Rate Pogba's United career

[Todd]

Not counting this season's new players, there have been 12 midfielders signed post-Ferguson, I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm including Mata as he was at his best playing centrally. I'd rank them all as follows:

1. Bruno
2. Mata
3. Herrera
4. Pogba
5. Matic
6. Fred
7. Casemiro (sample size)
8. Fellaini
9. Schweinsteiger
10. Eriksen
11. Schneiderlin
12. van de Beek

 

[marktan]

The problem was we kept playing him deep because he was a big lanky bastard, when all his skills were suited to the AM position. It's a shame he never really got a proper run there with a proper DM behind him.

 

[TomSkalle]

Great player, bad athlete.

 

[MadDogg]

Not counting this season's new players, there have been 12 midfielders signed post-Ferguson, I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm including Mata as he was at his best playing centrally. I'd rank them all as follows:

1. Bruno
2. Mata
3. Herrera
4. Pogba
5. Matic
6. Fred
7. Casemiro (sample size)
8. Fellaini
9. Schweinsteiger
10. Eriksen
11. Schneiderlin
12. van de Beek

You've got Mata waaaay too high there. He's a nice guy, but his actual performances for us were halfway down that list. There seems to be a misconception that he was poor because he was out wide, when in reality he was normally better out wide than he was when we played him centrally. It was likely because of the tactics and set-up of the team, but ultimately we've still got to rate his performances based on that.

Also no way is Matic above Fred. Bar a good first half a season, Matic was good for about one month a season then was downright bad the rest of the time. Eerily similar to what we're seeing with Casemiro so far in fact, although hopefully he'll turn that around.

Eriksen would be ahead of Schweinsteiger and Fellaini for me as well, as at least he started out quite good for us until his injury last season. Then again, Fellaini did actually have some good periods for us when we used him correctly (as either an out-and-out attacking or defending midfielder instead the 'normal' central midfielder we played him as). So I can see an argument either way.

Personally I'd say Bruno is clearly #1 with Pogba, Herrera and Fred competing for the 2-4 spots (probably in that order). After that it's quite difficult with a bunch of players around the same level, although I'm still hoping Casemiro gets his shit together and moves up to at least that second group.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

Not counting this season's new players, there have been 12 midfielders signed post-Ferguson, I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm including Mata as he was at his best playing centrally. I'd rank them all as follows:

1. Bruno
2. Mata
3. Herrera
4. Pogba
5. Matic
6. Fred
7. Casemiro (sample size)
8. Fellaini
9. Schweinsteiger
10. Eriksen
11. Schneiderlin
12. van de Beek

Echoing a lot of what MadDogg is saying above: Schweinsteiger did pretty much nothing for us and barely even got on the pitch, no way I'd rank him above Eriksen who was very good for half of last season. Casemiro, even with his crap start to this season and dodgy form before that, has already been a much better player and done more for us in a season than Matic did in five. And Mata not only doesn't belong in this list but is also way too high - he was never actually at his best playing centrally, and there was a reason every coach in succession routinely picked other players ahead of him and played him out wide where his complete inability to physically compete with defenders was less of an issue.

Fernandes, Herrera, Pogba, Casemiro and Fred should be a pretty non-controversial top five. And as usual, I had to think for five seconds when I saw Schneiderlin's name before I remembered who the hell that even was. What a waster.

The problem was we kept playing him deep because he was a big lanky bastard, when all his skills were suited to the AM position

I've seen this a lot throughout Pogba's time with us and never really thought it's true.

He was never an AM the way Fernandes, De Bruyne, Odegaard etc. are, and it showed when we tried to play him there (e.g. when Mourinho used him as a number ten in a 4-2-3-1 every now and then, usually away to better teams). He always struggles to find space between the opposition lines and receive the ball facing his own goal in crowded areas - too easy to nullify and mark out of the game.

Whereas he was actually very, very good at picking the ball up in deeper positions and driving forward with it, dribbling past players or picking out passes. It's why nearly all of his best spells for us came in a 4-3-3 shape where he could roam around in the left half-spaces.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Always find it funny how wildly overrated Hererra is. Short memories, I guess.

 

[Zed 101]

Pogba had a couple of great games and the odd great moment which made the rest of his time even the more galling, for the price he cost and the damage he caused with his attitude and circus following he is one of the worst purchases post SAF

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

Always find it funny how wildly overrated Hererra is. Short memories, I guess.

Man of the match in the final for the biggest trophy we've won in the last ten years. Set up the winning goal in the other final we won that season. Scored in a cup semi-final, created the last-minute winner in another. Routinely turned up against the best opposition, more than any other player we've had since Ferguson (I've posted the number of big goals he scored and (mostly) made against Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs on here before).

I find it funnier how often he gets dismissed by our own fans, especially when, as that list above shows, we've had literally like five good midfielders in the last ten years and he was at the center of a lot of our best moments. Must be because he left us for a better team (and was starting a CL final, in which he should have had yet another massive assist, within a year).

 

[Scandi Red]

I don't rate Pogba very highly, but that poll is funny. 35% gave him 3 out of 10 or lower!

 

[led_scholes]

Man of the match in the final for the biggest trophy we've won in the last ten years. Set up the winning goal in the other final we won that season. Scored in a cup semi-final, created the last-minute winner in another. Routinely turned up against the best opposition, more than any other player we've had since Ferguson (I've posted the number of big goals he scored and (mostly) made against Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs on here before).

