Pogba

Bondi77

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If he does sign and we get Sancho then Pogba becomes more of a squad player so I cannot imagine the wage going up
 

Bondi77

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Do you rate Bruno as a top player? Also De Bruyne? My friends who are city fans say he has periods of poor form where he’s just really quiet throughout most seasons but when he’s good he’s obviously great. The only player I’ve ever seen at United maintain his highest level for three seasons in a row was Keane. Every other player has had periods of ‘form’.
De Gea was World class for about three seasons
 

Coops73

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Couldn't care less about him as a United player any more - the amount of times he's played silly buggers with us is embarrassing. There's a definite undercurrent with him where we choose to believe he actually loves United and wants to stay when all the evidence points to the contrary.

Mino is a great distraction/target for us fans but make no mistake, he works for Pogba and he knows what Pogba wants. Sell Pogba, get someone like Tielemans in as a CM and Sancho and we'd be a far better team overall.
Couldn’t agree more, the fawning over Pogba is embarrassing, let’s get him gone and get someone in who wants to be at the club.

Tielemans would be great, talk was that he really wanted to come here a couple of years ago and I’d love Greilish at United, I think he’s a better player than Pogba and he’d become a massive player here but can’t see it happen.
 

rotherham_red

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Tbh I think Sancho makes Pogba a luxury player here now. He's too much of a liability off the ball in the 6 and the 10 positions and though he likes that leftsided position, Rashford at his best is better than Pogba in that position. The only thing Pogba has over Rashford is his playmaking but if Sancho comes in, that aspect would be covered and having the threat of Rashford running in behind is more useful to us than Pogba being an extra playmaker.

I'd even be ok with us letting him go on a free. We have Mejbri coming up, as well as Donny, who I suspect was bought as Pogba's replacement. What we should do instead is focus on getting that DM who will complete the midfield. Pogba is a nice to have if Sancho comes in, rather than the essential player he was pre-Bruno.
 

Varun

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Ole is going to have a right headache next season unless he somehow signs a Casemiro. Front 4 will have no place for Pogba if we sign Sancho and there's no way a Pogba + Fred/McT CM 2 works in any big game.

As for the contract extension, it was always an obvious eventuality so I don't really get the drama. None of the clubs he'd want to join will pay what we want so he either leaves on a free or extends. The later is far more likely.
 

Nou_Camp99

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Best for all parties that the Pogba circus is moved on.

If he played consistently well for us then it might be worth putting up with all the BS you get with him and his agent but he doesn't.

Said it from early on with him. The talent is definitely there but he's lacking a lot of other things like balls and a winners attitude to make him a top player in the world. Hugging and chatting with opposition players when we lose sums him up perfectly. He doesn't care if we win or lose. We don't need that at this club.
 

GBBQ

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The only thing Pogba has over Rashford is his playmaking but if Sancho comes in, that aspect would be covered and having the threat of Rashford running in behind is more useful to us than Pogba being an extra playmaker.
I tend to agree, Rashford would be the Giggs to Sancho's Beckham. We'd have Bruno and Sancho making the plays and Rashford running the right back ragged.

I'm honestly torn on Pogba, his games have ranged from imperious to anonymous so its more about how we get him to have more of the former. whether its position, formation or who plays alongside him i don't know but I think we should only be looking to keep him if we have a plan in mind to maximize what he can do. If we're still clueless how to fit him in then we'd be as well to sell him this summer. Even £40 mil would be an ok return.
 

Buster15

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Couldn’t agree more, the fawning over Pogba is embarrassing, let’s get him gone and get someone in who wants to be at the club.

Tielemans would be great, talk was that he really wanted to come here a couple of years ago and I’d love Greilish at United, I think he’s a better player than Pogba and he’d become a massive player here but can’t see it happen.
Agree with you both. When he decides to play, he can be a match winner.
But in my view, someone like Pogba is a luxury. Fine if you can afford his inconsistencies. But what concerns me is how many match winning type performances he delivers.
Not enough for me.
I would take the cash and invest it in a Grealish or Madison or Tielemans type player. A reliable engineroom in midfield.
 

