Come on man. He’s got it all. What does he lack?
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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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With all this France talk, Jose's view about Pogba being a tournament player comes to mind. At the time I was incensed, but now those comments make a lot of sense.
The things he is good at he is not consistent with them. Only his long range passing is actually consistent. So in a way you could argue he doesn;t have it all. Being able to do things some of the time doesn't mean its a real strength. Where's the long range goals at? Header? how often does he go on surging runs? Kaka is someone who truly knows how to drive the ball.
A lot of the things PP does them sparingly but they show up on highlight reels so everyone thinks that's him
As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing to apologize about. We all make mistakes, the most important thing is not being stubborn and accepting things when wrong
I half agree.
He can do everything. He’s had periods of consistency in the past. Months at a time.
He’s too inconsistent but he has everything.
Can't say he doesn't win headers, he constantly wins aerial duals in midfield and defensively he is generally very good at corners etc.
Yes I remember this. Ruud was awesome as an individual, he gave us many goals and many memorable moments. However, the team did suffer a bit and we started being too reliant on him for goals, which was unusual for a Fergie team. When Saha came in, the balance was much better. Sadly for Saha, he was injury-prone.
True. I mean, DDG at his peak had the respect of every opposition fan in the league. The guy was voted in the PFA team of the year 5 years in a row.The 17-18 season was the best I have ever seen a GK play. He saved nearly 15 goals and he helped us finish second. I always laugh when I hear Mourinho mention that coming second was one of his greatest achievements. It was entirely down to DDG's Messi like performances that season.
People always say that Pogba has been let down by Man Utd but the only guy I truly feel sorry for is David. He could have won the CL and La Liga with Real, but he has never let that affect him and came back and was still doing his thing. I really hope he wins atleast 1 more PL title before he hangs up his boots.
Looking back, maybe we should have never brought back Pogba. We have wasted both our time and his, with nothing of note to show for. Moving forward, we should be a bit more shrewd when evaluating players who suit the league.
We can literally try a thousand formations and still wouldn't know what his best position is.
Sure thing indeed. For me it doesn't matter who's right or wrong. The only thing matters is what's right.As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing to apologize about. We all make mistakes, the most important thing is not being stubborn and accepting things when wrong
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Currently at least his best position seems to be on bench. Very "unhappy" situation
Many famous players have faced this challenge before: eg Beckham at Madrid.
Great players like Beckham used their innate resilience to get their head down and outperform in training through sheer hard work and Eventually regain their automatic first team choice, thereby changing the script.
I’m hoping with hope that Pogba has this capacity. It’s up to him to make himself relevant to what the club needs. He’s also probably in his last chance saloon. I hope PP has enough dignity to care enough
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I never get the feeling that he cares that much.
Anyways, I have given up on Pogba long back. Whatever good games he has seem like a bonus.
Imo the current form of Pogba may probably caused by Covid. I still remember reading about Covid could seriously feck up your lung capacity. Covid is still new and its consequences seem greatly vary depending on each individual cases so nothing is sure though.
Truth is Pogba used to stupidly lose the ball in the previous seasons but imo not as much and as easily as this season. He used to be able to use his strength and body to shield the ball, then turn or use his tricks to get away. But now even a slight contact and he fails to the ground or lose his balance, then lose the ball.
I do not know if it's the Covid, his mentality or whatever that cause his current bad form. Nor the possibility of whether he'd return to his old self, or get his head straight or whatever it is. But sure thing is the current Pogba is not fit for the PL, and his best position is definitely on the bench. At least for the next match.
Imo he won't sign a new contract if offered. Ed definitely would like to keep him, he won't look good before the Glazers losing their £89m asset. Same reason any potential buyer would run away as fast as they can. I don't think anyone is stupid enough to pay north £50m for the current Pogba, in this climate. But he seems to really want out, to have a new chance at another club. So imo his only option left would be running down his current contract and leave on a free. He and that fat cnut agent would get some hefty signing bonus in that case as well.
Truth is Pogba used to stupidly lose the ball in the previous seasons but imo not as much and as easily as this season. He used to be able to use his strength and body to shield the ball, then turn or use his tricks to get away. But now even a slight contact and he fails to the ground or lose his balance, then lose the ball.
