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He knows he’s surrounded by quality now. He’s motivated. All the raving was quite rightly about ronaldo yesterday but in some respects this was one of my favourite Pogba displays. He orchestrated a lot of our good play and this is exactly what we should be seeing off him.How the feck did he suddenly look like he could do his share of defending in that deeper midfield role? Was absolutely brilliant yesterday and has been since the start of the season. Added more assists. Let's hope he continues this run of consistency.
He can, always could. It’s massively overplayed here (that he can’t play in a midfield two) and I’ve been saying it for years.How the feck did he suddenly look like he could do his share of defending in that deeper midfield role? Was absolutely brilliant yesterday and has been since the start of the season. Added more assists. Let's hope he continues this run of consistency.
I think I know what your trying to say. He’s like a Veron. But pure passing ability. I wouldn’t say he’s Scholes level.He’s a better all around passer than Scholes. Obviously not on Schole’s level in terms of dictation and controlling a game (only a few in history are) but pure passing ability he’s right there with any midfielder you want to name. Both feet, pings, chips, weight of pass, technique, vision, flair he has it all. I’m dead serious.
Fixed.Our best player.
More liesThere seems to be a change in him after Ronaldo arrival.
The pressure seems to be off him, with all the attention on Ronaldo, thus allowing him to focus on what he needs to do.
In the past it seemed that he is the player who is suppose to carry the team. With that off his shoulders, he looks happier and even celebrating so hard on his teammates goals. Never seen that before but a promising year to come from him.
He’s been our best player so far this season you clearly haven’t seen the other games we’ve playedThere seems to be a change in him after Ronaldo arrival.
The pressure seems to be off him, with all the attention on Ronaldo, thus allowing him to focus on what he needs to do.
In the past it seemed that he is the player who is suppose to carry the team. With that off his shoulders, he looks happier and even celebrating so hard on his teammates goals. Never seen that before but a promising year to come from him.
What? Change in him doesn’t mean from bad to good. I’m just stating he seems different in the way he played against Newcastle. I’m not even on the anti pogba brigade since his arrival. You guys are so sensitive to every comment made against him till you can’t infer from the comments. Calm downHe’s been our best player so far this season you clearly haven’t seen the other games we’ve played
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If you don't class the second assist as a REAL assist then that is madness.I wouldn't class the two assists as real assists but his overall passing was very good.
He's nailed that first time ball over the top. Really effective.
But don't do it Ole, don't fall back into playing him in a midfield two. It's ok against Willock and Longstaff but get him further up against better opposition.
It was a lovely bit of play but he's passing to Martial there not Lingard. The dummy from Martial was the assists really.If you don't class the second assist as a REAL assist then that is madness.
We have too many good attacking options to play him further up and he is our best Midfielder. It's best for the team where he is even if it's not best for him.
Other than against Liverpool City Chelsea he should be in the two as or else we are sacrificing an attacker to willingly play a limited Midfield.
Is he the only one? If redcafe is the benchmark lots of shit has been written about other players too.You really haven't been reading the caf this past year or so. Some were convinced his covid was a bad excuse for being unfit and that he was for sure leaving in January. All kinda nonsense based on feck all was spouted about him.
Those Utd "fans" have disappeared these days
No, but some of the criticism towards Pogba was ridiculous at times.Is he the only one? If redcafe is the benchmark lots of shit has been written about other players too.
Few weirdos even posted that his operation was fake and a set up.No, but some of the criticism towards Pogba was ridiculous at times.
We have not moved Sancho to the left to accomodate anybody. Rashford is injured and Martial is just not that threatening as a LW, especially to start a game. On top of that, Sancho has been MUCH more productive on the left wing, than on the right in his Dortmund days.Love Pogs but do not like him in our system. Much more effective on the left and his most effective performances have been there imo. The problem is without a DoF, we have not bought players to fit a system. In essence, we now have Martial, Pogs and Rashford on the left. We have even moved Sancho on the left to accommodate Greenwood.
Pogs in the centre puts whoever he plays next to in a heap of problems and leaves them a bit exposed. He's been caught on the ball quite a few times and doesn't react to danger like someone in that position should. It's like in the Euro's, seen the best of him one end, then the worst of him the other. He got caught on the ball which lead to conceding the goal.
Gonna be interesting to see what Ole does when Fred and Scott are back?
Ball retention has literally never been the key factor in determining the best passer. Go back through the decades and look at who fans and pundits talked about as the best passer, invariably they’ll be creative passers who take risks to open up the game.I'd say difference between his and Scholes' passing is around 5-10% accuracy which tells you all you need to know about comparing them. They are two completely different midfielders. Against weaker opposition Pogba's passing is more creative, but he could never replicate that whenever he was pressed(and that's against pretty much every good opposition) unlike Scholes whose passing accuracy was hardly ever bad even when he had a bad game in general. Whenever Pogba is pressed, he makes so many bad passes Scholes would never make even in his worst form.
The first one was a nothing assist but those kinds of ones are balanced out by the killer passes that the striker doesn’t bury. The second one was a moment of creativity from him that opened up the game, not sure how that’s not a real assist?!I wouldn't class the two assists as real assists but his overall passing was very good.
He's nailed that first time ball over the top. Really effective.
But don't do it Ole, don't fall back into playing him in a midfield two. It's ok against Willock and Longstaff but get him further up against better opposition.
