Paul Pogba | I missed football so much

el3mel

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I'm sure he's going to renew at this point. His mindset seems to have changed from the summer and we're in a fantastic form at the moment with a great mentality and atmosphere, and he has been part of all this as well. Perfect time for him to sign a new contract.

When he's fully committed and in top form he's a great player to have on the pitch regardless of any criticism or problems we have had with him or his agent in the last few years. He's very committed for us now and looks to give his best for the team every day and it's joy to watch.
 

TrustInOle

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In my humble opinion, can be taken with a pinch of salt, he is the best footballer in the league, hands down! Can not wait to hear of that contract extension.
 

spiriticon

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If he still wants to go, let him go. A sad Pogba is no good as we have seen for the last few years.

But it would be shit timing for him though, we're on the cusp of something good and he leaves just as we're about to get there.
 

Rolaholic

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Never expected him to commit in the middle of contract talks, its pretty standard stuff.
By all accounts we're either heading to or in the negotiation stage, damn near no one would spill anything during negotiations and toss away their leverage for a good soundbite :lol:
 

mariachi-19

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If he still wants to go, let him go. A sad Pogba is no good as we have seen for the last few years.

But it would be shit timing for him though, we're on the cusp of something good and he leaves just as we're about to get there.
Be liked Ruud 2.0... which Ironically is pretty much the same timeline as Ruud, but we won things during his tenure.
 

macheda14

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What did he say?
He was asked a double question so he only chose to answer one. “You did an interview recently where you said how happy you are to be playing football again, so how are you feeling and do you think your future lies at United?”
Then he spoke for about 10 seconds about how happy he is to be playing right now.
Easy for him to duck the question.
 

Berbasbullet

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He was asked a double question so he only chose to answer one. “You did an interview recently where you said how happy you are to be playing football again, so how are you feeling and do you think your future lies at United?”
Then he spoke for about 10 seconds about how happy he is to be playing right now.
Easy for him to duck the question.
Aaah the same way that politicians duck dumb journalists questions when they ask too much :lol:
 

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Loved that exchange between Keane and Evra, re: Poggers. Good chemistry between them.

As for a Pogba, excellent goal aside, that bit of skill on the touchline just before his goal when he wriggled away from the close attentions of Grealish and another a Villa player, was typical of how brilliant he can be. To take so many touches, so quickly shows an incredible quick brain to foot connection but I think Keane is right when he says he doesn’t want to be a leader, maybe because he doesn’t have enough confidence in his ability to see the big picture? Great to see him enjoying it.
 

lsd

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Loved that exchange between Keane and Evra, re: Poggers. Good chemistry between them.

As for a Pogba, excellent goal aside, that bit of skill on the touchline just before his goal when he wriggled away from the close attentions of Grealish and another a Villa player, was typical of how brilliant he can be. To take so many touches, so quickly shows an incredible quick brain to foot connection but I think Keane is right when he says he doesn’t want to be a leader, maybe because he doesn’t have enough confidence in his ability to see the big picture? Great to see him enjoying it.

It was banter i really don't see how Keane was criticizing Pogba at all from that exchange . All he said was he thinks Pogba is enjoying himself more now that he he doesn't have to be the main man.

Anyone who watched Pogba at Juventus when he played with Pirlo and Vidal knows how true that is .
 

Denis' cuff

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It was banter i really don't see how Keane was criticizing Pogba at all from that exchange . All he said was he thinks Pogba is enjoying himself more now that he he doesn't have to be the main man.

Anyone who watched Pogba at Juventus when he played with Pirlo and Vidal knows how true that is .
i know
 

Rozay

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We need to add a clause which forbids his brother and Riaola from talking shit and we're good.
Them, and others, will talk shit if we are 7th in the league. I don’t think it is realistic for us to be languishing from 5th-7th for years and expect pure peace and harmony on Pogba’s side. And I would imagine that goes for any player of a similar stature, at whatever club. They may give a year or so to trying to turn things around, but you simply cannot expect Pogba or De Bruyne to just be skipping and smiling mid-table for years of their prime.