The Urban Goose

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I'm honestly torn on Pogba, his games have ranged from imperious to anonymous so its more about how we get him to have more of the former.
"Anonymous" is being generous on many occasions, when he's not "on it" he's often a fecking liability. See e.g. the amount of penalties he's given away.
 

elmo

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Would be madness for us to extend his contract and give him a pay raise for doing a disappearing act for most of his career with us.
 

rotherham_red

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I tend to agree, Rashford would be the Giggs to Sancho's Beckham. We'd have Bruno and Sancho making the plays and Rashford running the right back ragged.

I'm honestly torn on Pogba, his games have ranged from imperious to anonymous so its more about how we get him to have more of the former. whether its position, formation or who plays alongside him i don't know but I think we should only be looking to keep him if we have a plan in mind to maximize what he can do. If we're still clueless how to fit him in then we'd be as well to sell him this summer. Even £40 mil would be an ok return.
Fully agree mate, and the boldened is exactly the reason why - it's about balance and for a long time we just simply haven't had it.

Likewise, I genuinely do love him as a player, but the problem is that he's just not a great fit for the club in its present form, and I think we can gleam from our transfer plans last year and this year, that we weren't banking on him staying last summer, and aren't really fussed if he stays beyond next summer either.

We bought VdB last year as an approximate replacement, and we now have Mejbri coming through also, who has the potential to be an identikit replacement for him. We've also moved him from the pivot to a LW role, where Rashford is the clear alternative, who I would argue is better in that position, and Pogba's importance to the team, IMO, is steadily diminishing with the potential arrival of Sancho. I wouldn't be surprised if Pogba took the matter out of our hands in January and signed a pre-contract elsewhere.
 

Andycoleno9

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Pogba, Sancho, Trippier......rumours based, we started strong. I hope that all this will not end in tears
 

The holy trinity 68

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If he does sign and we get Sancho then Pogba becomes more of a squad player so I cannot imagine the wage going up
You are severely underrating Ole's infatuation with Pogba. If we sign Sancho, Ole will still find a way of squeezing Pogba into the team. To be fair, I wouldn't mind seeing Pogba in a Midfield 2 instead of Fred or McTominay if the club manages to sign a top CDM to partner him.
 

RUCK4444

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You are severely underrating Ole's infatuation with Pogba. If we sign Sancho, Ole will still find a way of squeezing Pogba into the team. To be fair, I wouldn't mind seeing Pogba in a Midfield 2 instead of Fred or McTominay if the club manages to sign a top CDM to partner him.
Well this is it, isn’t it. The crux of the issue.

It’s painfully obvious but never addressed. Instead we revert to calling an elite talent ‘shite’ and ‘lazy’ instead of supporting and making the most on our investment.

It’s like buying a house and being angry becuase you never bothered to have windows fitted...
 

foolsgold

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All the talent in the world, never looks but often never looks like his heart is in it.

Not entirely sure where he fits in, for a long time i advocated him at number 10 but Bruno owns that position. I quite like him on the left, but is he then competing with Rashford for a place in the team? Is he a better option than Rashford ?
 

Garethw

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I cannot believe what I’m seeing in here. People would actively see him leave on a free transfer than have him sign a contract extension?

Probably the same posters that moan about us not having squad depth.
 

Bondi77

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You are severely underrating Ole's infatuation with Pogba. If we sign Sancho, Ole will still find a way of squeezing Pogba into the team. To be fair, I wouldn't mind seeing Pogba in a Midfield 2 instead of Fred or McTominay if the club manages to sign a top CDM to partner him.
Matic is a bit long in the tooth now but when Jose first brought him to Utd he had quality and he played alongside Pogba but that didn't seem to work.
 

bsCallout

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I have no time for him. My least favourite starter in the last 20 years. At least players like Ashley Young, who are asked to play out of position and are frustrating, give their all and know what it means to play for Manchester United.

This guy never shuts his mouth and has been a distraction since shortly after his arrival. He doesn’t even offer anything consistent, apart from running his mouth.

He should be sold this summer and shouldn’t be given any choice in the matter. Get a lesser player in, ok, but get one that really wants to play for this club.
Ashley Young was a much better player for us that Pogba has ever been. He left his all on the pitch every game too.
 

