Basically everything discussed here is conjecture, beyond the 90 minutes played on the actual pitch. If you choose to ignore what's written by journalists in the media that's your prerogative, God knows they've done enough to turn people away. The facts are his contract is nearing its end, his agent is Raiola, there were multiple reports suddenly flooding the media at the same time (about his wage demands), he's a megastar that's consistently courted other teams - it's hardly beyond the realms of possibility his people are talking to the press and putting stuff out there. Dictating the narrative in the media is a massive part of negotiations nowadays, it's not a secret. So yeah, I think you can say there's accounts suggesting this is the case. If you don't buy it more power to you.

I'm trying to use common sense. Apart from the facts (his contract runs out next year), all we have to go on are reports in the press (which you don't want to pay any mind to, fair enough) and common sense. In my mind, any one of Madrid, Barca, PSG, and Juventus would want to sign Pogba. Of course I don't know what Man Utd want for him - does that really need asking? My line of thinking goes something like the following; I don't see why United would turn down a bid for him, assuming it's not a literal pittance (how much do you think Utd can feasibly want for him?), and I don't see why Madrid/Juve/PSG/Barca wouldn't swoop in for him now before engaging in a mass shoot-out next summer. All four of them just had crappy campaigns and are in need of making a statement. Again, I'm using common sense and guesswork. It's my usual go-to when discussing footy rumours.

I agree that Pogba would be happy to leave this summer if the right offer comes in. I disagree that Raiola isn't already involved in determining what happens next. Maybe in my mind Raiola plays a more domineering role in proceedings.

My point is I’ve not seen reports saying that the unresolved issue with Pogba’s future is that we won’t pay him £500k a week. And I’m directly saying that this isn’t the media narrative either. Perhaps you once saw it written in Mundo whatever sports paper, but the fact is, that is not the narrative. The reports say the same thing, we are keen to open talks in the summer. We will discuss after the Euros, etc. I think it’s a reach for you to summarise the situation, even if based solely on the press, as Pogba wants £500k. That sounds made up to me.

 

[Mindhunter]

So.. why do we hate Pogba today?

Did he do a hair dab on his internet?

No, he tweeted.

 

[Rozay]

So.. why do we hate Pogba today?

Did he do a hair dab on his internet?

He played a football match.

Some people said the performance was good, then there were a few posts generally saying good things about him which others didn’t like, so they rushed to provide explanations as to why an praise is not warranted - and then off we went with today’s back and forth episode.

 

[hubbuh]

My point is I’ve not seen reports saying that the unresolved issue with Pogba’s future is that we won’t pay him £500k a week. And I’m directly saying that this isn’t the media narrative either. Perhaps you once saw it written in Mundo whatever sports paper, but the fact is, that is not the narrative. The reports say the same thing, we are keen to open talks in the summer. We will discuss after the Euros, etc. I think it’s a reach for you to summarise the situation, even if based solely on the press, as Pogba wants £500k. That sounds made up to me.

I'm not definitively summarising the situation, it's just my interpretation of the situation given what we know about Pogba and Raiola, the rumours/reports in the press and scaling salaries in football. Fair enough, though. The proof will be in the pudding and we'll see what sort of remuneration he's on for whoever he's playing for in 2022. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest it'll be close to £500k, though. It's probably not far off right now.

 

[bosnian_red]

So you would say that Kanté and Tolisso are also free?

More adequate defensively individually so having 2 players like that around him automatically helps him out. I know what you're saying and it's fair that they all interchange, but it's not as if he plays alongside Fred and Bruno Fernandes in a midfield 3. He has Kante and another actual pure center midfielder there, so while Deschamps has them sharing the responsibilities, it doesn't mean that at the end of the day he isn't just more protected due to having those partners.

 

[M16Red]

Is that due to how we were overrun by Villareal all game and Pogba struggling to keep up, or as a result of Fred’s renound ability to break down low blocks?

