[Perrick Dubois]

First off. Let's not be retarded and pretend that Rooney's a poor victimised Britney Spears character.

Is this really necessary?.. Can't you articulate your point without that kind of garbage?

Rooney doesn't concern me this season. For the first time since Ferguson left the club, we're beginning to bring in some genuinely good attacking players. If he plays poorly, which is likely, he'll be out sooner rather than later.

It's all up to him.

Perfectly put. This is one of the times we are actually playing him in the right position and allowing him to play off the front player with a decent amount of support.

If he fails then he fails, no excuses for him there. But I have no idea why people have to go such desperate lengths to yell about how shit he is, before he has even kicked a ball for us this season. It is so tedious and been flogged to death.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

Is this really necessary?.. Can't you articulate your point without that kind of garbage?

Yes, choose that over the rest that I've written.

 

[PepsiCola]

He's had it easy with the fans because of the whole him being a club legend thing I pointed out, remember when we were laughing at Madrid fans who in that poll suggested Ronaldo should be sold? that's what the fans on here are like, they can't stick with a player through a bad patch. The real fans, the ones at the match treat him well because they have seen what he has done for the club, how important he has been and how many good moments he has provided, rather than some knee-jerk drama queens on a forum venting after a match. I'm obviously not saying there aren't real fans on here but it tends to be a vacuum for many short-sighted fanatics as well who tend to be more vocal.

Far too much sentimentality surrounding Rooney, it prevents people objectively concluding the team would look in better shape without him. Much better.

Do not dismiss rooneys displays as a 'bad patch'. He is clearly in decline. And his performances are not comparable to an odd form Ronaldo at all, don't be ridiculous.

Sorry for being a Manchester United fan and not a Wayne Rooney fan I guess

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

We clearly view life differently.
I'm still struggling to understand how it's a footballers fault if they decline (which maybe people forget, isn't something they desire or plan - just like Jones doesn't desire or plan to pick up injuries.)
Or are you suggesting that as soon as a player realises they aren't good enough, they should humbly demand a pay cut or transfer?

No one is suggesting that, what is a reasonable expectation is that once a player realises they are beginning to decline they accept the fact that their appearances will start to be less frequent with some good grace. I don't begrudge Rooney his spell in midfield, even though it didn't work out because that at least show enough self awareness to recognise his days as a top striker are done, but its not unreasonable given that when he was dropped for ONE SINGLE GAME by SAF (against Real) the tweets started, and when you add that to his comments about having nothing to prove its not unreasonable to believe he will take his drop in status with the grace of a child being told no sweets today, and that is not acceptable when you perform so poorly for an entire year.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

One of my concerns with playing him behind the striker is that the last time he played there consistently RVP complained about him getting in his way and trying to occupy the same space.

I'd say that was more down to RVP than Rooney. Bare in mind, Rooney played behind Hernandez, Welbeck, Rashord, Martial and others, and we didn't have that problem. The aforementioned players like to run off the ball and stretch play. RVP, on the other hand, liked to drop quite a lot, which in fact, occupied the space where the number 10 should be.

This is what worries me about the partnership of Rooney and Ibra. Ibra, like RVP, likes to drop into pockets of space and create play, which means niether will be running in behind. That said, I'm sure Mourinho knows what he's doing.

EDIT:

That said, Rooney and RVP were fine under Sir Alex when we walked the league. Maybe the partnership and movement in the same areas was more down to the tactics of Moyes, rather than the players.

One thing I noticed about Sir Alex, which made him successful for a lot of years, was his use of wing play.

Nowadays, as I have mentioned in others threads, managers like to play down the middle too often. We have two players in Ibra and Rooney that are really good in and around the box.

With Martial+Shaw on the left and possibly Valencia+Mkhitaryan on the right, we have enough firepower to destroy teams down the wing and get crosses into Rooney and Ibra, where they will most likely pick up a lot of goals. We should use that.

 

[stevoc]

No one is suggesting that, what is a reasonable expectation is that once a player realises they are beginning to decline they accept the fact that their appearances will start to be less frequent with some good grace. I don't begrudge Rooney his spell in midfield, even though it didn't work out because that at least show enough self awareness to recognise his days as a top striker are done, but its not unreasonable given that when he was dropped for ONE SINGLE GAME by SAF (against Real) the tweets started, and when you add that to his comments about having nothing to prove its not unreasonable to believe he will take his drop in status with the grace of a child being told no sweets today, and that is not acceptable when you perform so poorly for an entire year.

