Paul Pogba revisited

Hammondo said:
He played plenty as the most attacking of 3 cms, and when that didn't work we had his fans on here saying he's being played out of position.
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His best form for us was when he was regularly playing as the most attacking of 3 CMs, I don't recall any fans saying that was him playing out of position (nor can I fathom how they would think that).

Fans did - including myself at times - think he should have been able to adapt and mature enough to play in a midfield two, if that's what you mean. But I don't think any of those fans would have said he was playing out of position when in a midfield 3.
 
peller said:
So Matic and Fred signings were myth alright? So much love for player who was busy whoring himself out for years.
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Matic? Yes, he was the one attempt we did make to sign the player who could sit deeper and help control the team around. Unfortunately other than that first half season where he was great, he was bad for the large majority of his time here. Indeed I would say he's another victim of our badly balanced midfield, as he lacked the legs and also needed (probably even more than Pogba) that third midfielder in there acting as the workhorse. That's why the Matic-Herrera-Pogba combination worked so well for the brief period we used it (lost and drew the first two matches, then won 17 and drew 1 of the remaining 18 games) as they all had their natural role and covered each others weaknesses.

In theory Fred could have filled the Herrera role, but he was absolutely terrible in his first season as he got to grips with the English game. After that as far as I can see we never once started the three of them (Matic, Fred and Pogba) together again, so it actually kind of shows my point that we never played a balanced midfield even when we had the players to do so. In saying that, Fred and Matic always struggled to play together in the early years as they seemed to get in each others way, perhaps due to both preferring the left. It wasn't until the last season or two where they started to combine a bit better, but that may have been due to Matic dropping so deep by that stage that he was virtually a defender. Overall in his time here Fred is another clear example of a player who was played in a role which didn't suit him, generally being the player who dropped deepest and got the ball off the defenders. It was only when Rangnick then later ETH came in that they played him in the more aggressive box-to-box role.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
It also made him a liability for the team. A midfielder who wants to take too many touches around the edge of his own box is meat and drink for teams that press high.

Throw in the fact he was never quite nimble enough to play in congested areas around the opposition box and you can see why he so often flattered to deceive.
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For the first half…read Bruno. Still hasn’t learned.

The second half absolute and utter rubbish. He was great around the opposition box. Able to dribble, pass, play the simple ball, the correct ball, the defence splitting ball…better than 99% of midfielders.

Perhaps if he’d played the long ball more often, or tried the final ball rather than the right pass more often, got rid under any pressure if he was weaker…his ‘chances created’ stats would be better.

But in truth we performed far better with Pogba, had far more control in the attacking third. Scored more and conceded less than at any time since.

The issue Pogba had was that if he had a bad game you knew about it from the media.
Had he started a season letting players run off him regularly leading to goals conceded. Played mindless passes in his own box resulting in goals.
Not played passes when players were in 10 yards of space and he had six players around him, mindlessly decided to keep the ball and ignore a simple pass to a player in space only to turn into trouble and be tackled…he’d have been criticised for five years for it (since the Swiss game he’s criticised without having a pass on and without holding the ball for more than 2 seconds)

If he’d had two performances out of 11 that were in any way subjectively good. Missed two crucial penalties and cost us points…while moaning that the ref touched him and moaning at teammates for his own errors…The media and specifically Neville and Souness would have been all over him.

Putting together a couple of months of good form has been a problem for every player since 2013. Pogba used to produce 2/3 periods per season. Bruno has largely had 1 patch every season he’s been here that has masked the rest of what he produced. Yet he’s still lauded for the good.
 
Despite the injuries and the dumb social media stuff- our best post Fergie player.
 
horsechoker said:
It's clearly Bruno Fernandes
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Either way Pogba and Bruno are the 2 best easily. They also enjoyed playing together but Pogba had become injury prone.

Pretty sure I saw something about Pogba being the top assisted for Bruno in his time here. I wish we signed Bruno in 2017 or something and signed Kante to go alongside the two.
 
CMRobbo7 said:
For the first half…read Bruno. Still hasn’t learned.

The second half absolute and utter rubbish. He was great around the opposition box. Able to dribble, pass, play the simple ball, the correct ball, the defence splitting ball…better than 99% of midfielders.

