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2020-21 Performances


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Lyng

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Spot on and i know exactly what situation you are referring to. Bruno has not turned into a fan favorite overnight just because of talent, its also because he gives 100% each and every game, shows genuine passion and leadership despite only being here half a year.

Lack of match fitness is not an excuse. No one is match fit right now.
Let’s not forget he had COVID. That might have had a impact on his fitness. Quite frankly playing Pogba so soon after his illness was always a gamble. Give him time to get back in form.
 

Maureen-yo

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You expect the '10' to give the ball away more. He's crowded out and there's no space and he's trying to find difficult passes on edge of the box.

Pogba was giving the ball away under little pressure in the middle of the pitch. There's a huge difference.

He's got bags of ability but his attitude and hunger have always been suspect. KDB is fecking miles better than him. Paul Scholes was on a different league to him too when he was playing.

You need more than natural talent to be a world class player. He's a fraud.
I agree with that, the ability is there, we’ve all witnessed it many times but his application is woeful. He struggled under Mourinho who was harsh with him, he now seemingly struggles under OGS who is more of an arm around he shoulder type manager and yet we don’t see much difference.

In regards to my Bruno comment, the point I was trying to make there is that you don’t ask someone to change their game based on one game, I see now that I wasn’t clear.
 

Bobcat

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If you watched yesterday’s game and decided the Pogba thread is where you need to go bang your keyboard in frustration then you’re just a weirdo to me, and none of that he’s supposed to be the star player nonsense justifies it.

Yesterday your captain, his defensive partner, the left back, and the defensive midfielder had arguably some of the worst showings for United players this decade, but it’s here where you’re choosing to move your furniture to?
:lol: Nice whataboutism there pal.

Plenty of players were shit yesterday, but im not going to discuss them in the Pogba thread am i? You are free to check my post history if you want.

He is supposed to be a star player though, which is reflected in his wages, his status and his fame. Ideally he should be the one who carries the team on his back, but more often than not hes a complete luxury player and when hes not in form hes a complete liability. He slows thing down by dallying on the ball and he keeps getting dispossessed in dangerous areas which is pretty fecking critical you dont do too often as a CM

And the thing that bothers me is that it is 100% in his head. Everyone knows hes a physical specimen and should be in peak physical condition based on his age. I am 100% convinced that its his focus, or lack thereof that has him playing as a pub player instead of bossing the midfield as he should.
 

Nou_Camp99

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I agree with that, the ability is there, we’ve all witnessed it many times but his application is woeful. He struggled under Mourinho who was harsh with him, he now seemingly struggles under OGS who is more of an arm around he shoulder type manager and yet we don’t see much difference.

In regards to my Bruno comment, the point I was trying to make there is that you don’t ask someone to change their game based on one game, I see now that I wasn’t clear.
Pogba seems more interested in his haircuts, his brand, his dancing. Almost feels like football is his second job to me.

He's nowhere near as good as his fan boys on here say he is. Forget Keane, Robson n Scholes he's not even been better for United than Ince n Carrick were has he? He's a long way down the list. Says it all.

Should have kicked him out last summer for 80m and bought Bruno sooner.
 

K Stand Knut

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Yawn. He has the ability and has exemplified it many times for United, France and Juve.

It’s a pointless conversation to have when you put “get rid” at the end of your comment clearly showing you’re not a fan and therefore can’t be objective when it comes to evaluating a player’s strengths and weaknesses.
I’ve been objective for the whole time he’s been back at United.

frankly, I’m bored of the repeated narrative that he’s capable and we’ve seen it for Juve and France. I haven’t seen show this capability more than a handful of times for United and therein lies my problem.

until he starts to show his so-called capabilities on a consistent basis, he isn’t good enough and we’d be better off without him.
 

Hammondo

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I still don’t understand why everyone is camping in this thread considering half of the team had worse performances
He plays the most influential and central position. If he plays bad or doesn't do his role, then it has a massive effect on everyone else.