Not sure what tweets you are referring to from Rooney or Journalists?

But either way even if as you say he did take getting dropped for the Real game badly that was over 3 years ago. Back then he was still one of the leagues top players and the biggest star at the club. He had just scored 36 goals the season before.

I'm not saying he was justified in reacting poorly to being benched if he did complain or that i agree (i don't). But back then i could understand why he might react like that.

But if he spat his dummy out now over getting dropped though that would be a completely different story. He has years to run on his contract, he won't be leaving and even though i don't think he's as bad as some others he's not the player he once was and will have to accept the transition to becoming a squad player. He really has no choice other than leaving and he won't walk away from his current contract because no one else will match it.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I'd say that was more down to RVP than Rooney. Bare in mind, Rooney played behind Hernandez, Welbeck, Rashord, Martial and others, and we didn't have that problem. The aforementioned players like to run off the ball and stretch play. RVP, on the other hand, liked to drop quite a lot, which in fact, occupied the space where the number 10 should be.

This is what worries me about the partnership of Rooney and Ibra. Ibra, like RVP, likes to drop into pockets of space and create play, which means niether will be running in behind. That said, I'm sure Mourinho knows what he's doing.

EDIT:

That said, Rooney and RVP were fine under Sir Alex when we walked the league. Maybe the partnership and movement in the same areas was more down to the tactics of Moyes, rather than the players.

One thing I noticed about Sir Alex, which made him successful for a lot of years, was his use of wing play.

Nowadays, as I have mentioned in others threads, managers like to play down the middle too often. We have two players in Ibra and Rooney that are really good in and around the box.

With Martial+Shaw on the left and possibly Valencia+Mkhitaryan on the right, we have enough firepower to destroy teams down the wing and get crosses into Rooney and Ibra, where they will most likely pick up a lot of goals. We should use that.

Yeah I agree. I should have elaborated that my main thinking was that Zlatan is more similar to RVP than the players that like to run in behind creating space. I think one of the reasons it possibly stopped working between Rooney and RVP is that both players had slowed down a fair bit and lost some of the movement. So they were both trying to compensate by occupying the spaces earlier and getting in each others way. Which is another thing which may cause a problem with Zlatan's age and more physical league. I suppose Rooney and Berbatov worked ok too, but then Rooney had more pace and power back then too. It's probably partly down to tactics and having to change playing style due to age. It could have also been partly Moyes like you said either failing to give them the right tactical instructions or just lacking the authority to get them to do what he wanted like Sir Alex could. It's just a bit worrying.

I partly agree on wing play. I think Sir Alex got more out of his wingers and width because he was better at balancing it and didn't rely entirely on them like Moyes seemed to be doing. We have got more exciting on the wings this year with Mhiktaryan being added and an actual aerial threat in Zlatan so you'd hope we'd make better use of it now. It probably will create more chances for Rooney as a result, I still don't think he's anywhere near good enough to be given that chance any more though and we'd be better served with a bit of pace there alongside Zlatan and someone less likely to go through months at a time where he's basically useless. I don't think Mata is the right pick there either even though he's one of my favourite players, for what its worth.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

Not sure what tweets you are referring to from Rooney or Journalists?

But either way even if as you say he did take getting dropped for the Real game badly that was over 3 years ago. Back then he was still one of the leagues top players and the biggest star at the club. He had just scored 36 goals the season before.

I'm not saying he was justified in reacting poorly to being benched if he did complain or that i agree (i don't). But back then i could understand why he might react like that.

But if he spat his dummy out now over getting dropped though that would be a completely different story. He has years to run on his contract, he won't be leaving and even though i don't think he's as bad as some others he's not the player he once was and will have to accept the transition to becoming a squad player. He really has no choice other than leaving and he won't walk away from his current contract because no one else will match it.