I do not know if it's the Covid, his mentality or whatever that cause his current bad form. Nor the possibility of whether he'd return to his old self, or get his head straight or whatever it is. But sure thing is the current Pogba is not fit for the PL, and his best position is definitely on the bench. At least for the next match.
Imo he won't sign a new contract if offered. Ed definitely would like to keep him, he won't look good before the Glazers losing their £89m asset. Same reason any potential buyer would run away as fast as they can. I don't think anyone is stupid enough to pay north £50m for the current Pogba, in this climate. But he seems to really want out, to have a new chance at another club. So imo his only option left would be running down his current contract and leave on a free. He and that fat cnut agent would get some hefty signing bonus in that case as well.
Beckham was exceptional in that regard as far as I'm concerned. The perfect example of a player who perfectly understood how to utilize his abilities to the max
Only this modern prima Donna jackasses can suck so bad at their daily jobs and still expect their bosses to hand things out for them.. Bruno really showing him up, isn't he? I'm loving it
I’ve said this too. Pogba has the time and talent to turn this around and become a great. It just doesn’t seem to be in his DNA to accept the situation and work his way out of it. He could still do this and even though I’m not too keen on him currently, we as football fans have mercifully short memories.
I got destroyed for suggesting this in the newbie forum back in the day.
I was referring to attacking wise funny enough as I see him as an attacking force
Ah okay, I understand your point but it's unfair to ignore the other contributions given that he hasn't been playing as a number 10 or advanced midfielder. I like Pogba, I think he has everything in his locker but I'm getting to the stage where I belive he and United would be best served if they part ways.
We bought Bruno because when we play pogba in his position he disappears.
I watched the France game yesterday up until around 80 minutes.
He played fine in the first half, and very well in the second half. Some good tackles, kept the ball moving, but also some good passes that led to attacks/goals. Second half he was playing more attacking, where as in the first, it was more 50/50
He played fine in the first half, and very well in the second half. Some good tackles, kept the ball moving, but also some good passes that led to attacks/goals. Second half he was playing more attacking, where as in the first, it was more 50/50
Why are you lying?
We bought Bruno because pereira and lingard sucked there. Rashford injured and Paul out for basically the entire season.
He did all the simple things right in the first half, although was a little too slow to close down and his tackling was poor. In second half he showed much more offensively once Sweden were tired. So I'd say a regular performance from him, and that's the minimum we should expect from him. I'd play him on Saturday and rest Bruno.
Definitely. its the wrong husband and wife combo. Would better serve all parties. I wish him well and like him as a person and will always defend his character.
I missed the last caf scandal but the previous interpretations are quite bad, the french suggestions also make no sense. Pogba has always said that he likes being in France setup, he likes being in Clairefontaine, he likes his french teammates and it's always a good moment for him. In their respective clubs players don't really live together outside of away games or preseason, most footballers are also not mates with their teammates, they are colleagues.
On the bolded I think there would be a queue of clubs at that price.
He’s not hit the heights for a multitude of reasons but he’s still an elite talent and one that many managers would be confident of getting the best out of.
The biggest single issue I think has been the fact he’s been partnered with substandard defensive midfielders in his time here.
He’s often looked his best when Matic has had his odd touch of form here and there.
Think about it, he’s not a defensive midfielder yet we play him as one with the likes of an ancient Matic or Fred/McTominay (the latter two only now get on the pitch as a pairing together as they aren’t true DM’s either.)
It’s the single biggest issue and is the reason why more often than not he looks a different player for France next to Kante.
I’m not one for buying players to suit other players but if ever there was a player we knew would need accommodating to a certain degree it’s Pogba. An elite DM would have benefited him and our entire starting 11 massively.
Meh. Good thing he plays well for France, raises his stock. Thats about as much thought as I"ll put into it.
He remains our 6th choice midfielder. Next topic please.
He remains our 6th choice midfielder. Next topic please.
Imo a big reason of why he often play well with his national team is less pressing there. To press well you'd need to press as a team. That usually requires a considerable amount of time playing and training together.
Anyway, I disagree with basically all of what you say. We've been discussing this for ages again and again. For me the current Pogba is simply not suitable for PL anymore. No DM in this world can help him on that and he doesn't even worth it. We can agree that we disagree then I think.