He hid from that responsibility.
 

Heinzesight

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Let’s not forget he had COVID. That might have had a impact on his fitness. Quite frankly playing Pogba so soon after his illness was always a gamble. Give him time to get back in form.
No disrespect but sadly, this is his form.

I think the penny has finally dropped for some of his biggest fans. After 4 years, this is what you get with him. He’s not suddenly going to become World class for us.
 

kouroux

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Because Pogba is supposed to be the star player in this team so of course expectations are higher on him than say James who was bought as a squad option. Even ignoring all the drama around Pogba, he has never shown the consistency of a supposed world class CM. Sure, there are patches here and there when hes unreal and shows the level of talent he possesses, but when hes not on form his performances swing from mediocre to absolute liability.

If another club came with a decent bid for him i would have shipped him off ASAP. Much rather have a CM who is consistently solid and can deliver 7-8/10 performances on a weekly basis rather than one who constantly fluctuates between 10/10 and 1/10
4 years now and still the crazy expectations are there. When will we learn ? Pogba is not our star, time to expect a lot less from him tbh. He's a player among others, Juve clearly based his price on other parameters than just football.
 

DoomSlayer

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Pogba had one of the worst games I have ever seen from him, but it has nothing to do with lack of effort or not caring enough about the result. He actually made a lot of mistakes, where he was too eager to either get the ball back from the opposition or trying to force the issue even when the pass was not on at all.

One criticism I have with Pogba'a play is that he still plays very naive and sometimes doesn't use his strength and the size of his body to his advantage, leaving other players to get fouls from him or take the ball off him without fouling him. Needs to work on that for sure.
 

dal

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If we ignore the price tag and concentrate on Pogba the footballer he’s probably just a good player.

He’s a steady player who doesn’t really have a nailed down position and he’s suspect positionally and one whose capable of the odd moment of brilliance.

One world to sum Pogba up is he’s a luxury player. Can play in the right lineup but isn’t the centrepiece and I would replace him with Thiago or Fabinho in an instant in the starting lineup

If he was English and wasn’t in the media as much as he is he would be looked at as a player a level below Carrick which is still a really good squad player.
 
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4 years now and still the crazy expectations are there. When will we learn ? Pogba is not our star, time to expect a lot less from him tbh. He's a player among others, Juve clearly based his price on other parameters than just football.
What a bizarre post. What other parameters?

I agree the fanbase have high expectations of him, perhaps too high. Yes, he should have been the star of the team. He’s not, but we should still be expecting more.

Having said that, yesterday is not the day to judge him.
 

ChorltonReds

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It's been four years of the same excuses now for Pogba and his poor performances are always somebody else's fault. I keep hoping he'll come good - but he never does and I think yesterday was as bad as he's played for us, which doesn't bode well for this season. He's simply not a top level player and needs to be carried by a world class team (see France WC win). Does anybody think Munich, City, Madrid, Liverpool would buy him and play him - no chance? With the exception of our centre backs he was the worst player on the pitch yesterday and the people who defend him at all costs need to open their eyes.
 

kouroux

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What a bizarre post. What other parameters?

I agree the fanbase have high expectations of him, perhaps too high. Yes, he should have been the star of the team. He’s not, but we should still be expecting more.

Having said that, yesterday is not the day to judge him.
Age, commercial impact etc etc... It's about balance, we can and have to expect more from him but to a reasonable point, he has never been the type to carry a team
 

Born2Lose

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He's so slow and lacksidasical, I don't think it's any coincidence we played better football with Fred, McT and Bruno in the team when he was injured.
 

SER19

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We really missed a trick not selling him for big money last summer. Can count on one hand the times he's genuinely impacted on a game.

I know what hes supposed to be good at, and I've seen him be good at most things in isolated moments, but I've rarely seen a consistent game or more excuses made for a player. He's been tried everywhere and has been a 5/10 for pretty much all his time here apart from initial post Jose run.