Perhaps if he’d played the long ball more often, or tried the final ball rather than the right pass more often, got rid under any pressure if he was weaker…his ‘chances created’ stats would be better.

But in truth we performed far better with Pogba, had far more control in the attacking third. Scored more and conceded less than at any time since.

The issue Pogba had was that if he had a bad game you knew about it from the media.
Had he started a season letting players run off him regularly leading to goals conceded. Played mindless passes in his own box resulting in goals.
Not played passes when players were in 10 yards of space and he had six players around him, mindlessly decided to keep the ball and ignore a simple pass to a player in space only to turn into trouble and be tackled…he’d have been criticised for five years for it (since the Swiss game he’s criticised without having a pass on and without holding the ball for more than 2 seconds)

If he’d had two performances out of 11 that were in any way subjectively good. Missed two crucial penalties and cost us points…while moaning that the ref touched him and moaning at teammates for his own errors…The media and specifically Neville and Souness would have been all over him.

Putting together a couple of months of good form has been a problem for every player since 2013. Pogba used to produce 2/3 periods per season. Bruno has largely had 1 patch every season he’s been here that has masked the rest of what he produced. Yet he’s still lauded for the good.
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To try and use Pogba as a means to slag off Bruno is fecking hilarious. But crack on. You’re clearly way too far gone to reason with :lol:
 
Can’t believe the amount of praise. Dressing room rot started with this complete pr**k. Was delighted when he finally went. Terrible character and a terrible influence as he was very evidently one of the leaders in the dressing room.
 
One of the most universally disliked and discredited players I’ve ever seen here.

He could probably have never lived up to what people had seemingly decided was the expectations for him - which was essentially to lead us to glory almost single handedly. For the first few years, I read a lot of ‘despite x or y - he’s still clearly our best player’ after many games.

That said, for his own part, I think he never fully fit into a proper system/team for any prolonged period here. He has a strange combination of strengths and weaknesses and it made it difficult to fit him into a lot of units, especially in the PL. France had to play Rabiot as a left-winger to find the balance. That said, their team has so clearly missed his quality since he’s been out of the team.

By the end, injuries had completely finished him. But I don’t think anyone got near to his levels of actual quality for us. That said, both we/him rarely found a way to platform it best. Despite this, he was nowhere near as dreadful as he’s made out, and was very good for much of his time here. Every opponent player who speaks about him always speaks about how he is levels above.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
To try and use Pogba as a means to slag off Bruno is fecking hilarious. But crack on. You’re clearly way too far gone to reason with :lol:
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You missed the point. Or you can’t find a counter.

The point is youre suggesting Pogba was an outlier at United. That somehow stringing only 2-3 months of form and having weaknesses was specific to Pogba.

My point is that it’s been the same for the very best players since SAF. What is different is the scrutiny. Pogba never started the season as poorly as Bruno has, all things considered. If he had cost multiple goals, points, missed two pens…one because the ref touched him…And had two good games in 11…we would alll be hearing about it.

Perhaps you disagree with that?
 
Rozay said:
That said, for his own part, I think he never fully fit into a proper system/team for any prolonged period here. He has a strange combination of strengths and weaknesses and it made it difficult to fit him into a lot of units, especially in the PL. France had to play Rabiot as a left-winger to find the balance. That said, their team has so clearly missed his quality since he’s been out of the team.
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Wasn't it Matuidi?

Overall, I agree completely. Pogbas biggest issue at United (and one that has been repeated before and after) was being misprofiled. In Pogbas case by the fans, the manager, the club and most likely even by himself. He was seen as our answer to Yaya Toure, that midfield tank that pops up all over the pitch. In reality, Pogba was somewhat of a luxury item, a fantastic player to have, unstoppable maybe, if put in a system that gave him a platform to showcase his strengths and covered his weaknesses. A platform, that one could say became more and more difficult to provide due to the rise of organized pressing schemes and raising intensity throughout all teams of the league.

Its fair play that managers should be able to experiment, try out players in positions they weren't tried out before. But those managers should also stop those experiments when the evidence gets overwhelming that stuff isn't really working out. Pogba in a 2 man midfield was always going to be a problem. Next to an ever slowing down Matic even more so. Plus at this point in time, the team seriously lacked players who were good at progressing the ball from deep (suprise suprise, hasn't been fixed in all those years...) and struggled to create chances. Pogba could contribute on both fronts - but not at the same time.
 