We are having same discussions about Pogba now after 5 years that we had 5 months after he joined.
Whats that quote by Einstein, definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.
Guys, we did everything here. The club tried everything. Even if he goes somewhere else and wins 10 Ballon D'ors in a row, we tried everything. It just doesnt work for us.
Good luck to him anywhere else but it doesnt work here.
He might go elsewhere and become prime Scholes/Viera which is kinda what we expected of him but it doesnt work for us, we are much better playing Bruno along with McT and Fred and this should be case closed for us.
There isnt much more we can do. We tried different setups, different managers, it just never worked.
Whats that quote by Einstein, definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.
Guys, we did everything here. The club tried everything. Even if he goes somewhere else and wins 10 Ballon D'ors in a row, we tried everything. It just doesnt work for us.
Good luck to him anywhere else but it doesnt work here.
He might go elsewhere and become prime Scholes/Viera which is kinda what we expected of him but it doesnt work for us, we are much better playing Bruno along with McT and Fred and this should be case closed for us.
There isnt much more we can do. We tried different setups, different managers, it just never worked.
He gets into that France team and does well, there must be a reason for that.
Imo its who he’s partnering in midfield that accounts for a large amount of it.
We all know his pros and cons, he wasn’t a DM when we bought him and he’s not a DM now.
If we bought him to make the most of him (which is a given) then partnering him with who we have at the base of midfield is a waste of time.
But let’s agree to disagree.
You cant tell me that if you replace Pogba with say a Kovacic who I also think is an extremely overrated player that we'd be worse off...
Or say Tielmans.
Even at his best he wasnt world class for us. Based on what he provided to us in his 5 seasons here he is easily replaceable.
Or say Tielmans.
Even at his best he wasnt world class for us. Based on what he provided to us in his 5 seasons here he is easily replaceable.
I have seen him have many bad or meh games for France also at times.
I disagree with the 2nd part because I don't feel his consistency in himself justifies the sacrifice. We have played him free role and 10 before and still had mixed results.
He doesn't play the same position as them. Pogba was playing poorly in Brunos role.
Same old story. Good player for France and probably other top teams, but bad player for us. He is not the player we need. Just sell him.
Yeah but this is my point, who’s behind him? Average or makeshift DM’s that’s who.
It’s not the only reason he hasn’t reached his potential here but to me, imo, we were never going to see the best of him with how we’ve utilised him and who we’ve partnered him with when he’s played (for large parts) in a 2 man midfield.
Edit: I’ll bump this when he goes to another club who play with a top level DM and see how he’s doing. Tearing it up no doubt.
I dunno. He is statistically similar at United as he was at other clubs.Yeah but this is my point, who’s behind him? Average or makeshift DM’s that’s who.
It’s not the only reason he hasn’t reached his potential here but to me, imo, we were never going to see the best of him with how we’ve utilised him and who we’ve partnered him with when he’s played (for large parts) in a 2 man midfield.
Edit: I’ll bump this when he goes to another club who play with a top level DM and see how he’s doing. Tearing it up no doubt.
Strange that we have the same 'average' midfielders around Bruno but he can manage to put a shift in. His record speaks for itself.
There are no more excuses for Pogba unfortunately, for whatever reason he doesn't suit us.
There are no more excuses for Pogba unfortunately, for whatever reason he doesn't suit us.
Awesome. You do that. We shouldnt spend another 5 years hoping somehow he works out for us.Yeah but this is my point, who’s behind him? Average or makeshift DM’s that’s who.
It’s not the only reason he hasn’t reached his potential here but to me, imo, we were never going to see the best of him with how we’ve utilised him and who we’ve partnered him with when he’s played (for large parts) in a 2 man midfield.
Edit: I’ll bump this when he goes to another club who play with a top level DM and see how he’s doing. Tearing it up no doubt.
He just isnt worth it. He isnt Ronaldo or Messi.
Best case scenario he is easily replaceable for us. This shouldnt even be a debate anymore.
Heck we sold Ronaldo and went on to win PL a few more times.
That somehow we are dependent on Pogba is just not true even if he absolutely unlocked his potential and became prime Scholes/Viera as unlikely as that is.
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