Paul Pogba image 6

Paul Pogba France flag

2021-22 Performances


View full 2021-22 profile

5.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
27
Goals
1
Assists
9
Yellow cards
9
Red cards
1
Status
Not open for further replies.

Nick7

Full Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
19,231
Location
Ireland
Good on the ball in the second half. Should never start in a midfield two. But that’s been known for a long time.
 

Cassidy

No longer at risk of being mistaken for a Scouser
Joined
Oct 2, 2013
Messages
31,029
Good on the ball in the second half. Should never start in a midfield two. But that’s been known for a long time.
Played in a 2 second half…
 

villain

Hates Beyoncé
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
14,973
Was the main driving force for us getting back in the game by pinging balls across the pitch.
Didn't have a great first half, but his quality is so clear.
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
So why the feck was he playing so deep today ? I don't get what Ole was thinking exactly.
 

lost7

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Dec 31, 2020
Messages
769
Yeah I don't wanna see him in a midfield 2 with Fred.

His overall game was pretty mediocre, but even so I'm pretty sure he created at least 3 good chances with some brilliant first time balls over their defense that we wasted
 

ha_rooney

Correctly predicted France to win World Cup 2018
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
38,759
Thought he was a lot better in the second half, but I’d still prefer if he didn’t play so deep. Ideally we’d be playing 4-3-3 and push him slightly further forward.
 

The United

Full Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2015
Messages
5,770
Fred is not the one he can pair with if he plays deep. They were going through our midfield like there was nothing.

But, we really can't play with only one player sitting with this squad and the way we play right now.
 

Bobski

Full Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2017
Messages
9,662
Good on the ball in the second half. Should never start in a midfield two. But that’s been known for a long time.
I think he is going to have to start a lot of games in a 2 this year with the players we have, no way to get Ronaldo, Bruno, Rashford(when fit) Sancho, Greenwood, Cavani enough games if Pogba is nailed down in the front 3, which is a pity because Pogba looked great the first 2 games in that role.
 

Cassidy

No longer at risk of being mistaken for a Scouser
Joined
Oct 2, 2013
Messages
31,029
Ok? What’s your point? He was still atrocious off the ball in the second. Wolves still ran through and bypassed our midfield in the second.
We would have been bypassed and played through with anyone else there. The setup today was wrong and Wolves setup to overload the middle.

Ole needed to switch to midfield 3
 

slored1

Full Member
Joined
May 15, 2016
Messages
3,532
Class offensively, poor defensively. Not suited to that position unless we get a ball-winning, game controlling monster.
 

Nick7

Full Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
19,231
Location
Ireland
We would have been bypassed and played through with anyone else there. The setup today was wrong and Wolves setup to overload the middle.

Ole needed to switch to midfield 3
Yeah I absolutely agree, that was my point. Setting up with 2 in midfield is wrong, especially against a team that play like Wolves have this season. Setting up with a 2 where one of them is Pogba is even worse IMO. Great on the ball when he got going but was never really an entity on the defensive side, which should have hurt us more than it did. We got away with it, and I hope next time Ole is smarter so we don’t just get away with it.
 

KennyBurner

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
4,673
Location
ATL
Fred is not the one he can pair with if he plays deep. They were going through our midfield like there was nothing.

But, we really can't play with only one player sitting with this squad and the way we play right now.
They are outnumbered. It wouldnt matter who any of them sits with if we keep playing with 2 strikers.
 

laughtersassassin

Full Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
11,330
Really good in the second half and made some very good chances.

Consistent to me this season. 5 good halfs and one bad. I'll take that
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
Scout
Joined
Jan 31, 2014
Messages
65,353
Location
France
He can play in a midfield two when theres a third midfielder out wide
Or when the 10 doesn't play like a striker. Teams rarely setup the way we do with a 10 that plays like a striker and wide players that stay high and don't strictly cover the wings. Teams generally defend in a strict 4411 or a 433/4123.
 

kundalini

Full Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2004
Messages
5,750
A couple of super passes over the top to Bruno, one of which Fernandes was slightly offside. Awful first half performance, caught in possession and not that interested in defending. Decent shot from an angle that was saved in the 2nd half.
 
Last edited:

KennyBurner

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
4,673
Location
ATL
We would have been bypassed and played through with anyone else there. The setup today was wrong and Wolves setup to overload the middle.

Ole needed to switch to midfield 3
Right on the money. The problem was there to see but we never bothered to fix it even during the second half. we just added more quality by removing james and replacing him with anyone.
 

Jeppers7

Pogfamily Mafia
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
7,287
Along with Greenwood the only offensive players who turned up.
 

Idxomer

Full Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
15,013
Most passes and touches on the team, Bruno hasn't helped him or Fred anywhere near enough today.
 

Hugh Jass

Shave Dass
Joined
Apr 16, 2016
Messages
11,244
Unreal attacking wise, but poor defensively. Is it half empty or half full. Which Pogba do you see? He was the one who could unlock the defense. But poor then defending.
 