Bastian said:
His floor was super low, his ceiling second to none, on average he was a 5.5/10-6/10. His ego was gigantic, he considered himself a player who could walk like Messi because that's how he understood himself to be. The most talented player at United since Rooney/Cristiano, by miles and miles. Undermined the manager. His documentary was pure cringe (saw the trailer). Wasted his career, but will always have the accolades with France to fall back on. Seems a prat.

Feel sorry for him having such a twisted brother.
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That's exactly my take on him. Goes from WC scorer and winner to having a really ugly entourage and circus around him, which I hate seeing in any player.
 
Withnail said:
Bringing in Matic, who was on his last legs, and the inconsistent Fred is 'building a team" to you?
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Let's not forget that we also had Herrera at that time, him and Matic could swap place in the starting line up alongside of Pogba week in week out. Fred being inconsistent? His job was to provide tenacity in the midfield, he was there to do the dirty works that Pogba saw beneath him. The idea to help Pogba to maximize his potential was there, whether you like it or not.

Also no words about him whoring himself out for years??

MadDogg said:
Matic? Yes, he was the one attempt we did make to sign the player who could sit deeper and help control the team around. Unfortunately other than that first half season where he was great, he was bad for the large majority of his time here. Indeed I would say he's another victim of our badly balanced midfield, as he lacked the legs and also needed (probably even more than Pogba) that third midfielder in there acting as the workhorse. That's why the Matic-Herrera-Pogba combination worked so well for the brief period we used it (lost and drew the first two matches, then won 17 and drew 1 of the remaining 18 games) as they all had their natural role and covered each others weaknesses.

In theory Fred could have filled the Herrera role, but he was absolutely terrible in his first season as he got to grips with the English game. After that as far as I can see we never once started the three of them (Matic, Fred and Pogba) together again, so it actually kind of shows my point that we never played a balanced midfield even when we had the players to do so. In saying that, Fred and Matic always struggled to play together in the early years as they seemed to get in each others way, perhaps due to both preferring the left. It wasn't until the last season or two where they started to combine a bit better, but that may have been due to Matic dropping so deep by that stage that he was virtually a defender. Overall in his time here Fred is another clear example of a player who was played in a role which didn't suit him, generally being the player who dropped deepest and got the ball off the defenders. It was only when Rangnick then later ETH came in that they played him in the more aggressive box-to-box role.
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Fred was great under Ole too, he was only inconsistent under Jose you can put the reason whether he was still adapting to the league or Jose simply didnt rate him.


Herrera, Matic, Fred existence during Pogbas time here shown that the club had an idea how to maximize Pogbas potential. Imagine what the likes of Bruno could do with teammates like them? We only botched the midfield structure after 2020 but it was never like that before.
 
El Jefe said:
He was super talented but just wasn’t a smart player on the pitch. When he was younger some of the brain farts he made on both sides of the ball were excused due to age but getting older didn’t stop any of the silly parts of his game.

I feel if he dedicated himself to really understanding how to play in midfield from a tactical perspective he could’ve been an all timer. I remember there was a video where he was comparing himself to Kante and saying something along the lines of them having similar stats or playing the same position and Kante gets praise but he gets hate. That in itself told you he just didn’t get it.

He always let himself down by dribbling in the wrong areas or being a step behind the play defensively and also doing fancy things just for the sake of it.

It just shows how talented he was because he still achieved such a high level in his career and did things for us that no player has done since. His game against Switzerland in the Euros is almost a perfect example of Pogba, he played an unreal game with the most beautiful passing and a worldie which he celebrated for a good 2mins but was the one to give up possession for the equaliser in stoppage time and eventually lost on penalties. His brilliance for how special it was just didn’t translate into wins enough.
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Pretty much my thoughts too. He is one of the most talented players we've ever had. And that raw talent carried him, because he was awful at reading a game and following instructions.
 