Green Arrow

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If Pogba leaves on a free again then it just shows how inept we are as a club. He left free the first time round and if he does it again that's twice. If he runs down his contract then that's on him but we should have signed him before this even became an issue.
 

Idxomer

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Matic is a bit long in the tooth now but when Jose first brought him to Utd he had quality and he played alongside Pogba but that didn't seem to work.
Not sure about that, Pogba was our best player in his 1st few months playing with Matic who kept getting worse as the season progressed.
 

ayushreddevil9

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I cannot believe what I’m seeing in here. People would actively see him leave on a free transfer than have him sign a contract extension?

Probably the same posters that moan about us not having squad depth.
Moaners are ever-present. Just check the Sancho thread where some are moaning about why we are signing Sancho and not Neto, Raphinha etc.
 

bsCallout

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I cannot believe what I’m seeing in here. People would actively see him leave on a free transfer than have him sign a contract extension?

Probably the same posters that moan about us not having squad depth.
I think we'd have a better squad without him, in that we could replace him easily in my opinion with a player that brings more to the team. But I wouldn't want him leaving on a free that's for sure.

Imagine letting him go for pretty much free, buying him for a huge fee, then when he's in his peak years letting him go on a free again. :lol:
 

Marwood

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Do you rate Bruno as a top player? Also De Bruyne? My friends who are city fans say he has periods of poor form where he’s just really quiet throughout most seasons but when he’s good he’s obviously great. The only player I’ve ever seen at United maintain his highest level for three seasons in a row was Keane. Every other player has had periods of ‘form’.
I haven't argued form doesn't fluctuate but the top players performances don't vary all that much. I'm not suggesting Pogba should be at his absolute best all season year after year.

But during his time here his performances have been all over the place. From terrible to exceptional.

That shouldn't be happening and doesn't happen with most top players. De Bruyne doesn't swing around like that.

There's the fluctuations in form all players have, which is 10% either way. Then there's another group of players who are just permanently rotating between hot and cold. Giggs in his 20's was like that.
 

krentz

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How come PsG never come for him? He's a French international, a moslem, prwell behaved & well-liked by his peer, also extremely famous with globally well-known brand. I genuinely think he'd their perfect poster boy, better than Neymar who never missed a chance to visit his sister's birthday every year. :wenger:

All the talent in the world, never looks but often never looks like his heart is in it.

Not entirely sure where he fits in, for a long time i advocated him at number 10 but Bruno owns that position. I quite like him on the left, but is he then competing with Rashford for a place in the team? Is he a better option than Rashford ?
As limited as Rashford is, he's still a 20 goals per season player, and you wont sideline a player with that kind of output.

Would be madness for us to extend his contract and give him a pay raise for doing a disappearing act for most of his career with us.
Not really madness, if the other option is us losing him for free in next 6 months.
 

Nou_Camp99

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He's one of the most naturally talented players we've signed in years yet still can't translate it to consistent performances on the pitch. The guy has ran out of excuses now for me. He simply hasn't got the minerals to be a world class consistent footballer. Turning up when you feel like it never goes down well with our fanbase.

We've had many players over the years with much less ability than he has who are absolute crowd favourites and club legends. Why? Because they run through brick walls for the shirt and the fans. If Pogba played with the same effort Bruno does week in week out he truly would be unstoppable. So why doesn't he?
 

rotherham_red

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If Pogba leaves on a free again then it just shows how inept we are as a club. He left free the first time round and if he does it again that's twice. If he runs down his contract then that's on him but we should have signed him before this even became an issue.
I think the plan was to sell him last year but Covid intervened. We bought Donny in anticipation of it IMO.
 

Maticmaker

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The usual caveat: On form and in a position that agrees with him, he's unplayable.
When is the next Halley's Comet due? :)

No seriously I agree with you, the problem is even when Pogba himself is unplayable, his effect on others is still limited, essentially this is not just due to his position, its to do with his make up as a player.
Paul does at times work very hard, ironically when he finds he needs to and does put in the yards, he is not always effective within the range of his own skills, At other times he drifts through whole periods of a match when you are not sure what he is doing or trying to do.