I doubt his agent or brothers simply think United is a rubbish club, and clubs in Spain are better. If we had had the last few years Liverpool or City had, I doubt there would have been much unrest, just like we had seen none from their own players - unlike when Torres and Suarez were there and they were beneath that status. Not everyone is a United fan. If Neymar was happy to play at Villarreal it would be odd. As it is he’s at serial title winners but already agitating as he is that good that he wants to be on the biggest stages of the CL.
 

elmo

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Them, and others, will talk shit if we are 7th in the league. I don’t think it is realistic for us to be languishing from 5th-7th for years and expect pure peace and harmony on Pogba’s side. And I would imagine that goes for any player of a similar stature, at whatever club. They may give a year or so to trying to turn things around, but you simply cannot expect Pogba or De Bruyne to just be skipping and smiling mid-table for years of their prime.

I doubt his agent or brothers simply think United is a rubbish club, and clubs in Spain are better. If we had had the last few years Liverpool or City had, I doubt there would have been much unrest, just like we had seen none from their own players - unlike when Torres and Suarez were there and they were beneath that status. Not everyone is a United fan. If Neymar was happy to play at Villarreal it would be odd. As it is he’s at serial title winners but already agitating as he is that good that he wants to be on the biggest stages of the CL.
And Pogba's inconsistent game is a huge reason why we kept fluctuating between good and crap. His agent and brother talking crap when he's injured didn't help the mood at the club.

Pogba wants to be treated like the main star, paid like the main man but his game shines only when he has someone else picking up the responsibility and take the heat off him.
 

Sayros

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Them, and others, will talk shit if we are 7th in the league. I don’t think it is realistic for us to be languishing from 5th-7th for years and expect pure peace and harmony on Pogba’s side. And I would imagine that goes for any player of a similar stature, at whatever club. They may give a year or so to trying to turn things around, but you simply cannot expect Pogba or De Bruyne to just be skipping and smiling mid-table for years of their prime.

I doubt his agent or brothers simply think United is a rubbish club, and clubs in Spain are better. If we had had the last few years Liverpool or City had, I doubt there would have been much unrest, just like we had seen none from their own players - unlike when Torres and Suarez were there and they were beneath that status. Not everyone is a United fan. If Neymar was happy to play at Villarreal it would be odd. As it is he’s at serial title winners but already agitating as he is that good that he wants to be on the biggest stages of the CL.
It's the players that are comfortable staying put at a club going through a mediocre phase that you need to look out for and try to get rid of if you want to get back to winning.
 

Rozay

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And Pogba's inconsistent game is a huge reason why we kept fluctuating between good and crap. His agent and brother talking crap when he's injured didn't help the mood at the club.

Pogba wants to be treated like the main star, paid like the main man but his game shines only when he has someone else picking up the responsibility and take the heat off him.
Objection: speculation.

It is fair to think that Pogba is culpable for us being where we have been, but at the end of the day, that view doesn’t really matter. What matters is how the player feels. If he feels he can be in a better situation, and can back that up by having clubs in better situations wanting to sign him, then that’s all that really matters. Ozil could say that he’d rather be competing for titles and he is better than the Arsenal situation, but what will determine whether he is better than it or not are his options. And as far as I can see - Arsenal is as good as he can get. Pogba could be at Real or Juve. Whether you think he is good enough or deserves to be there doesn’t really matter after that.

And some people are so sensitive too. I’ve been watching football for over two decades and agents, fathers making open-minded comments in the press about their man’s future is part and parcel of the game. And in my observation, more often than not the players don’t go anywhere anyway. When you have superstars, that comes with the territory, and people going on for months that a player‘s brother ‘can see him playing in Spain’ probably need to get with the program a bit. I’m not saying you would not rather such comments not made, but I do think the fallout from them is largely because of a pre-existing distaste towards the player in the first place. Mané has mates and agents speaking ambiguously about Real Madrid from time to time. I doubt the Liverpool fans have that much of a problem with it. It’s just football world chatter. To me, anyway. The way I see it, if a player is going to go, they will go, and if not, so long as they do their job best they can while they are hear, forget the rest. But I’m not really one to be too concerned with agents, brothers, Instagrams etc.
 

Still ill

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Them, and others, will talk shit if we are 7th in the league. I don’t think it is realistic for us to be languishing from 5th-7th for years and expect pure peace and harmony on Pogba’s side. And I would imagine that goes for any player of a similar stature, at whatever club. They may give a year or so to trying to turn things around, but you simply cannot expect Pogba or De Bruyne to just be skipping and smiling mid-table for years of their prime.