It’s easy to say that in hindsight anyway. We could present a number of alternative scenarios. I could say we’d have won if Fred played instead of Rashford and PP played left. Or if Fred played instead of Bruno and PP played 10. I’ve picked those examples as those are two players who were comfortably worse than Pogba on the night. We’d never know what would have happened if Fred started instead, and your view is your view. I do think Pogba has been made some sort of scapegoat for the final seemingly for nothing other than ‘not winning us the game’. He didn’t really do anything wrong, he just didn’t do anything amazing.

He's not an scapegoat, he's a very talented player. he doesn't have a position - even when we paid 90 mill for him I was saying he an enigma in a positional sense. His defensive skills are too low to be a deep box to box and his pace of passing is too slow to be a real threat in the EPL. To me he suits the European game maybe Spain or France, Italy because it's not as fast as the English Premier League.

If you look at it this way, does one flash of brilliance outweigh 90 minutes of graft in that position. You might say yes to win a game, would you trade right now Carrick or Keane (both peak) for a Pogba? Its like Veron is some way ...talented he was but like a jigsaw piece in the wrong box

 

[Rozay]

I'm not definitively summarising the situation, it's just my interpretation of the situation given what we know about Pogba and Raiola, the rumours/reports in the press and scaling salaries in football. Fair enough, though. The proof will be in the pudding and we'll see what sort of remuneration he's on for whoever he's playing for in 2022. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest it'll be close to £500k, though. It's probably not far off right now.

That’s fair, if you have seen such reports. I haven’t. I posted the WikiLeaks of his salary a while back, he’s on about £150k-£160k basic, with bonuses and image rights and other things that could take it up to about £280k I believe. Image rights is a standard add on for all players, and another large portion of bonuses is dependent on CL qualification, which we haven’t always even met.

You saying you don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest his next salary, be it here or elsewhere, is close to £500k is basically you saying that is what you perceive to be the upper market rate for him. And if that is the case, then him and his often labelled ‘grubby agent’ (or just top level businessman and negotiator, when removing emotion) will of course look to get it. And if they get someone to agree to pay it to them, then they were obviously right with their valuation.

My personal take has been that the player has become disillusioned with the team or simply wants to try something new. To me, it seems textbook smear campaign or defence mechanism to try to put it all down to greed (which I’m not saying you in particular are doing). He’s been here 6 years and has not signed a contract improvement, which is extremely uncommon for any player, let alone one of his calibre whom the club would be keen to preserve value in. If it were all money, I think he’d have been signing new deals every other year, like most players do. He’s on the same contract he got at 23 though.

 

[Jeppers7]

He's not an scapegoat, he's a very talented player. he doesn't have a position - even when we paid 90 mill for him I was saying he an enigma in a positional sense. His defensive skills are too low to be a deep box to box and his pace of passing is too slow to be a real threat in the EPL. To me he suits the European game maybe Spain or France, Italy because it's not as fast as the English Premier League.

If you look at it this way, does one flash of brilliance outweigh 90 minutes of graft in that position. You might say yes to win a game, would you trade right now Carrick or Keane (both peak) for a Pogba? Its like Veron is some way ...talented he was but like a jigsaw piece in the wrong box

These two names don’t belong in the same sentence. Keane I wouldn’t swap for many players ever. Carrick wouldn’t be held in the regards he seems to be by many these days if he played in this team, he benefited from playing in a successful team but was merely a cog. He had one great season. The rest ranged from good to decent on a personal level and his form was generally inconsistent and he had many poor games in big games.
Keane was the most consistently brilliant performer I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t swap him for 11 Pogba’s or 16 Carricks.

 

[JPRouve]

More adequate defensively individually so having 2 players like that around him automatically helps him out. I know what you're saying and it's fair that they all interchange, but it's not as if he plays alongside Fred and Bruno Fernandes in a midfield 3. He has Kante and another actual pure center midfielder there, so while Deschamps has them sharing the responsibilities, it doesn't mean that at the end of the day he isn't just more protected due to having those partners.

But you described balance, why is it so hard to call it as it is, Pogba also protects his teammates? And you are talking about a midfield that has played a grand total of one game together in that system, Pogba has played plenty of times in a midfield two for France and done his job as a CM. Sometimes I really don't understand some of you.