Lets be honest no player can perform on top form for 90 minutes, the nearest I've seen to that (in modern day football) is N'Golo Kante ... would have him at OT in a heartbeat! Even the great George Best only had 'purple patches' in a game, sometimes ten minutes in first half, 15 minutes in the second, but in those patches he would win you the game, either by his own efforts or by the effect he had on others.

This latter element is for me why Paul is never going to be the player we want, in total, that is unless he is surrounded by players, many of whom are better than him.

Paul has had two stints now at OT, in his early days his promise was evident, but he never quite made it stick, the excuse then was he was young and needed games. Well he got games at Juventus, where he had WC players around him who brought him on, took the weight off him etc.same playing for France. We brought him back full of hope that now he was the 'real deal'; however the flaw that SAF spotted had not been eradicated, individually he can be a thoroughbred, but as part of a team where most players are not of his caliber, he does not lift the weight required.

Much as I do admire his skills and recognise his individual talent, if we keep the same players, or even add to with the names speculated, its not going to help Paul, I'd let him go and get as much as we can for him.
 

edgecutter

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This is a difficult one.

Replacing him would be very difficult because he is light years way more talented than what we have in central midfield. We miss him when he isn't fit and unless we can get someone in to replace him we should look to keep him here.

My main concern is the wage he will demand and if he is looking at what de gea is on than we need to really consider whether he is worth that (I don't think he is consistent to warrant a massive wage increase).
 

duffer

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There's a handful of players at Pogba's level in the world.

That being said, if Ole has decided it's not possible to get the best out of him and Bruno in the same team, sell him.
 
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There's a handful of players at Pogba's level in the world.

That being said, if Ole has decided it's not possible to get the best out of him and Bruno in the same team, sell him.

there’s a handful of players who have the talent of Pogba. I wouldn’t describe Pogba as world class because he’s level of consistency is poor.

with Pogba it’s always “what if” or “if only”. These aren’t questions you need to ask for world class players.
 

Hugh Jass

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That season kind of summed up his United career (albeit featuring a level of productivity he’s rarely managed since). Posting in his performances until Mourinho got sacked. Then Ole seemed to light a fire under him and it looked like he had finally clicked and was becoming the monster Yaya Toure-esque dominant figure we’d hoped for when he signed. Only to end up crashing back down to earth with all the usual arguments about how he was being used, what his best position is and who else we needed to sign to finally get him performing consistently.

I often wonder if his biggest flaw is an inability to stay properly motivated over the course of a whole season. He can keep it up for a dozen games or so but after that he just seems to lose interest and focus. Amateur psychology at its finest but looking back on his career it’s hard not to see it that way.
I think this is the problem. I think he cannot motivate himself to do it 50 games a season. When he is fired up, he is on his game.
 

Jeppers7

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I haven't argued form doesn't fluctuate but the top players performances don't vary all that much. I'm not suggesting Pogba should be at his absolute best all season year after year.

But during his time here his performances have been all over the place. From terrible to exceptional.

That shouldn't be happening and doesn't happen with most top players. De Bruyne doesn't swing around like that.

There's the fluctuations in form all players have, which is 10% either way. Then there's another group of players who are just permanently rotating between hot and cold. Giggs in his 20's was like that.
I’ve never heard of this 10% rule before sorry.

Bruno is much the same only he fluctuates more in individual games. His form from December to the end of the season was all over the place. In fact he had more poor performances than good and very few really good performances, yet his entire season will be viewed positively. It’s strange that he can have such a long period of inconsistent form yet be positively viewed, yet someone who was mainly good and often great with a handful of poor performances from December to May will be viewed as having a poor season. Same with Oles first season. The great run of form was disregarded for a much shorter period of poor form than Bruno has just endured, hell I don’t even think people realise Bruno was poor because his every touch isn’t micro analysed. Pogba was actually abused on the pitch by our supporters that season. I find it very very strange.
 

elmo

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Not really madness, if the other option is us losing him for free in next 6 months.
It's with this type of mindset that explains why the club is fecked with so many overpaid underperforming players.

Don't perform well? Here's a contract extension and a pay raise to protect your value.