peller said:
Let's not forget that we also had Herrera at that time, him and Matic could swap place in the starting line up alongside of Pogba week in week out. Fred being inconsistent? His job was to provide tenacity in the midfield, he was there to do the dirty works that Pogba saw beneath him. The idea to help Pogba to maximize his potential was there, whether you like it or not.
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Maybe that was the idea from somebody but even that is something we don't know for sure since at that time there simply was noone except for the manager to have something akin to a sports perspective and longterm vision of the team. Also I'd say that Fred was another instance of a player that was badly misprofiled and suffered from playing in a way that didn't suit his skillset. So even if he was brought in to do what you assume, there is still a debate to be had whether he would have been capable to fulfill this role.
peller said:
Fred was great under Ole too, he was only inconsistent under Jose you can put the reason whether he was still adapting to the league or Jose simply didnt rate him.
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I don't think he was great under Ole at all - he had a few good spells and his main benefit was that he wasn't Matic. Oles midfield changes had a positive effect because we went from skilled but atrociously lacking intensity in Matic and Pogba to way less skilled but at least providing legs and workrate. But it was never really great midfield play.
peller said:
Herrera, Matic, Fred existence during Pogbas time here shown that the club had an idea how to maximize Pogbas potential. Imagine what the likes of Bruno could do with teammates like them? We only botched the midfield structure after 2020 but it was never like that before.
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Feels like you only have their greatest periods in mind. Matic had one really good season but slowed down significantly from then on. Fred was misprofiled and never really had the skillset to be somewhat of a holder in midfield. Herrera was tidy and probably the best allrounder we had for a long time but wasn't convincing in a lot of games still. In theory, all of them in their primes, would make a great set of midfielders to be complemented by Pogba or Bruno. But the issue is there was never once a time where they were playing to their peaks together.

The issue with midfielders at United is that their recent history is stained with being misprofiled. Pogba was misprofiled, Fred and McTominay were most likely misprofiled, Donny was misprofiled, Matic and Casemiro weren't misprofiled but brought in too late in their career. One could say that no area of the team shows the lack of understanding, recognition of changing trends and long term planning more. We brought in players because they were playing well in their teams but never understood what made the environment that made them play well and whether we could replicate that or not.
 
NZT-One said:
The issue with midfielders at United is that their recent history is stained with being misprofiled. Pogba was misprofiled, Fred and McTominay were most likely misprofiled, Donny was misprofiled, Matic and Casemiro weren't misprofiled but brought in too late in their career. One could say that no area of the team shows the lack of understanding, recognition of changing trends and long term planning more. We brought in players because they were playing well in their teams but never understood what made the environment that made them play well and whether we could replicate that or not.
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How was he misprofiled? Did the scout report say he was a great character and not a complete bell end?!

The first part of being a winning team is culture; it’s the dressing room. The tactics come down stream of that. The greatest tactical plan in history won’t work if it’s being implemented by a demoralised, fractured or otherwise broken dressing room that aren’t pulling in the same direction. It’s a team sport. He was always about Paul Pogba.

Arguably our greatest failure post Ferguson, who was an absolute stickler for it, was to bring in bad actors. Pogba was a very prominent example of that, made worse by being a world record fee and as such the main man. Sancho is another one.. Jose might be a d*ck but he’s right in the virus analogy, because it infects those around them. One bad apple etc etc.
 
IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos said:
How was he misprofiled? Did the scout report say he was a great character and not a complete bell end?!

The first part of being a winning team is culture; it’s the dressing room. The tactics come down stream of that. The greatest tactical plan in history won’t work if it’s being implemented by a demoralised, fractured or otherwise broken dressing room that aren’t pulling in the same direction. It’s a team sport. He was always about Paul Pogba.

Arguably our greatest failure post Ferguson, who was an absolute stickler for it, was to bring in bad actors. Pogba was a very prominent example of that, made worse by being a world record fee and as such the main man. Sancho is another one.. Jose might be a d*ck but he’s right in the virus analogy, because it infects those around them. One bad apple etc etc.
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Come on. One of the leaders for the French national team that won the World Cup. One of the leaders for Juventus who who Serie A for 4 seasons straight and all the way to the CL final beating Real Madrid in the semi finals in the process, and also played a big part of our best period post SAF ending up 2nd in PL twice, 3rd once and scored the game winning goal against Ajax that won us the Europa League.

He wasn't perfect for us, far from it, but the idea that Pogba is the greatest cancer stain ever on this club is seriously bizarre.
 