Arguably the most overrated player on the planet
 

Bobcat

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4 years now and still the crazy expectations are there. When will we learn ? Pogba is not our star, time to expect a lot less from him tbh. He's a player among others, Juve clearly based his price on other parameters than just football.
Hes shown what hes capable of when hes motivated. For example right after Ole took over as caretaker he played like he had a point to prove and was world class game after game. Even if he just plays at 70% of his very best he will still be one of the best players on the pitch on any given day.

Which makes it completely bewildering that he cant even do the basics right at other times
 

Devil81

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Pogba seems more interested in his haircuts, his brand, his dancing. Almost feels like football is his second job to me.

He's nowhere near as good as his fan boys on here say he is. Forget Keane, Robson n Scholes he's not even been better for United than Ince n Carrick were has he? He's a long way down the list. Says it all.

Should have kicked him out last summer for 80m and bought Bruno sooner.
Bit of an insult to Ince and Carrick there mate, both were ten times the players for United than Pogba will ever be.

Show pony but was hung out to dry yesterday. Needed to either come off the bench or off earlier as he was literally dead on his feet when he came off, he couldn't even find a man he was that exhausted.
 

Hugh Jass

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Unless Pogba can turn it around, he will arguably go down as one of our worst signings, given his fee. He has bags of talent but lacks the motivation and drive to do it 50 games a season.

I remember Roy Keane saying he prepares for a game three days in advance. Pogba looks most of the time that he just turns up and says "Oh, i am playing today."

My liverpool mate keeps telling me he hopes we keep Pogba, insinuating that he is a hindrance.

I think Ole should sell because if it is not Pogba going soon, it will more than likely be Ole going instead.
 

11101

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Same old story with Pogba. In the right setup hes unplayable and would walk into any side on the planet. In our disjointed, all over the place team, he will always struggle. His best games have often come when Matic or somebody else allows him to get on the ball without worry and we have runners ahead of him. It makes no sense trying to turn him into something he is not let alone expecting him to be world class in every single facet of midfield play. Literally nobody on the planet ticks all those boxes.

The usual Keane, Carrick, Ince comparisons are still going on too. Hes not like them, those all rounders dont exist anymore. It's stupid to expect him to be like them, but play him to his strengths and he can do things none of them could.
 

kouroux

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Hes shown what hes capable of when hes motivated. For example right after Ole took over as caretaker he played like he had a point to prove and was world class game after game. Even if he just plays at 70% of his very best he will still be one of the best players on the pitch on any given day.

Which makes it completely bewildering that he cant even do the basics right at other times
It's a good question tbh. During that period, he was playing with drive, energy and passion that we really would like to see more often.
 

Nou_Camp99

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Bit of an insult to Ince and Carrick there mate, both were ten times the players for United than Pogba will ever be.

Show pony but was hung out to dry yesterday. Needed to either come off the bench or off earlier as he was literally dead on his feet when he came off, he couldn't even find a man he was that exhausted.
Didn't mean it as an insult. More pointing out to his fan boys how average he is.
 

DoomSlayer

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I hope his injury hasn't actually impacted his long-term physical capabilities. Same goes for Rashford, I pray he hasn't declined physically due to playing through serious injuries.
 

Withnail

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Bit of an insult to Ince and Carrick there mate, both were ten times the players for United than Pogba will ever be.

Show pony but was hung out to dry yesterday. Needed to either come off the bench or off earlier as he was literally dead on his feet when he came off, he couldn't even find a man he was that exhausted.
He only just had covid so he probably shouldn't have started at all.
 

snowkarl

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Let’s not forget he had COVID. That might have had a impact on his fitness. Quite frankly playing Pogba so soon after his illness was always a gamble. Give him time to get back in form.
There's always and excuse.. no matter what happens, he's got a ready made excuse for why he wasn't performing.

What form anyway? His form last year, when he was actually fit, was abysmal. He's not performed consistently for 4!!! years - how much longer are we supposed to wait? He looks worse every season and despite how much people want to bury their head in the sand - he's a large issue for the team and how we play. Should be dropped for Fred for now.
 