I doubt his agent or brothers simply think United is a rubbish club, and clubs in Spain are better. If we had had the last few years Liverpool or City had, I doubt there would have been much unrest, just like we had seen none from their own players - unlike when Torres and Suarez were there and they were beneath that status. Not everyone is a United fan. If Neymar was happy to play at Villarreal it would be odd. As it is he’s at serial title winners but already agitating as he is that good that he wants to be on the biggest stages of the CL.
And Pogba's inconsistent game is a huge reason why we kept fluctuating between good and crap. His agent and brother talking crap when he's injured didn't help the mood at the club.

Pogba wants to be treated like the main star, paid like the main man but his game shines only when he has someone else picking up the responsibility and take the heat off him.
That's the whole argument in a nutshell. I love him and am loving watching him at the moment but it's not good enough to say he's entitled to flounce about and let his camp mutter darkly in the background when we're in the shit, then reemerge with a flourish when all is well again. I can't be doing with posters who lambasted people for wanting more character from him, as if character is a dirty word. We won't be banging in 3 or 4 a game forever. I need him to be consistent now and show the same appetite when we're up against it.
 

Rozay

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It's the players that are comfortable staying put at a club going through a mediocre phase that you need to look out for and try to get rid of if you want to get back to winning.
Precisely this, a point I’ve made before too. These guys come here to be at the very top.

No point pointing at some other guy who is a ‘good example’ for being happy to ‘get his head down and stay’ when that player’s options if he left United would be West Ham or Everton. Maybe not now while they are very young, but if we are still 6th and 7th by the time they are 25/26 - Rashford and Greenwood and co will likely leave. These are people who have spent their whole lives here. They would leave because what is available elsewhere is better. Scott or Pereira can take the captains armband as a symbol of loyalty then if it makes everyone feel better, but that’s because Juve and Real aren’t after them. The players who never make fuss are choosing between Manchester United and Sheffield United.
 

Rozay

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That's the whole argument in a nutshell. I love him and am loving watching him at the moment but it's not good enough to say he's entitled to flounce about and let his camp mutter darkly in the background when we're in the shit, then reemerge with a flourish when all is well again. I can't be doing with posters who lambasted people for wanting more character from him, as if character is a dirty word. We won't be banging in 3 or 4 a game forever. I need him to be consistent now and show the same appetite when we're up against it.
That’s not exactly what I said. I said you cannot expect peace and harmony from a world class player in his prime spending season after season outside the CL and not competing. It wasn’t a case of ‘when we were in the shit’ - he joined us when we were in the shit! It is after 3 years of no improvement, and I don’t think he was out dragging us through the mud anyway just to do it and be spiteful. He didn’t want to talk, he wanted to leave, and said as much. The idea of his attitude changing now is likely because he didn’t want to leave due to hating United in the first place. He wanted to leave to be at a side competing. It was time. But if that is to be us, then great. But that did not look like it was going to be us. He had already been here 3 years when he said he wanted to leave, it’s not like he didn’t come to do his bit first.

And I’m not sure what you mean by ‘flounce about when we’re in the shit then re-emerge’ - the player was injured. As unsettled as he may have been, he would have still been on the pitch trying this season. He didn’t move last summer, and started playing his football until he was injured. He’s back now, but would have recovered from injury whether we had improved or not, and would have returned to playing whether we would have improved or not. The difference is, he wouldn’t have returned with a changed position, in all likelihood, if we were still shite when he came back. He probably would still have hoped to leave as soon as he could. But we aren’t shit now, and it appears, that he is happier as a result. Surely that’s normal?
 

Idxomer

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And Pogba's inconsistent game is a huge reason why we kept fluctuating between good and crap. His agent and brother talking crap when he's injured didn't help the mood at the club.

Pogba wants to be treated like the main star, paid like the main man but his game shines only when he has someone else picking up the responsibility and take the heat off him.
I don't see the current United team having a main man whatever that means. Actually, very few teams nowadays have one.

Pogba is still the best player at United with the most accolades, and he should be paid according to that. The team having a playmaker who does his role very well or great forwards should be the standard and doesn't mean that Pogba shies away from his responsibility.
 