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Trigestis said:
Come on. One of the leaders for the French national team that won the World Cup. One of the leaders for Juventus who who Serie A for 4 seasons straight and all the way to the CL final beating Real Madrid in the semi finals in the process, and also played a big part of our best period post SAF ending up 2nd in PL twice, 3rd once and scored the game winning goal against Ajax that won us the Europa League.

He wasn't perfect for us, far from it, but the idea that Pogba is the greatest cancer stain ever on this club is seriously bizarre.
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Buffon. Bonucci. Chiellini. Barzagli. Marchisio. Pirlo. Those were leaders at Juve, he was a kid there. He was a superstar when he came back to us. Only leader we had then was Ibra.

Seriously bizarre is any United fan looking back at his spell with fondness. The ultimate symbol of Woodward’s “players first” philosophy that was more interested in celebrity and insta followers than success on the pitch.
 
NZT-One said:
Maybe that was the idea from somebody but even that is something we don't know for sure since at that time there simply was noone except for the manager to have something akin to a sports perspective and longterm vision of the team. Also I'd say that Fred was another instance of a player that was badly misprofiled and suffered from playing in a way that didn't suit his skillset. So even if he was brought in to do what you assume, there is still a debate to be had whether he would have been capable to fulfill this role.

I don't think he was great under Ole at all - he had a few good spells and his main benefit was that he wasn't Matic. Oles midfield changes had a positive effect because we went from skilled but atrociously lacking intensity in Matic and Pogba to way less skilled but at least providing legs and workrate. But it was never really great midfield play.

Feels like you only have their greatest periods in mind. Matic had one really good season but slowed down significantly from then on. Fred was misprofiled and never really had the skillset to be somewhat of a holder in midfield. Herrera was tidy and probably the best allrounder we had for a long time but wasn't convincing in a lot of games still. In theory, all of them in their primes, would make a great set of midfielders to be complemented by Pogba or Bruno. But the issue is there was never once a time where they were playing to their peaks together.

The issue with midfielders at United is that their recent history is stained with being misprofiled. Pogba was misprofiled, Fred and McTominay were most likely misprofiled, Donny was misprofiled, Matic and Casemiro weren't misprofiled but brought in too late in their career. One could say that no area of the team shows the lack of understanding, recognition of changing trends and long term planning more. We brought in players because they were playing well in their teams but never understood what made the environment that made them play well and whether we could replicate that or not.
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The only player who is often being misprofiled is Bruno Fernandes, the player you often harshly criticized because the club and the fans (like you) demanded him to be everything on the pitch (no. 10, no. 8, no. 6, no. 7, no. 11, no. 9 all at once).
 
IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos said:
Buffon. Bonucci. Chiellini. Barzagli. Marchisio. Pirlo. Those were leaders at Juve, he was a kid there. He was a superstar when he came back to us. Only leader we had then was Ibra.

Seriously bizarre is any United fan looking back at his spell with fondness. The ultimate symbol of Woodward’s “players first” philosophy that was more interested in celebrity and insta followers than success on the pitch.
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I don't think anyone is looking back at it with fondness, but your idea that he was some rotten, unprofessional player who only cared for himself is ridiculous. Ironically, all the players you mentioned only have good things to say about him. Chiellini called him a champion. Buffon called him a "tremendous warrior on the pitch". Marchisio said he was one of the teammates who impressed him the most. I always find it amusing when fans seem to have a better understanding of a player's character than his own teammates. The fact is that you are just talking nonsense, and assume too much.

Not only for Juventus, he was arguably one of the most well liked and respected players for both France and for United, and he had a special bond with Ibrahimovic, our "only leader". What I don't understand is how you're talking about winning culture and Pogba as if they are opposites, but the fact is that while Pogba was here with us, we were at our best post-Ferguson. And no matter how much you despise him will change that. He was the one that held the inspirational team talk before the World Cup final as well, and was one of the best players in the final.

I get that you don't like him, but the lengths you're willing to go is just weird.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Nowhere near as bizarre as making up a phrase like “greatest cancer stain ever” to describe a level of criticism that was never actually made. He’s being accused of being slightly lacking in professionalism, not paedophilia.
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:lol: I'd read that post again if I were you. He literally mentions Jose's virus analogy to describe Pogba, in how he "infects" those around him. Perhaps a poor phrase, but I can imagine that is how he actually views Pogba.
 