 

[Rozay]

He's not an scapegoat, he's a very talented player. he doesn't have a position - even when we paid 90 mill for him I was saying he an enigma in a positional sense. His defensive skills are too low to be a deep box to box and his pace of passing is too slow to be a real threat in the EPL. To me he suits the European game maybe Spain or France, Italy because it's not as fast as the English Premier League.

If you look at it this way, does one flash of brilliance outweigh 90 minutes of graft in that position. You might say yes to win a game, would you trade right now Carrick or Keane (both peak) for a Pogba? Its like Veron is some way ...talented he was but like a jigsaw piece in the wrong box

I agree, but I wouldn’t be playing him in ‘that position’. He is a creative midfielder. He probably wouldn’t even be asked to defend if he wasn’t 6’3. He does have a position. It’s a CM in a midfield 3. The issue with us, is we cannot play him and Bruno together, without asking him to play double pivot. If you even just look at a highlight reel of Pogba - it’s clear that his strengths are going forwards, not backwards. He needs to play instead of Bruno, or needs to leave, IMO. I’ve said many times, but if Ole wanted Pogba to be a central figure in his team, he should not have bought Bruno. He’d have been better off going for Saúl at the time, who would have replaced one of McFred with more quality.

And I feel he has been made a scapegoat of the final. Many couldn’t wait to say he was so dreadful etc, when to me, all he did was play like a CM. Never a vintage PP game of course, but to me, vintage PP is going forward, beating men, shooting, creating etc. That is, quite simply, not the role he was given. He did make a number of tackles and interceptions in the final, if anyone cares, but it seems on this occasion, 90 mins graft was not appreciated after all.

 

[M16Red]

These two names don’t belong in the same sentence. Keane I wouldn’t swap for many players ever. Carrick wouldn’t be held in the regards he seems to be by many these days if he played in this team, he benefited from playing in a successful team but was merely a cog. He had one great season. The rest ranged from good to decent on a personal level and his form was generally inconsistent and he had many poor games in big games.
Keane was the most consistently brilliant performer I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t swap him for 11 Pogba’s or 16 Carricks.

It was more a question about skill set, EG Keane was a work horse and great leader (not overlooking his passing). Carrick was a different player, used his positioning and passing to create.

 

[JPRouve]

It was more a question about skill set, EG Keane was a work horse and great leader (not overlooking his passing). Carrick was a different player, used his positioning and passing to create.

Keane was a bit more than a work horse, he was a better passer than Carrick and had better positioning too.

 

[M16Red]

I agree, but I wouldn’t be playing him in ‘that position’. He is a creative midfielder. He probably wouldn’t even be asked to defend if he wasn’t 6’3. He does have a position. It’s a CM in a midfield 3. The issue with us, is we cannot play him and Bruno together, without asking him to play double pivot. If you even just look at a highlight reel of Pogba - it’s clear that his strengths are going forwards, not backwards. He needs to play instead of Bruno, or needs to leave, IMO. I’ve said many times, but if Ole wanted Pogba to be a central figure in his team, he should not have bought Bruno. He’d have been better off going for Saúl at the time, who would have replaced one of McFred with more quality.

And I feel he has been made a scapegoat of the final. Many couldn’t wait to say he was so dreadful etc, when to me, all he did was play like a CM. Never a vintage PP game of course, but to me, vintage PP is going forward, beating men, shooting, creating etc. That is, quite simply, not the role he was given. He did make a number of tackles and interceptions in the final, if anyone cares, but it seems on this occasion, 90 mins graft was not appreciated after all.

No, 90 mins of graft is appreciated, but it's just not his skill set IMO. Like you said he is attacking player he does he best work attacking. I just like a balanced team and sadly currently we play him of the left and rashford moves to the right or we play him as a 6 type and we get over run...I don't know. Pogba is a great talent, but a balanced team wins things. Also we a talking about a player who spent most of the season injured.

 

[M16Red]

Keane was a bit more than a work horse, he was a better passer than Carrick and had better positioning too.