I find it funnier how often he gets dismissed by our own fans, especially when, as that list above shows, we've had literally like five good midfielders in the last ten years and he was at the center of a lot of our best moments. Must be because he left us for a better team (and was starting a CL final, in which he should have had yet another massive assist, within a year).

He seemed to miss 2 months per year. Otherwise, he was consistent. Even his bad game was a 5 or a 6. He just didn't have many 8 or 9s to be considered a top midfielder.

 

[TwoSheds]

Not counting this season's new players, there have been 12 midfielders signed post-Ferguson, I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm including Mata as he was at his best playing centrally. I'd rank them all as follows:

1. Bruno - 8/10
2. Mata - 5/10
3. Herrera -7/10
4. Pogba - 4/10
5. Matic - 6/10
6. Fred - 6/10
7. Casemiro (sample size) - 7/10
8. Fellaini - 4/10
9. Schweinsteiger - 2/10
10. Eriksen - 7/10
11. Schneiderlin -1/10
12. van de Beek - 1/10

Average - 4.33/10

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

He seemed to miss 2 months per year. Otherwise, he was consistent. Even his bad game was a 5 or a 6. He just didn't have many 8 or 9s to be considered a top midfielder.

He had his share of shocking games too in fairness, which is not surprising considering we were largely a poor team in the five seasons he was here.

I'm just not sure what the other poster means by saying "short memories" is why people overrate Herrera. Especially if it's referring to the posts above his, ranking Herrera as one of our best 3-4 central mids since Fergie retired - I don't see how that's controversial at all, and it has less to do with Ander Herrera being a world class midfielder than his competition for the position over a decade.

 

[Born2Lose]

Always find it funny how wildly overrated Hererra is. Short memories, I guess.

I echo the sentiment about his two besties.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I echo the sentiment about his two besties.

Who are they?

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Who are they?

Surely, Mata is one. I'm guessing David is the other.

 

[Battery]

Great player, bad athlete.

You misspelled attitude.

If he did have that attitude he would probably have been the best of his generation.

 

[MadDogg]

Always find it funny how wildly overrated Hererra is. Short memories, I guess.

It's more about the lack of competition. The fact that Herrera and Fred are competing to be our third best midfield purchase since Ferguson retired basically says it all. Neither were particularly great but pretty much every other competitor was a downright failure.

 

[The Irish Connection]

It's more about the lack of competition. The fact that Herrera and Fred are competing to be our third best midfield purchase since Ferguson retired basically says it all. Neither were particularly great but pretty much every other competitor was a downright failure.

When you compare the list of midfielders to the likes of Scholes, Keane and Robson it’s different planet stuff.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It's more about the lack of competition. The fact that Herrera and Fred are competing to be our third best midfield purchase since Ferguson retired basically says it all. Neither were particularly great but pretty much every other competitor was a downright failure.

Yeah, true. They actually had similar strengths and weaknesses too.

 

[NewGlory]

Inconsistent, player of rare great moments, average performance was horrible, availability was horrible (often injured)

 

[NewGlory]

Always find it funny how wildly overrated Hererra is. Short memories, I guess.

Herrera was a capable squad player. We were stupid to let him go, because he was 100x better than McT and more consistent than Fred. The thing is disappointing is that he did better at PSG, after leaving us –including his performances in UCL games, so somehow he was better for them, after leaving us. Maybe EPL was too intense for him. Either way, we should have kept him and he did want to stay so it was another Woodward feck-up.

Mata was wonderful, but he overstayed his ability to play in EPL. Matic was also amazing in the first season, but he simply didn't have the legs in the following seasons.

Eriksen, Matic, Mata - all great players, we just bought them too late and they all turned too old on us too quickly.

 

[TrailMonkey]

He had a few good moments, maybe even a few good games. The rest of the time he was complete gash. Fergie was right.

 

[Jeppers7]

Bruno and Pogba are way out in front which really says much about the terrible standard of the purchases.

Herrera can’t be placed anywhere near those two, he wasn’t picked about 50% of all games he was available for. Bruno is picked every game and Pogba was picked around 94% of games he was available.

 

[Jeppers7]

He had a few good moments, maybe even a few good games. The rest of the time he was complete gash. Fergie was right.

 

[Tyrion]

Bruno is the only unambiguously successful signing we've had post SAF imo. Everyone else was a flop (e.g. Di Maria, Pogba), an overpriced squad player (e.g. Depay, DvdB, Martial) or a replacement just as flawed as their predecessor (e.g. Lindelof, Onana(?)). Martinez might be an exception.

Always find it funny how wildly overrated Hererra is. Short memories, I guess.

I think it helps that he went to PSG while most of our former players can barely get clubs so some of us watched him in the champions league while we were in the Europa that same week.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Rate the obsession part of the fan base has with this player.

 

[jem]

1. Bruno
2. Mata
3. Pogba
4. Herrera
5. Matic
6. Fred
7. Fellaini
8. Casemiro
9. Eriksen
10. Schweinsteiger
11. Schneiderlin
12. van de Beek

It's important to note that this isn't about who was/is the best, but rather what they contributed to United. So while Casemiro is clearly a better player than Fred and Fellaini, he hasn't been here long enough (and the time he has been here hasn't been an unqualified success) to rank higher than those two, who contributed quite significantly over multiple seasons.