RooneyLegend

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That's the whole argument in a nutshell. I love him and am loving watching him at the moment but it's not good enough to say he's entitled to flounce about and let his camp mutter darkly in the background when we're in the shit, then reemerge with a flourish when all is well again. I can't be doing with posters who lambasted people for wanting more character from him, as if character is a dirty word. We won't be banging in 3 or 4 a game forever. I need him to be consistent now and show the same appetite when we're up against it.
Some of you don't understand just how dire things have been in recent times. No great player is hanging around for that nonsense.
 

RooneyLegend

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And Pogba's inconsistent game is a huge reason why we kept fluctuating between good and crap. His agent and brother talking crap when he's injured didn't help the mood at the club.

Pogba wants to be treated like the main star, paid like the main man but his game shines only when he has someone else picking up the responsibility and take the heat off him.
Nah, the ineptitude around him is the reason we've been crap. What fluctuations are you talking about? The season we came second was only because our keeper had the best season a keeper has had in the prem since Big Pete in the mid 90's. The other seasons were basically write offs.
 

glazed

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I will believe it when he signs a new contract.
Exactly. It's in his interests and the club's interests to play nice, but there's no reason to think anything has changed. He has always wanted to go to Madrid and he still will if he can.
 

Redfrog

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Paul is a great player, no doubt about that.

I think he plays in his best position now, behind the attacking quatuor where he can orchestrat the play from behind, pick up a great pass and run. If he keep it like this I tkink he is the closest player to Scholes in terms of impact on the overwall play.

It will be terrible to lose him, there is no player who can replace him. He has to sign that contract.

I'm kind of confident. He would have not opened talks if he wasn't signing.

I wanted him gone for one time but that was purely because of all the negative press. José made a great job on that aspect, thanks god he is gone.

Paul loves the club, he would have not if not. And he wanted to live because he wanted to enjoy football in my opinion. That is what he is doing now with quality players around him and I think that is the most important thing for him (he has already a lot of money !).
 

Redfrog

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I think Ole deserves a lot of credit for the way he's managed the situation. Not only has the revived the atmosphere in the club, I think by nature he looks to get the best out of players first rather than manufacturing conflict like Mourinho, and he's recognised that the team is better with a happy and performing Pogba than it is without him.

Since the restart I think we've been seeing a quieter Pogba who's been less the centre of attention but performs for the team. We're not seeing Pogba as the goal scorer or the penalty taker, and there's none of the showman dance routines as a consequence. Maybe we're seeing a more mature Pogba. A lot has to do with the impact of Bruno Fernandes, the emergence of Mason Greenwood and the continuing improvement of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial - he has his equals in the team now.



He's clearly a player who needs to be surrounded by other good players and the improvement in the team has persuaded him to stay. The worry is that he is a fair-weather player, and his attitude changes when we don't perform so well. If we hadn't had the enforced break, I think he might well have been gone by now. But let's be optimistic, if our present form continues, we are only looking at good times and a happy and successful Pogba.

I agree with you. Remember when he said last year that he will be successfull here and some players will be gone ?

I can't understand people against Ole and wanting an other manager as the guy resurected this club from the deads.

The most important thing to me is how he saw very fast which players he wanted to keep and which one to get ride off and did it immediately. You have to be brave to do that.

It was painfull first because we were very short in terms of numbers and quality but we are ripping the benefits now, with a good mentality and good technically players on the pitch.
 

Adam-Utd

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Looks like he's changed career

This is pretty old now but still nice to see this side of him.

Luke Shaw recently said everybody loves him at United, seems Jose's character assassination really worked.
 

redmanx

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I was one of those who wanted him out this season. I just grew exasperated at the situation. It's not that I didn't rate him as a player, it was that after seemingly 3 years of near constant speculation, I came to the end of my tether. It's not like I was one of those who never took to him. I loved him when he first joined and backed him all the way up to last summer, when he did that interview in Japan. That was seemingly the limit for me when it came to Pogba.

If he signs the new deal, then all is forgiven at my end. And credit must also go to Ole for managing the situation so well. I struggle to think of many in the top flight who would have handled the situation as delicately and diplomatically as he did.

If we can add Sancho to this squad and have Pogba tied down to a new 5 year contract, we're well on the way to having this squad near-complete.
I agree, if he really wants to stay, if he plays to a consistent, acceptable level, if he's prepared to play where he's asked then great, Ive always said he's a top, top player, and if he can do this Pogba can erase much of what happened before....IF!