Hmm. Nah.

 

[Rozay]

No, 90 mins of graft is appreciated, but it's just not his skill set IMO. Like you said he is attacking player he does he best work attacking. I just like a balanced team and sadly currently we play him of the left and rashford moves to the right or we play him as a 6 type and we get over run...I don't know. Pogba is a great talent, but a balanced team wins things. Also we a talking about a player who spent most of the season injured.

I agree, I don’t think we have the best balance, which is the priority. I don’t think we CAN have the best balance with both Bruno and Pogba. We don’t always get overrun with Pogba as a 6, but an equal issue is the cost we pay to NOT get overrun. We get a Pogba that is so preoccupied with not fecking up, who chases and intercepts, but won’t be able to have the offensive impact he had against Spurs, for example. And that’s the Pogba you want, as it’s a rarer commodity. It’s easy to replace the Pogba who is asked to defend, hesa lot harder to replace the one who has turned games for us at WHL twice in the last year. But we can’t have it all.

And his injury was unfortunate, but I’m sure he still managed about 40 games. He was playing some good stuff before his injury too, and the timing was unfortunate for us.

I don’t like our midfield in general, but if we can get it right across those 3 players, we’d go up two levels as a team I reckon.

 

[Jeppers7]

Hmm. Nah.

You massively underrate Keane and overrate Carrick. The bigger difference though was that Keane used his passing to control the tempo and dictate the play. Carrick largely hit it straight back where it came from.

 

[bosnian_red]

But you described balance, why is it so hard to call it as it is, Pogba also protects his teammates? And you are talking about a midfield that has played a grand total of one game together in that system, Pogba has played plenty of times in a midfield two for France and done his job as a CM. Sometimes I really don't understand some of you.

Huh? I have no problem giving Pogba credit. I'm not saying Pogba "protects" his teammates because it's been proven time and time again that he is awful defensively? He doesn't magically get good at it for France. They just don't put him in those situations like United does. Or when they do, it's against very weak opposition. Like I said, yes they play Rabiot often instead of tolisso with the same situation, and previously Matuidi played on the "left" but is a defensive midfielder who was energetic and could go up and down. So France had a lopsided formation with Kante and Matuidi that could cover a lot of space and do a good defensive job to cover for Griezmann, Mbappe and Pogba. Pogba does more than the other 2 of course, but he doesn't really do a normal center midfielders amount, but more an attacking midfielders level of defending. Asking him to do more just doesn't go well.

Anyway I'm not even sure what we're going on about. I was responding to someone questioning why Pogba "seems" to do better for France, and one of the reasons is that generally he is in a more balanced midfield with Ngolo Kante next to him, but not even just him but one more midfielders who is more adept defensively. Deschamps wouldn't play just Tolisso with Pogba and Coman, Mbappe, Griezmann and Benzema as a front 4 against any serious opponents in big competitions, because it's suicide. Kante can almost make it work because he's incredible, but mainly the point is that Pogba just can't really do it that deep, never could (anywhere close to his normal level), and its a big risk to try it as we've often seen. He needs a more solid base around him, so while he'll "do his bit", it'll let him be his normal self more and we won't be so prone to getting bypassed in midfield.

 

[Champagne Football]

He's definitely going to leave on a free in a year and it's not the worst scenario. We get to keep a world class player for 1 more season, who will be playing for his next bumper pay day at PSG/Madrid, so will hopefully be giving 110% every game.

The younger players in the squad, Mejbri/Greenwood/Maybe Garner get to learn from a world class player for another year.

Then one year from now, we replace him with hopefully Jude Bellingham, who will be far more effective than Pogba, will have a clear defined role in central midfield next to Garner, and will actually want to be here long term, even though we'll probably spend 100m to get him if we can land him.

 

[Remember the geese]

He's definitely going to leave on a free in a year and it's not the worst scenario. We get to keep a world class player for 1 more season, who will be playing for his next bumper pay day at PSG/Madrid, so will hopefully be giving 110% every game.

