Rate Pogba's United career

[MrSingh2002]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

 

[MadDogg]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

Agreed. He certainly hasn't been as good as we wanted, and he has definitely had periods where he's been terrible, but his average level over the 6 years he's been here has still been higher than most of the team. In fact if we were looking at only his first four years he's got a fair claim of having the highest average level of performance in the team. It's just that the expectations on him were so much higher, and the media attention so much higher, that he gets judged much harsher than anybody else in the team. Of course it's not that he was playing particularly well all the time, it's just that he was one of the best of an incredibly inconsistent and poor group of players.

Obviously he's struggled a lot in the last two seasons though so that does drop his level down, but not to extremely low levels that people are saying. Overall he's probably been a '5'. Maybe I could understand a '4' because of the last two seasons, but there's a lot of players who have been worse than him who certainly wouldn't be getting rated that low.

 

[a_devil_inside]

For all the money involved and the constant bad press with his agent or family he has to go down as a flop for me, nowhere near consistent enough to be the star or one of our best players. Gave him a 5/10 but that is being generous.

 

[Zen86]

He’s the quintessential highlights player. Great career as if you judge it on YouTube highlights, but generally ineffective over the course of 90 minutes more often than not.

 

[Rayman96]

5/10 However unlike most I do not put all the blame on him.

We wanted him to run our midfield. He has never been and never will be that type of player.
He is the the creative tip of a spear. He needs other players to do the heavy lifting. That is why he often looks so good with France and was also good in that Juventus team.
We have never had the midfielders at Utd to give him that freedom and he either couldn't or was unwilling to adapt his game.
Mourinho tried to change him but we saw how well that went and really, it never recovered from there.

 

[Denis79]

Considering the expectations 4/10.

 

[el3mel]

5/10 at best considering the money invested and expectations.

 

[el3mel]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

De Gea, Smalling, Valencia, Herrera, Matic, Bruno, Ronaldo.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

How many players were the most expensive in the world? I'll wait...

 

[MrSingh2002]

Agreed. He certainly hasn't been as good as we wanted, and he has definitely had periods where he's been terrible, but his average level over the 6 years he's been here has still been higher than most of the team. In fact if we were looking at only his first four years he's got a fair claim of having the highest average level of performance in the team. It's just that the expectations on him were so much higher, and the media attention so much higher, that he gets judged much harsher than anybody else in the team. Of course it's not that he was playing particularly well all the time, it's just that he was one of the best of an incredibly inconsistent and poor group of players.

Obviously he's struggled a lot in the last two seasons though so that does drop his level down, but not to extremely low levels that people are saying. Overall he's probably been a '5'. Maybe I could understand a '4' because of the last two seasons, but there's a lot of players who have been worse than him who certainly wouldn't be getting rated that low.

Yeh that's a balanced answer. It's not as though we've had anyone close to a 10/10 since RVP won us a league.

Pogba has been one of our best. He's struggled over the past couple of seasons with injuries but I always wanted him in there ahead of Fred or McTominay.

I hope he knuckles down in Italy and does well. Also hope he wins the world cup if England don't.

 

[MrSingh2002]

De Gea, Smalling, Valencia, Herrera, Matic, Bruno, Ronaldo.

For me, over those 6 seasons only De Gea can be argued to be better than Pogba.

Smalling was quite shit at anything other than a physical contest, Valencia was already old by then, Herrera the scrappy fecker was cool but overrated. Matic had a perfect first season but never quite hit those highs in the following seasons.

Bruno and Ronaldo can't be compared over 6 years and Bruno was dogshit this season after a great first half of a season after joining in January.

 

[MadDogg]

De Gea, Smalling, Valencia, Herrera, Matic, Bruno, Ronaldo.

De Gea maybe. He's had three shit seasons, two great seasons and a decent/good. It's another one where it doesn't sound anywhere near good enough, but unfortunately a 50/50 strike-rate actually makes him one of the best in the team.

Smalling was only here for three of those seasons, and his performance level was starting to drop in the last of those.

Valencia definitely not. He was still fairly good in 16/17 (which was also arguably Pogba's best season) but was completely past it and terrible in his last 18 months.

Herrera was also quite good in 16/17, and for the period in 18/19 after Ole took over, but didn't exactly pull up any trees for the rest of that time.