Trigestis said:
:lol: I'd read that post again if I were you. He literally mentions Jose's virus analogy to describe Pogba, in how he "infects" those around him. Perhaps a poor phrase, but I can imagine that is how he actually views Pogba.
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He says he’s not a good pro and sets a bad example for other players. He’s talking about someone who got a lengthy ban for being a drug cheat. Why does this offend you so much?
 
Trigestis said:
I don't think anyone is looking back at it with fondness, but your idea that he was some rotten, unprofessional player who only cared for himself is ridiculous. Ironically, all the players you mentioned only have good things to say about him. Chiellini called him a champion. Buffon called him a "tremendous warrior on the pitch". Marchisio said he was one of the teammates who impressed him the most. I always find it amusing when fans seem to have a better understanding of a player's character than his own teammates. The fact is that you are just talking nonsense, and assume too much.

Not only for Juventus, he was arguably one of the most well liked and respected players for both France and for United, and he had a special bond with Ibrahimovic, our "only leader". What I don't understand is how you're talking about winning culture and Pogba as if they are opposites, but the fact is that while Pogba was here with us, we were at our best post-Ferguson. And no matter how much you despise him will change that. He was the one that held the inspirational team talk before the World Cup final as well, and was one of the best players in the final.

I get that you don't like him, but the lengths you're willing to go is just weird.
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Meanwhile you can also make an argument that our rot post Fergie started with Pogba. in his first season he was surrounded by experienced pros like Rooney, Carrick, Valencia, Ibra, and guess who should be in charge of seniority when those aging players left the club? Setting up example as senior to his juniors like those names you mentioned above did to him. He came back as 24 years old man, NOT a novice. I still remember what Ole said when we were about to appoint the new captain, nobody stepped up so he had to choose Maguire instead. Shameful.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
He says he’s not a good pro and sets a bad example for other players. He’s talking about someone who got a lengthy ban for being a drug cheat. Why does this offend you so much?
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That's not how I understand it. He is talking about his time for us. He took the drug under his last spell for Juventus where he had a difficult year where one of his brothers blackmailed him. His own family. I mean, sure, it was still an idiotic decision by him but we have no idea how it affected him. He has always been known for being a good pro for both clubs until that point.

The poster also mentions his price tag and that ultimately making him the main man, something he never asked for.
 
Trigestis said:
That's not how I understand it. He is talking about his time for us. He took the drug under his last spell for Juventus where he had a difficult year where one of his brothers blackmailed him. His own family. I mean, sure, it was still an idiotic decision by him but we have no idea how it affected him. He has always been known for being a good pro for both clubs until that point.

The poster also mentions his price tag and that ultimately making him the main man, something he never asked for.
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I get that he’s talking about his career before the ban. But that ban confirmed what we all suspected. That this is a guy who makes bad decisions to the extent that he might sabotage his own career. And that’s exactly what happened. So I don’t see how it’s an outrageous accusation to imply he was a bad influence when he was at Manchester United. The red flags were obvious. Pissing off to Dubai for some R&R when he was injured was not a good look! I mean even his very first stint at United ended up with him screwing the club over.
 
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He may have been a great guy at Juve, but success and fame changes people. Anyone want to argue Vini Jr doesn’t come across as a total bellend these days? Was less of an issue a few seasons ago when he was making his name. Jude Bellingham, sadly, looks like he might be going down the same road.

Players like Rooney and Ronaldo always talk glowingly about how the likes of Giggs and Scholes set standards, and I’ll grant that we probably failed him that regards, but our standards went to sh*t after his arrival. We became enthralled by likes and followers, not goals and assists. Like it or not, fairly or not, he was a world record transfer and the poster boy for that shift in the club, and it’s a shift that’s brought us nothing but prolonged failure. I see the nonsense that’s occurred with several players, like Lingard, Sancho, Rashford and co as being downstream of that period.

The most frustrating part of it all? He had the physical and technical attributes to be the best central midfield player in the world.
 
He was unbelievably talented, but played every game like it was his debut trying to show off, trying to turn and beat players on the edge of his own box playing little tricks and skills when it just want needed, always trying to show everyone how good he was.