The younger players in the squad, Mejbri/Greenwood/Maybe Garner get to learn from a world class player for another year.

Then one year from now, we replace him with hopefully Jude Bellingham, who will be far more effective than Pogba, will have a clear defined role in central midfield next to Garner, and will actually want to be here long term, even though we'll probably spend 100m to get him if we can land him.

Can't see Bellingham leaving next Summer, purely because that is most likely when Haaland will depart. Will Dortmund allow both to leave at the same time? Can't see it.

 

[Teja]

What are you talking about? That's how France has been playing 90% of the past 5 years and the midfield is more balanced because the assignments make it balanced, Kanté and Pogba play relatively deep while Griezmann is a great support for them, on top of that despite Mbappé being subpar defensively for a long time Matuidi on the left wing allowed the midfield to cover the entire width and protect both fullbacks.

The current system has only been played since last week and is due to the introduction of Benzema.

Yes but Matuidi is hardly a winger even in the old system. He did a lot of leg work so it's more similar to what you play now vs what United play with Rashford on the left.

 

[United in sin]

Look at the Europa league final. Pogba should have been running the show and numerous commentators said Mc Tominah looked much better on the night.

He ran the show when we won it under Mourinho. McTominay ran around, looked aggressive but had zero to show for it in terms of sheer productivity. Pogba has performed on the big stage more times than Bruno has for us. That's not taking anything from Bruno who's been a massive signing.

 

[Champagne Football]

Can't see Bellingham leaving next Summer, purely because that is most likely when Haaland will depart. Will Dortmund allow both to leave at the same time? Can't see it.

True. Could be McT and Garner for a season next season before going for him.

 

[Jibbs]

Why would he move this summer? Where can he go? Barca, Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter have no money this window. I can see him renew his contract if Man Utd is willing to meet his salary demand.

Yeah... and I can see Ole awarding him a lucrative deal just like he did with De Gea.

 

[Bebestation]

I really like Pogba as a player - However I do get this big feeling in my heart that Pogba resembles a certain period in our club.

Is he really worth what we paid for? Is he worth the wages he is on?

Does he have the ability to play in any formation or tactics - or do we have to adapt as a team to get the best out of him. Is the best of him really that great?

Does he have a slight egotistical manner where he may at times come across looking like he thinks he is bigger than the club?

Should he have the freedom to talk to the Public Media and talk about how he wants to leave? Is Raiola an agent worth the hassle?

How's his work rate in peoples eyes? Is it a surprise that players like Widjnaldum, Kante, Henderson win CL's but we dont even get close?

We paid 80+ million for a player who decided to leave us on a free - arguably leaving us when we were strong and joining us when we were weaker.



- Again, I like Pogba, i enjoy watching him play for us & dont necessarily want to sell him; yet there is this part of me that has a gut feeling thinking that we as a club will move a step forward when Pogba no longer players for us.

Even when you consider what the Midfield technically is - it is arguably the heart of a team isnt it? Its usually the middle block of the core of the United - Is Pogba the heart of Manchester United? Is he part of the core of our great club?

I'm not so sure.

 

[JPRouve]

Huh? I have no problem giving Pogba credit. I'm not saying Pogba "protects" his teammates because it's been proven time and time again that he is awful defensively? He doesn't magically get good at it for France. They just don't put him in those situations like United does. Or when they do, it's against very weak opposition. Like I said, yes they play Rabiot often instead of tolisso with the same situation, and previously Matuidi played on the "left" but is a defensive midfielder who was energetic and could go up and down. So France had a lopsided formation with Kante and Matuidi that could cover a lot of space and do a good defensive job to cover for Griezmann, Mbappe and Pogba. Pogba does more than the other 2 of course, but he doesn't really do a normal center midfielders amount, but more an attacking midfielders level of defending. Asking him to do more just doesn't go well.