Matic is the definition of a player being judged completely different than Pogba. His first half a season in 17/18 was very good, but otherwise he's been poor far more than he's actually been good. If not for Lukaku completely stinking up the joint he would have been our absolute worst player in 18/19 until Mourinho got sacked. Since then he basically has a 2 month period every season where he does well and everyone raves over him, forgetting that he spends the rest of the season struggling massively.

Bruno - yeah I'd agree for the two and a half seasons that he's been here. But even he was only really good for the first half of that period, and he's been struggling for over a season now. So another 50/50, but his sustained high point for the first season or so puts him above.

Ronaldo - one season so can't really compare.

 

[BootsyCollins]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

I would argue Rashford has been better. Also DeGea.
Bruno have not been here as long, but been better the last years, even if he has been absolute crap last season (same with Rashford)

But not many and i get your point. Players who have performed lesser than Pogba still get rated higher. Pogba is Pogba and with the price tag, running down his contract to leave on a free for the second time and all the noice off the pitch he will get judged from a different view, fair or not.

 

[sepulturite]

I'm sorry but did the 4 people who voted 10/10 finger slip on to the wrong number and they haven't realised it yet?!

 

[Ekeke]

5/10 because of the money. So expensive and we didnt get a return on it on the pitch and now he walks away for free.

 

[Ranchero]

In all honesty he gets a minus vote from me. A poisonous traitorous dressing room figure and an example of how not to behave as a footballer. And not even thinking money. That outweighs any positives by a mile. Good riddance to Mr Toxic.

 

[el3mel]

For me, over those 6 seasons only De Gea can be argued to be better than Pogba.

Smalling was quite shit at anything other than a physical contest, Valencia was already old by then, Herrera the scrappy fecker was cool but overrated. Matic had a perfect first season but never quite hit those highs in the following seasons.

Bruno and Ronaldo can't be compared over 6 years and Bruno was dogshit this season after a great first half of a season after joining in January.

You said better for the team, not if they were better players in general or not. All these players gave the team more than Pogba in these years, regardless of my opinion on their overall abilities.

Pogba didn't provide that much for the team except for few patches of good performance in his first 2 seasons and first 3 months of Ole. Each one of the players I mentioned had at least 1 or 2 good consistent seasons with United during this period.

 

[fps]

I'm sorry but did the 4 people who voted 10/10 finger slip on to the wrong number and they haven't realised it yet?!

They are all Pogba's immediate relatives who have benefitted financially.

 

[Kopral Jono]

5/10, with 6/10 being my slap-bang average benchmark on player ratings.

 

[jackal&hyde]

52 votes of 1/10. How many accounts does Souness have?

EDIT: voted 5. Great in moments poor in others. Super poor relationships with the fans with Raiola talking the club and fans down.

 

[Steve 007]

Would he get in the Liverpool team? Would he make City’s bench, would he be the Chelsea team?

I just can’t see him do well for Madrid or PSG. He’ll be an overrated bench warmer. There are already better players unable to get a game for Madrid.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

De Gea maybe. He's had three shit seasons, two great seasons and a decent/good. It's another one where it doesn't sound anywhere near good enough, but unfortunately a 50/50 strike-rate actually makes him one of the best in the team.

Smalling was only here for three of those seasons, and his performance level was starting to drop in the last of those.

Valencia definitely not. He was still fairly good in 16/17 (which was also arguably Pogba's best season) but was completely past it and terrible in his last 18 months.

Herrera was also quite good in 16/17, and for the period in 18/19 after Ole took over, but didn't exactly pull up any trees for the rest of that time.

Matic is the definition of a player being judged completely different than Pogba. His first half a season in 17/18 was very good, but otherwise he's been poor far more than he's actually been good. If not for Lukaku completely stinking up the joint he would have been our absolute worst player in 18/19 until Mourinho got sacked. Since then he basically has a 2 month period every season where he does well and everyone raves over him, forgetting that he spends the rest of the season struggling massively.

Bruno - yeah I'd agree for the two and a half seasons that he's been here. But even he was only really good for the first half of that period, and he's been struggling for over a season now. So another 50/50, but his sustained high point for the first season or so puts him above.

Ronaldo - one season so can't really compare.