Stadjer

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Why do people call him a show pony? He has been playing in a very boring role and hardly doing any tricks or flicks after his long term injury.

He had a horrible game but no preseason, covid, first game of the season and everyone around him wasnt playing much better than him.... Give him a break.
 

M16Red

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He's so slow and lacksidasical, I don't think it's any coincidence we played better football with Fred, McT and Bruno in the team when he was injured.
I was thinking the same thing, yesterday.
 

Hammondo

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Why do people call him a show pony? He has been playing in a very boring role and hardly doing any tricks or flicks after his long term injury.

He had a horrible game but no preseason, covid, first game of the season and everyone around him wasnt playing much better than him.... Give him a break.
That's not my big complaint. He's the guy who supposed to run the midfield, hes supposed to run the game. and he didn't. He hid away from it.

His role is the most important and influential, and he abandoned it.

So many Pogba fan boys keep telling me he's great at running the game, is a great midfield general. He's not, never has been, never will be.
 

Withnail

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That's not my big complaint. He's the guy who supposed to run the midfield, hes supposed to run the game. and he didn't. He hid away from it.

His role is the most important and influential, and he abandoned it.

So many Pogba fan boys keep telling me he's great at running the game, is a great midfield general. He's not, never has been, never will be.
Who is saying that?

The only ones I've seen claim that's what he should be doing are the ones slagging him off. Most people defending Pogba are pointing out that he isn't that player, never has been and if you expect him to do that you're likely to be disappointed.
 

Hammondo

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Who is saying that?

The only ones I've seen claim that's what he should be doing are the ones slagging him off. Most people defending Pogba are pointing out that he isn't that player, never has been and if you expect him to do that you're likely to be disappointed.
I made this argument last season, and so many Pogba fans were saying he's great at running the game. You cannot argue reality with them.

Pogba has a massive problem with the fact that he cannot do a full role. He does parts of a CM and parts of an AM, he does neither fully or well enough.

As people have said, he's a luxury player, and one that's VERY difficult to fit into a balanced and complete midfield.
 
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GiddyUp

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If we are planning to play 4231, we need someone to replace Pogba because Bruno is definitely better than him as a #10. If Bruno is to be benched, it will be because we have bought a player of the ilk of David Silva because there aren't a lot of top #10 around at the minute.

I still don't get what is his best position. He dithers far too much on the ball to be a reliable #10 and he is poor defensively to be a good #6/#8. He has a lot of top attributes but strangely has some really critical ones missing to be a top player in any one position.

He needs someone like a Makhelele next to him to make him look good. McTominay and him just don't work because Scott is a terrible DM.
5v5 under a motorway overpass in an Adidas commercial would suit him. This league is just too powerful for him.
 

JPRouve

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When was this run of games when all three played and we were playing great football?
It didn't happen since Matic was one of the two CMs. McTominay injured himself in December.
 

GiddyUp

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What Ince can do with a football, Pogba can do with an orange.
And that's the problem, we don't play with oranges. Under that assumption that kid I saw last year doing mad skills should be the best player in the world.
 

Withnail

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I made this argument last season, and so many Pogba fans were saying he's great at running the game. You cannot argue reality with them.

Pogba has a massive problem with the fact that he cannot do a full role. He does parts of a CM and parts of an AM, he does neither fully or well enough.

As people have said, he's a luxury player, and one that's VERY difficult to fit into a balanced and complete midfield.
I'd not seen that but fair enough.

I do feel he'd perform better with a younger more mobile version of Matic but we don't seem to be in the market for someone like that.

I'm reserving judgement this season on Ole and any of the players til they get a run of games under their belts. No one looked match fit or sharp yesterday and Palace were ahead of us in that regard and it really showed.
 

VorZakone

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Was he like this at Juventus, week in week out? Seemed like he had an incredible highlight compilation every week there, but those performances are rare at Man Utd.
 
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