Anyway I'm not even sure what we're going on about. I was responding to someone questioning why Pogba "seems" to do better for France, and one of the reasons is that generally he is in a more balanced midfield with Ngolo Kante next to him, but not even just him but one more midfielders who is more adept defensively. Deschamps wouldn't play just Tolisso with Pogba and Coman, Mbappe, Griezmann and Benzema as a front 4 against any serious opponents in big competitions, because it's suicide. Kante can almost make it work because he's incredible, but mainly the point is that Pogba just can't really do it that deep, never could (anywhere close to his normal level), and its a big risk to try it as we've often seen. He needs a more solid base around him, so while he'll "do his bit", it'll let him be his normal self more and we won't be so prone to getting bypassed in midfield.

I'll make it short Deschamps system is meant to provide cover for the fullbacks, Pogba does a normal CM job there is absolutely no reason to claim that he plays like an attacking midfielder which is why at the WC his tackle and interception stats were similar to Kanté or Brozovic and it was the same story at the Euro even though Matuidi has generally been subpar in a double pivot as a DM.

Even though this is in Pogba's thread my point is more about how Deschamps set the team, and not about credit to Pogba. It's a total misconception to think that Pogba plays a freer more attacking role for France, it's the opposite.

 

[Hulksmash]

He's aiming for a free Transfer. I think it's obvious, he will get way more money and can choose the club.

 

[VanDeBank]

People still have debates about his best position after five seasons. If the realisation that he just isn't as good as you thought doesn't drop after that long it never will. David Silva played as a RM, LM, AM and CM for City and he was produced in all. Scholes played CM and SS and again was suberb at both. Yaya, KDB, Gerrard all played in different positions producing world class results. Pogba according to some on here has the most niche position for him to flourish, the LCM in a 4-3-3. While his best form has come from there, he's been just as inconsistent when played in that position.

Mourinho took the life out of him. A good player can perform poorly under certain coaches. Zlatan and Pep for example. Pogba was shite under Mourinho.

He was consistently class at Juve as a LCM. When has he played there under Ole? Not at all since Bruno's arrival, which makes sense. He's being played out of position to accomodate him and he's still one of our better players.

He's been good this season. We were first place in the league prior to his injury. Bruno and Shaw have also had a poor game here and there. They're still class players no one would want to lose.

Our drop in form during his absense speaks volumes really. It's a pretty objective metric to judge a players contribution to the team.

I'll make it short Deschamps system is meant to provide cover for the fullbacks, Pogba does a normal CM job there is absolutely no reason to claim that he plays like an attacking midfielder which is why at the WC his tackle and interception stats were similar to Kanté or Brozovic and it was the same story at the Euro even though Matuidi has generally been subpar in a double pivot as a DM.

Even though this is in Pogba's thread my point is more about how Deschamps set the team, and not about credit to Pogba. It's a total misconception to think that Pogba plays a freer more attacking role for France, it's the opposite.

France's fullbacks are Pavard and Hernandez. They are literally centrebacks.

At United when Pogba's not on the wing, he plays as a deep lying playmaker in a double pivot behind Bruno. At France it's often a 4 man midfield with Kante doing a lot of dirty work behind Pogba. How is the latter not a freeer role?

So no, Deschamp's system isn't designed to "cover" for his defensive fullbacks. It does however give Pogba less defensive responsibility.

 

[JPRouve]

France's fullbacks are Pavard and Hernandez. They are literally centrebacks.

At United when Pogba's not on the wing, he plays as a deep lying playmaker in a double pivot behind Bruno. At France it's often a 4 man midfield with Kante doing a lot of dirty work behind Pogba. How is the latter not a freeer role?

So no, Deschamp's system isn't designed to "cover" for his defensive fullbacks. It does however give Pogba less defensive responsibility.

Pogba doesn't have less defensive responbilities and the system is designed to cover fullbacks due to the fact that french fullbacks are the ones holding the width and pushing forwards in wide areas, the attackers play very narrow outside of Coman. So two things happens, the weak point in transition for France is in wide areas behind the fullbacks or the wide areas in general because the fullbacks even when they are in position are not quickly supported by their winger/wide forward, it was particularly true for Payet(2016) and then Mbappé(2018).