Spot on, especially the bolded bits.

Smalling in particular is a poor shout - his best seasons for us were all before Pogba signed, and 2016/17 and 18/19 were his worst.

 

[Marwood]

Yeh that's a balanced answer. It's not as though we've had anyone close to a 10/10 since RVP won us a league.

Pogba has been one of our best. He's struggled over the past couple of seasons with injuries but I always wanted him in there ahead of Fred or McTominay.

I hope he knuckles down in Italy and does well. Also hope he wins the world cup if England don't.

Should be changed to "least worst"

Even then not sure that's right.

 

[SirMattlives]

Major disappointment. Even if we'd paid half what we did I would not have been overly impressed. And while it's not entirely fair to say he didn't try hard enough, there was something in his continual media posturing, his brother speaking out and that agent of his which always made it seem as if he was threatening to leave us if the club didn't shape up. Was once accused here of sounding angry about him, and maybe I was, he too often spoke and acted like he was doing us a favor, never a good look for a player at United. Good luck to him in the next and final phase of his career but I am glad to be rid of him.

 

[Jeppers7]

You said better for the team, not if they were better players in general or not. All these players gave the team more than Pogba in these years, regardless of my opinion on their overall abilities.

Pogba didn't provide that much for the team except for few patches of good performance in his first 2 seasons and first 3 months of Ole. Each one of the players I mentioned had at least 1 or 2 good consistent seasons with United during this period.

Absolute nonsense. Valencia gave nothing to the team, Herrera was never a regular starter as much as I rated him, Pogba is in a different league and performed that way, is judged differently though. Smalling is hilarious he had a good season under LVG and the rest of his time here was awful. Matic would’ve been a good signing five years earlier but was generally poor. Bruno due to his initial impact ok….but he’s now been woeful for 18 months. His season this season is worse than any season Pogba played, performances wise.

 

[Jeppers7]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

This….answer is a very short list.

 

[Giggsyking]

How many players have been better for the team on the pitch in the time Pogba has been here? I'll wait....

You gave him 8/10, you must have mistaken his name with Paul Scholes. Paul Pogba we are voting for my friend NOT Paul Scholes.

 

[kopviolator]

4/10
No grudges. Expectations were high and injuries played their part. He gave some great performances but they were too few and he probably had as many poor games as he had good ones.
I hope supporters can now switch their focus off Pogba and to what matters. Phil fckn Jones !!!

 

[MrSingh2002]

You gave him 8/10, you must have mistaken his name with Paul Scholes. Paul Pogba we are voting for my friend NOT Paul Scholes.

In the same timespan of Paul Pogbas career.... Who is a 10 or a 9? Nobody is the answer.

Who are the best players in that timespan? The answer is Pogba and De Gea.

So you'd have to give the best players of that timespan an 8 surely?

It's unfair to compare Pogba to ghosts like Scholes.

 

[Marwood]

In the same timespan of Paul Pogbas career.... Who is a 10 or a 9? Nobody is the answer.

Who are the best players in that timespan? The answer is Pogba and De Gea.

So you'd have to give the best players of that timespan an 8 surely?

It's unfair to compare Pogba to ghosts like Scholes.

It's very possible for everyone to be given a 5 out of 10.

They've all been rubbish. It's no compliment to say Pogba has been slightly better.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

While it's an opinion's game I hugely struggle to understand anyone who rates Pogba's United career as 7/10 or even beyond that.

You buy a player for an obscene amount of money, you direct most of your PR efforts to big up his return (fecking "Pogback" on those signs around the pitch, how American and cringe)... And you get a player who's unfit for huge amount of times and doesn't manage to keep top form for longer stretches of time either...

So yeah, he was unlucky like many other very good players we've had the past couple of years to be coached by underwhelming managers, and we couldn't find his best position on the pitch / didn't play in a system that allowed us to figure out what it was. It's very obviously not entirely his fault,
and this is true for any other player who relative to expectations failed at United since Fergie quit.

The conditions to succeed at United have been very slim with everything that's been going on. De Gea being excellent for some 3 years on the bounce is an exception and fair fecks to him for that.

I fail to see how it matters that no other player we had could match Pogba's ability when on top form. Does being the best of a shitty bunch automatically mean you're rated 8/10? 9/10? Come on now.