Jagga7

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
Messages
7,079
Location
in a cave
Superb passing, he's the only who is capable of playing penetrating passes and unlocking teams.
 

marktan

Full Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2017
Messages
6,907
Unreal attacking wise, but poor defensively. Is it half empty or half full. Which Pogba do you see? He was the one who could unlock the defense. But poor then defending.
He's always been defensively terrible which is why it makes no sense to play him in a midfield 2. It never, ever works.
 

MattofManchester

Full Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
3,748
Seems like he had a bit of a sulk in the first 45. Left Fred isolated a few times and didn't track back.

Second 45, he worked a lot harder and had more freedom to do his thing.

Completely opposing halves for him.
 

The United

Full Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2015
Messages
5,770
They are outnumbered. It wouldnt matter who any of them sits with if we keep playing with 2 strikers.
Does not matter. Playing with 2 CMs at the base still should not have been that messy. It is not just the midfield fault though of course. Our wings were pretty shite as retaining the ball and doing anything with it. It put a lot of pressure on the defense over and over.
 

Jev

Full Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
7,851
Location
Denmark
So why the feck was he playing so deep today ? I don't get what Ole was thinking exactly.
We've bought a shitload of attackers and Ole is hoping to fit more of them in by playing Pogba deeper. It ain't gonna work.
 

The United

Full Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2015
Messages
5,770
Seems like he had a bit of a sulk in the first 45. Left Fred isolated a few times and didn't track back.

Second 45, he worked a lot harder and had more freedom to do his thing.

Completely opposing halves for him.
My feeling as well.
 

caid

Full Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
8,269
Location
Dublin
I just think you need a midfielder 5 yards behind him. He'll lose the ball sometimes so cant be the last line before they're on top of our defenders. Give Fred or McTominay a 5 to 10 yard head start when it happens and it'll be easier to manage imo. I think you play the same midfield as a 3 and it'd work far better, it'll still have shortcomings but wont be getting rinsed by mid table teams in teh same manner.
Though i guess everyone is bored of changing our midfield to suit him. I just kind of wish we'd stop using him in ways that are obviously, clearly making bad use of him. I think he should be competing with the attacking players and mostly disregarded in the defensive half as Bruno or Rashford would be.
 

criticalanalysis

Full Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Messages
6,034
Got away with that foul. Could have been a red and should have been a yellow at the least.

Our best player on the ball. The amount of times we played out of a press or got the ball into a free player due to his composure on the ball was instrumental. It wasn't due to amazing team movement or tactics, it was due to him holding onto the ball for an extra 0.5 seconds and then switching it. We live dangerously because as we also saw, he can sometimes dally on it too much and we lose the ball in open space. That's down to Ole as much as Pogba.

Other than than, he tried but as we know not great off the ball or defensively.

Or when the 10 doesn't play like a striker. Teams rarely setup the way we do with a 10 that plays like a striker and wide players that stay high and don't strictly cover the wings. Teams generally defend in a strict 4411 or a 433/4123.
Yes we're essentially 4-2-4 when Bruno is so far ahead.
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Looked lost in the first half and got better in the second — mostly on the ball though, creating most of our (scarcely few) chances. One of the few games where you can hardly blame him for not trying to track back, but he still got completely outplayed. Fred having one of the worst performances by any United player in history certainly didn't help yet Ole has to take a huge part of the blame for that mess we found ourselves in tonight.
 

caid

Full Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
8,269
Location
Dublin
Looked lost in the first half and got better in the second — mostly on the ball though, creating most of our (scarcely few) chances. One of the few games where you can hardly blame him for not trying to track back, but he still got completely outplayed. Fred having one of the worst performances by any United player in history certainly didn't help yet Ole has to take a huge part of the blame for that mess we found ourselves in tonight.
Its impossible to hold midfield performances like this against Pogba at this point. Its too predictable, its too expected.
 

DWelbz19

Correctly predicted Portugal to win Euro 2016
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Messages
33,743
Some mentioned it after the Leeds game where he made like 4 great chances which were all taken and that led to 4 assists and that was seen as a great game, but in another day those chances get wasted and it won’t get talked about again.

The second half was one of those performances. About 3 genuinely goalscoring chances were made from his passes
 

harms

Shining Star of Paektu Mountain
Staff
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
27,952
Location
Moscow
Does not matter. Playing with 2 CMs at the base still should not have been that messy. It is not just the midfield fault though of course. Our wings were pretty shite as retaining the ball and doing anything with it. It put a lot of pressure on the defense over and over.
It wasn't your normal double pivot in a 4-2-3-1. It was

Sancho - Bruno - Greenwood - James
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------- Fred -------- Pogba ------------
Shaw -------- Maguire -- Varane ----- AWB
 

Apokalips

Full Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2013
Messages
844
It wasn't your normal double pivot in a 4-2-3-1. It was

Sancho - Bruno - Greenwood - James
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------- Fred -------- Pogba ------------
Shaw -------- Maguire -- Varane ----- AWB
Exactly this, no midfield can look good in a 424 formation. The gaps were too large and options were limited to having to play the ball over the top.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.