The main difference between Pogba at United and with France is actually offensively, for France Pogba hasn't been expected to be the main playmaker since Valbuena started to be good for France, Valbuena was then replaced by Griezmann and Payet. Offensively Pogba has more support and is himself a support player, as he is on defense.

 

[Adam-Utd]

I think keep him for 1 more year then let him walk for free.

Giving him a new contract at 30+ for 4/5 years probably isn't smart on top wages. As much as I love him as a player he's only going to start slowing down in the next 2/3 years.

 

[mancan92]

This has been brought up by other posters. You could play Kevin De Bruyne in a range of positions and pep has and he plays well. Yet Pogba has to play in a certain position to get the best out of him! No. He is just not good enough. And he is especially not 90 million pounds good enough.

He does not even work hard enough for starters, which is a huge reason why he seems to under perform.

Yeah let's completely forget de bruyne plays with world class players week in week out. Let's pretend that pogba has played with the same level of players throughout his career with us.

 

[Hackman2210]

You cannot play Pogba in a 2 man midfield - no way. He needs two midfielders with him to help him and make up for his sloppy passes and languid style. Bruno could play Pogbas role better than Pogba. He has a better work rate, tracks back and has the killer pass. Pogbas trade mark one a game outside of the foot deft pass - is only that once a game. Been fun watching him when he's been up for it but those games have been few and far between. Sell him or player swap with money coming our way. Varane plus £25-35mil should do it. Before people kick off about player values - Pogbas shirt sales at Madrid will more than make up for that transfer. If France wins the euros - you are looking at one of the most high profile players in world football.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Definitely leaving on a free and honestly I can't wait. For the first 3-4years I was arguing in his defence on this forum but now I'm just exhausted. Pogba isn't worth the hassle he brings on and off the pitch. He has great attributes which help the team but for everything he adds to the team, he hurts the team in other ways.

People still have debates about his best position after five seasons. If the realisation that he just isn't as good as you thought doesn't drop after that long it never will. David Silva played as a RM, LM, AM and CM for City and he was produced in all. Scholes played CM and SS and again was suberb at both. Yaya, KDB, Gerrard all played in different positions producing world class results. Pogba according to some on here has the most niche position for him to flourish, the LCM in a 4-3-3. While his best form has come from there, he's been just as inconsistent when played in that position.

You can't blame his position on his ridiculous record of giving penalties away or getting caught on the ball in dangerous positions. Pogba is what he is, we've seen him long enough to know what he's about. You take the good with the bad. He has world class ability and talent but not world class impact. It's frustrating but I've made my peace with it now.

This.

 

[userman]

I read an article from The Sun(published April 22) where they posted some interesting stats on how we are performing when playing both Pogba and Bruno vs. when we’re only playing one of them. The stats are based on the 75 matches played from when we signed Bruno to April 22, 2021.

When playing both Pogba and Bruno we’ve won 57% of the matches, 47 matches played, scored an average of 1.8 goals per match, and conceded an average of 1.2 per match.
When playing only one of them(Bruno in most/all cases) we’ve won 71% of the matches, 28 matches played, scored an average of 2.4 goals per match, and conceded an average of 0.4 per match.

In the PL we won 50% of the matches, 13 out of 26, that Pogba played in this season.
Of the remaining 12 matches that he didn’t play in we won 66%, 8 out of 12.
Our overall win-% in the PL this season was 55%.

With regards to Pogba and his “importance”, this season we’ve won 52,4% of the 42 matches that he has played, while we’ve won 68,4% of the 19 matches he has not played.
In fact, from the 2016/17 and to this year season it’s actually only in his first season that we’ve had a higher win-% playing with Pogba compared to playing without him.

I genuinely hope that we manage to sell him this summer, to cut the loss before he leaves on a free next summer, and that letting go of/removing Pogba will actually make us a better team. Also add that it will enable us to strengthen further as we free up finances.

 

[Ali Dia]

I read an article from The Sun(published April 22) where they posted some interesting stats on how we are performing when playing both Pogba and Bruno vs. when we’re only playing one of them. The stats are based on the 75 matches played from when we signed Bruno to April 22, 2021.