For his skills, he was supposed to be one of the very best players in the league for pretty much years (don't care about the price tag, not his fault though it does create expectations whether we like it or not). When could we ever seriously compare him to KDB? Hazard? Kane? De Gea even? Van Dijk or Salah?

At no time was he as consistently good as these players in their respective positions. And he was bought to be just that.

You can't rate a player irregardless of expectations. that's futile as hell.

It's a disappointing and not entirely surprising 4/10 for me. Good riddance and good luck.

 

[Lay]

3/10. Flashes of brilliance but never fit the style, whatever style we had anyway.

Never rated him that highly, even at Juventus. Always was loose in possession despite banging in 30 yarders every now and then

 

[Crickus]

3/10

On his day he was world class but i dont think i can count even up to 10 games that he was world class.

For the money and expectation he really failed. Now weather thats down to management or himself. I personally think a bit of both . we probably never really know but i will look back on his time here as a waste of potential. He could of been an all time Utd great now he probably goes into the All time flop team instead

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Below average, picking an exact number is in the eye of the beholder.

I remember the endless discussions on here about how he was being shackled in counter-attacking systems (as if Deschamps and Allegri opt for swashbuckling tactics) and how Mou "was using a Ferrari like a Fiat" in a deeper role.

Well, in came a new manager without agendas who prioritizes getting everyone on board. During his tenure, we had to fork out another 50 million for a #10 while our most functional midfield consisted of Fred & McTominay. This is Pogba's story at United.

And don't give me that crap that it's solely the manager's job to get the best out of Pogba. With premium wages and a lead role come responsibilities. You can't just show up whenever you feel like it. When Ronaldo went to Ancelotti to ask to be utilized as a goal-scorer, he didn't just sit and wait for everyone else to do the job for him. He changed his game considerably and he adjusted to the particularities of his preferred role so that he could become the best at it. It worked, not only because Carlito was willing to tinker with the tactics, but also because Ronaldo rewarded his trust with consistency and accountability.

Imagine not caring to improve your positioning and your defensive game, while on 350 grand p/w, so that the manager has to turn to freaking McFred for balance in the midfield.

And the worst for us (not Pogba's fault) is that we pandered to such behaviours for years, with this strange "protect the assets" policy, that we've ended up with a fair bunch of players who believe they are the dog's bollocks and that the whole team should be built around what they think their best position is.

I know i'm being harsh on Pogba, but it is because it was all just a big waste. What a physical specimen of a footballer, what a joy to watch him on the ball... I hope, as some suggest, that he'll go somewhere where they can embrace his strengths and deal with his flaws and inconsistencies. But he could have been so much more than just a luxury player in a well-oiled machine.

 

[Baneofthegame]

5/10 from me, somewhat disappointing considering the expectations.

 

[golden_blunder]

6/10 for me, I wouldn’t go higher but at the same time I wouldn’t go lower than 5/10.

so much potential but never found consistency. Injured too often to find consistency. A bit too slow for moving the ball on, especially in the PL as teams learn to press more. Gets caught in possession and lunges to get it back.

however we’ve also seen some incredible moments from him and it’s true that he’s our best passer with creativity that none match.

not going to get into arguments about off-pitch stuff as for me that doesn’t come into it.

in my opinion he needs a slower paced league to get the best from him consistently

wish him luck & thanks for the try

no need to become a toxic fanbase

 

[glazed]

Ole: "I was also disappointed when others said they wouldn’t play or train because they wanted to force their way out. "

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...cking/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

 

[Van Piorsing]

At the start of his return, it was easily 8/10. After failing getting Kroos, Fabregas and few other, looked like not a bad choice, plus he was 23 at the time, perfect age to hit the ground, with winning some things in first season was icing.

What happens after, is a dead horse. Everything worst that could happen, happened.

 

[norm87cro]

4/10

 

[poleglass red]

He was the final touch you add to a team, not your team's main player. He was so inconsistent over 90 mins never mind game to game. If he had played in a team with players who pick up the slack when he disappeared, that would have complimented his moments of brilliance. The team was never really set up to incorporate what he brought to the table. Of course a lot of what transpired was due to him as well. Weird to say, with what he was won, but I think there will be regret when he hangs up the boots, he could and should have done a lot more.