Some of them for sure. It depends really. Fred is playing awful right now and isn't helping our Midfield be defensively sound at all. He's been a headless chicken so far.It was a lovely bit of play but he's passing to Martial there not Lingard. The dummy from Martial was the assists really.
Would you have him in a midfield two against the better Champs League teams?
I agree with the bolded part, we will keep playing him in midfield because we're stocked in attack. It doesn't benefit him nor the team, as he's an attacking midfielder not an all round CM, but against teams that sit back it's the right way as he has a lot of freedom to attack anyway. It didn't work against Wolves who were good at pressing and Pogba was lost in midfield. We have to keep that in mind for next games, but maybe with Ronaldo and Varane more teams will sit back like Newcastle.If you don't class the second assist as a REAL assist then that is madness.
We have too many good attacking options to play him further up and he is our best Midfielder. It's best for the team where he is even if it's not best for him.
Other than against Liverpool City Chelsea he should be in the two as or else we are sacrificing an attacker to willingly play a limited Midfield.
His balance is just not very good, he stumbles around a lot even on his mazy dribbles. I reckon it has something to do with his gangly legs. Just not the ideal centre of balance or whatever the phrase is? But then I don’t know anything about physique or balance or any of that tbh. Might be something to do with his core…but presumably there’s some fitness folks in here with a real answer?There's something that confuses me about him that I'm really curious about.
He's 6'3" and a broad, strong looking dude. Yet he's so easily shrugged off when he goes shoulder to shoulder with even the smallest of players.
I'm interested to know why he's not able to use his strength more in those situations.
Agree with this. He's impossible to knock off the ball when he gets his feet set, but when he gets off balance he's so tall and gangly he can't steady himself. Sometimes little short arses get the better of you shoulder to shoulder because of their lower centre of gravity.His balance is just not very good, he stumbles around a lot even on his mazy dribbles. I reckon it has something to do with his gangly legs. Just not the ideal centre of balance or whatever the phrase is? But then I don’t know anything about physique or balance or any of that tbh. Might be something to do with his core…but presumably there’s some fitness folks in here with a real answer?
Yeah I love Scholes and absolutely he wasn’t just a safe or simple passer, he had lovely vision. But when he was alongside Veron you could see the difference in range and style of passes, even towards the end of their careers I would say Giggs was a more creative and inventive passer than Scholes.I’m not sure about that. Scholes played in a team who constantly attacked down the flanks. Wingers with chalk on their boots and overlapping fullbacks. So it’s not a great surprise that he didn’t get many assists. He was a wonderfully creative passer though. Which you saw more towards the end of his career. In his peak he was happy to keep things more simple, passing it out wide and legging it forwards to try get on the end of something in the box.
Worked against wolves in the second half. Remember Fred was the worst of the two and he is the so called Midfielder.I agree with the bolded part, we will keep playing him in midfield because we're stocked in attack. It doesn't benefit him nor the team, as he's an attacking midfielder not an all round CM, but against teams that sit back it's the right way as he has a lot of freedom to attack anyway. It didn't work against Wolves who were good at pressing and Pogba was lost in midfield. We have to keep that in mind for next games, but maybe with Ronaldo and Varane more teams will sit back like Newcastle.
I also don't see a problem with sacrificing an attacker to get more control in Central areas, we should've done that against Wolverhampton but that doesn't seem to be the idea of our coaching staff and manager so unfortunately I expect him to play in midfield two quite a lot.
Pogba is in great form and I'd prefer to give him Bruno role (AM), and have whoever we can field in midfield.
I guess that was the original question when Bruno came, where does that leave Pogs? Well even when fit, was on the bench at times as Ole played McFred. What's interesting is so far we haven't seen them but that's because Scott has been injured.Our best possible midfield should be McTominay-Fred-Pogba.
Sadly Bruno can't be dropped.
Yeah sure but you wouldn't give Pogba an assist because of his pass to Shaw would you? Greenwood basically created the first but he doesn't get the assist.Ball retention has literally never been the key factor in determining the best passer. Go back through the decades and look at who fans and pundits talked about as the best passer, invariably they’ll be creative passers who take risks to open up the game.
The first one was a nothing assist but those kinds of ones are balanced out by the killer passes that the striker doesn’t bury. The second one was a moment of creativity from him that opened up the game, not sure how that’s not a real assist?!
He picked it up with three players pressing him and 9 players behind the ball, and he’s one of the only players in our team that can work those situations to find a player in the box. It needed Martial’s dummy and Lingard’s touch for the goal, but most goals need multiple involvements. Just like Shaw’s assist needed Pogba to find him in space with the first time pass, which followed on from quick passing all round.
He’s incredibly strong tbh, he holds opponents off regularly.There's something that confuses me about him that I'm really curious about.
He's 6'3" and a broad, strong looking dude. Yet he's so easily shrugged off when he goes shoulder to shoulder with even the smallest of players.
I'm interested to know why he's not able to use his strength more in those situations.
Oh ffs.Our best possible midfield should be McTominay-Fred-Pogba.
Sadly Bruno can't be dropped.
The yellow from yesterday was extremely harsh on my opinion in a game that never looked like bubbling over.Played well again but some day that sloppy touch - lunge to get the ball back will result in a red card