When playing both Pogba and Bruno we’ve won 57% of the matches, 47 matches played, scored an average of 1.8 goals per match, and conceded an average of 1.2 per match.
When playing only one of them(Bruno in most/all cases) we’ve won 71% of the matches, 28 matches played, scored an average of 2.4 goals per match, and conceded an average of 0.4 per match.

In the PL we won 50% of the matches, 13 out of 26, that Pogba played in this season.
Of the remaining 12 matches that he didn’t play in we won 66%, 8 out of 12.
Our overall win-% in the PL this season was 55%.

With regards to Pogba and his “importance”, this season we’ve won 52,4% of the 42 matches that he has played, while we’ve won 68,4% of the 19 matches he has not played.
In fact, from the 2016/17 and to this year season it’s actually only in his first season that we’ve had a higher win-% playing with Pogba compared to playing without him.

I genuinely hope that we manage to sell him this summer, to cut the loss before he leaves on a free next summer, and that letting go of/removing Pogba will actually make us a better team. Also add that it will enable us to strengthen further as we free up finances.

I’ve been saying it since lockdown when we went stagnant at the end of that season until now really that I don’t think Bruno and Pogba as midfielders in the same team work. Bruno needs that hard pressing behind him and fast direct ball to him as early as possible to be effective. Pogba doesn’t offer that. I think they cancel each other out in the middle as much as anything. Pogba has been better on the left though.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I dont have a crystal ball, but i think if we had started McFred in the middle and Pogba on the Left Wing, or maybe not start him at all, we would have won the europa league final. Wasnt it Pogba that lost possession for the free kick that led to their goal.

You play him in MF, whilst you get the good vision, you sarcrifice work rate.

I think we should just let him go. For fourish years now we have been arguing over him.

 

[Rozay]

I think keep him for 1 more year then let him walk for free.

Giving him a new contract at 30+ for 4/5 years probably isn't smart on top wages. As much as I love him as a player he's only going to start slowing down in the next 2/3 years.

He literally turned 28 about 3 months ago.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He literally turned 28 about 3 months ago.

I know, but let's be honest he isn't staying is he? It would have happened by now. 1 year left until he walks for free.

If he was aiming to stay I think it would be sorted by now, so I've accepted it.

I think I'd rather keep him 1 more year than sell him now.

 

[Rozay]

I know, but let's be honest he isn't staying is he? It would have happened by now. 1 year left until he walks for free.

If he was aiming to stay I think it would be sorted by now, so I've accepted it.

I think I'd rather keep him 1 more year than sell him now.

Well let’s be honest would mean not calling him 30+.

As for whether he is staying, I have no idea, all I know is his and our intentions will be (finally) revealed at some point over the next 12 months. While he’s here, I just hope he performs the best he can, and if and when he goes, good luck to him, we will carry on. His future doesn’t keep me up at night. It will be what it will be.

If a team offers something we think is acceptable this summer, and he wants to go, then he’ll go. If that doesn’t happen, then he will stay at least another year. Sounds obvious I know, but I really don’t get the fuss or drama personally. If and when he goes, we will deal with it. All this ‘we have to sell him now!’. To who? It’s not even a conversation. There is no bid.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Well let’s be honest would mean not calling him 30+.

As for whether he is staying, I have no idea, all I know is his and our intentions will be (finally) revealed at some point over the next 12 months. While he’s here, I just hope he performs the best he can, and if and when he goes, good luck to him, we will carry on. His future doesn’t keep me up at night. It will be what it will be.

If a team offers something we think is acceptable this summer, and he wants to go, then he’ll go. If that doesn’t happen, then he will stay at least another year. Sounds obvious I know, but I really don’t get the fuss or drama personally. If and when he goes, we will deal with it. All this ‘we have to sell him now!’. To who? It’s not even a conversation. There is no bid.

You misunderstood, I didn't mean he's 30 now - I meant giving him a long contract into his 30's on huge money might not be smart.

I'm not wanting him sold either.