Should of played much higher than he often did, would do been a beast if he predominantly played in the 10, on the wings or even at CF. But when he played deeper as he often did he was a liability against any team that was willing to press mid to high. Lacked positional discipline aswell and left yawning gaps in midfield.

Still when he was on it and everything was paying off, what a player. But those days where too few and far between.
 
Pogba seems to be a incredibly invested and present father, and thats the only thing thats actually important here
 
#Pogback was cringe even by Woody Woodward’s standards though, unforgivable.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I get that he’s talking about his career before the ban. But that ban confirmed what we all suspected. That this is a guy who makes bad decisions to the extent that he might sabotage his own career. And that’s exactly what happened. So I don’t see how it’s an outrageous accusation to imply he was a bad influence when he was at Manchester United. The red flags were obvious. Pissing off to Dubai for some R&R when he was injured was not a good look! I mean even his very first stint at United ended up with him screwing the club over.
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That’s some reach that. It’s nothing more than confirmation bias. The idea that because someone ‘unintentionally ingested a banned substance’ having left United…proves that he was a bad influence while at United?

I’d say finding quotes from managers…We’ve got one. From the guy who fell out with all of Real Madrids big players. Most of Chelsea’s. Half of United’s and was a weight on the club from the minute he didn’t get who he wanted in the summer transfer window. What does Ole think of him? Ragnick? Dechamps? Allegri? There’s no evidence of Pogba being a problem other than to your bias.

‘Pissing off to Dubai’ again just proves the scrutiny around Pogba on what was/is a normal practise for footballers today. The only issue is how much some people are blindly led like sheep by the media.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cole-palmer-injury-return-timeline-36036584

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/foot...tonio-rehab-car-crash-surgery-dubai-west-ham/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0jzl294x8xo

https://m.allfootballapp.com/news/E... David Silva, Tyrone,FA Cup win over Brighton.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...dy-title-run-warm-weather-training-Dubai.html
 
CMRobbo7 said:
That’s some reach that. It’s nothing more than confirmation bias. The idea that because someone ‘unintentionally ingested a banned substance’ having left United…proves that he was a bad influence while at United?

I’d say finding quotes from managers…We’ve got one. From the guy who fell out with all of Real Madrids big players. Most of Chelsea’s. Half of United’s and was a weight on the club from the minute he didn’t get who he wanted in the summer transfer window. What does Ole think of him? Ragnick? Dechamps? Allegri? There’s no evidence of Pogba being a problem other than to your bias.

‘Pissing off to Dubai’ again just proves the scrutiny around Pogba on what was/is a normal practise for footballers today. The only issue is how much some people are blindly led like sheep by the media.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/cole-palmer-injury-return-timeline-36036584

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/foot...tonio-rehab-car-crash-surgery-dubai-west-ham/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0jzl294x8xo

https://m.allfootballapp.com/news/EPL/Alexander-Arnold--Mendy-use-Dubai-training-facility-to-recover-from-injury/1260904#:~:text=Dele Alli, David Silva, Tyrone,FA Cup win over Brighton.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...dy-title-run-warm-weather-training-Dubai.html
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Did these other players have had a habit of missing games during the winter period like Pogba did in his last 3 years with Man Utd??
 
Am i the only one thought he was a bit overrated at United? He was brilliant for his spell at Juve yeah, but at United, majority of the time I remember him being pretty much mediocre to poor, a whole lot more than he was good.

I think because when he had a great game, he had a really really good game.. and people put alot of focus on these games when judging him.... But he only had those great games maybe 1 or 2 games out of 10. would be ok just for another 2/3 , then always have a run of quite poor games.

I remember plenty of quite deceiving youtube compilations at the time with him doing stepovers and flicks and making him look a baller and proper consistent player, and remember thinking , that aint the player ive been watching at OT every week for 90mins.

I dont have any hatred or genuine dislike for the lad as some others seem to, but I honestly think he was just an unbelievably frustrating player. I have never seen a player before or since , where so many excuses & 'conditions' were talked about what were needed for him to play decent... be that position/ system/ players around him etc etc.. I was happy to see the back of him eventually, he felt very much like a luxury player towards the end.

I think his career since leaving sums all this up. (I know injuries / bans/ and a bit of family madness had an effect too) But hes hardly performed well anywhere since
 
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