Having a mare for what? I have put my points accross whether you agree with it or not is not my problem.
Which position was Pogba bought for? Does he play in that position all the time?
I can tell you I don't know which position Pogba was bought for but he plays mostly for United.
I don't have to repeat myself but Van De Beek will be better for the team in the positions played by McTominnay, Mata and James.
If you seriously think those 3 are better than Van De Beek, just stop watching football.
It is a problem if they are based on nonsensical points presented as undisputable facts.
Pogba plays as an 8. For France, and for United. That's his best position right now, unless you want to go back to a left sided CM a la Juventus with 5 midfielders.
He loves the role, he has won a WC with it. The fact he doesn't play is purely down to what he says himself, and same for Ole: physical intensity. He needs to build up his intensity so that we can use him there without getting overran in the midfield.
You compare VdB to McTominay, Mata and James.
Scott: Is a DM/CM with defensive duties, was tried as a 6 to replace Matic and couldn't reproduce his tactical awareness with the defense splitting the CBs, and still has difficulties to pass the ball forward when he is not instructed to (lack of initiative, inuitive thoughts). We solved it by slotting him on the right side of the CBs instead of splitting them as we do with Matic. That allows Scott to be a little more further down on the pitch, it gives him time to face the ball and pass forward. As a result, this improved our progression of the ball in recent games. Alternatively, it helps to push up AWB to put him in a position to challenge the other side full backs.
Mata: He's 33, and now plays on the wings. His current role is a free role with duties to come in the middle and distribute the game, especially providing the right side to left side passes that allow us to go and challenge the GK for the top right corner. You can see how Rashford would drift on the left and Mata passes in diagonal. One control and we are in position to score. Martial would play similarly, as he also likes to drift. In the middle, the front line is expected to provide runs for Mata to distribute when it's not Bruno.
James: Deployed as a RW but his role is a LW. We have repositioned him on the left, he is asked to carry the ball whenever he can, otherwise, he is expected to run forward by providing options for our passes.
None of those roles correspond to VdB's role, neither do they correspond to the roles he wants to play. He has always played centrally, and
he said it himself, he wants to be in the box, he wants to be the #10!!! Also,
he has played wide once in his whole career. In fact, in his 265 games for clubs and country, he has played even as RM or LM (on the sides) once! Once!!!
The guy is not going to play in lieu of James or Mata as it's not his position on the field even, and he does not wish to be a DM, so he's not replacing Scott.
His competition is Bruno Fernandes. He either beat him, or he tries to play as much as possible by providing rotation for this role that is critical for us as of now.
Furthermore, as the thread was explaining, we play more games than Ajax in general. Over 3 seasons, Ajax played 138 games for 826 days, United played 171 games for 835 days. That's 33 games more for only 9 more days.
It means that we play between 55 games to 60 games each year in function of our cup results. Bruno is probably starting around 40, the rest can be VdB. Also, minute wise, he has played 50% of the time Bruno has played. We are getting him up to speed and it's up to him to show us he deserves to play. Not the other way around.