If my memory is correct it was his Mrs, and Im taking a leap of faith that she wouldnt have done that without his ok, and whilst it was 3 years ago I just cant see him changing that much, he strikes me as a bloke that finds it very hard to not get his own way. (He is not alone in that, many many very wealthy people are exactly the same)

 

[dichinero]

If my memory is correct it was his Mrs, and Im taking a leap of faith that she wouldnt have done that without his ok, and whilst it was 3 years ago I just cant see him changing that much, he strikes me as a bloke that finds it very hard to not get his own way. (He is not alone in that, many many very wealthy people are exactly the same)

Wasn't there talk of him being unhappy for being dropped in that one game during the Euros?

 

[The Mitcher]

Wasn't there talk of him being unhappy for being dropped in that one game during the Euros?

That's understandable considering he'd been one of England's best players.

 

[stevoc]

If my memory is correct it was his Mrs, and Im taking a leap of faith that she wouldnt have done that without his ok, and whilst it was 3 years ago I just cant see him changing that much, he strikes me as a bloke that finds it very hard to not get his own way. (He is not alone in that, many many very wealthy people are exactly the same)

I vaguely remember it mate maybe he did tell her to do it i don't know. As i said if that was the case i don't agree with it but at least back then he was still a top player so you could maybe understand him throwing a hissy at being dropped.

I can't honestly say whether or not he will gracefully accept that he is no longer the player he once was and doesn't warrant an automatic place in the team but i guess we shall soon find out. Unless he finds top form again and becomes one of the first names on the team sheet. Unlikely but you never know.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

That's understandable considering he'd been one of England's best players.

Thats not saying much

 

[The Mitcher]

Thats not saying much

I know, but he still bossed the midfield every game he started up to that point

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

I know, but he still bossed the midfield every game he started up to that point

Bossed might be pushing it, but he wasn't bad.

 

[The Mitcher]

Bossed might be pushing it, but he wasn't bad.

Well compared to Alli and co, he was

 

[clarkydaz]

I can't honestly say whether or not he will gracefully accept that he is no longer the player he once was and doesn't warrant an automatic place in the team but i guess we shall soon find out. Unless he finds top form again and becomes one of the first names on the team sheet. Unlikely but you never know.

thing is its crept up on him by 30 which is much earlier to most players, and people in general judge a player's expiry date by age. He is likely under the impression he should be following the likes of Giggs, Scholes, Gerrard, Terry, Beckham etc

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Far too much sentimentality surrounding Rooney, it prevents people objectively concluding the team would look in better shape without him. Much better.

Do not dismiss rooneys displays as a 'bad patch'. He is clearly in decline. And his performances are not comparable to an odd form Ronaldo at all, don't be ridiculous.

Sorry for being a Manchester United fan and not a Wayne Rooney fan I guess

Why would we look in better shape the alternatives for the role are lingard and a usually ineffective juan mata, even slightly better seams a stretch. Sure if we signed an absolute top calibre 10 that would be great, someone like grizi playing off ibra would be fantastic but we don't have him in our squad. Rooney is one of the better players in the squad, this visible decline everyone is banging on about coincides pretty clearly with poor patches from the team. He still generally has been our top scorer through these periods. We have a new manager, wait and see what happens, if it goes badly fair enough but if he plays well he would be a huge asset to the team.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

Well compared to Alli and co, he was

Can't argue with that

 

[Kerry Donaghy]

Sure if we signed an absolute top calibre 10 that would be great, someone like grizi playing off ibra would be fantastic but we don't have him in our squad.

If Rooney left we would have a better chance of getting a world class number ten into the squad as it would free up £300,000 a week.
For that sort of money Rooney should be that world class number ten but he's miles off world class therefore he should be sold, simple.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

If Rooney left we would have a better chance of getting a world class number ten into the squad as it would free up £300,000 a week.
For that sort of money Rooney should be that world class number ten but he's miles off world class therefore he should be sold, simple.

We are really really rich, the reason we don't have a world class number 10 isn't financial and it isn't because rooney is there.

 

[stevoc]

thing is its crept up on him by 30 which is much earlier to most players, and people in general judge a player's expiry date by age. He is likely under the impression he should be following the likes of Giggs, Scholes, Gerrard, Terry, Beckham etc

Maybe you are right but at around 30 even Giggs had a few ropey seasons, he wasn't the player he once was either. He had to take a step back and change his game, he was played less and less and then moved into midfield.

I don't think Rooney can move into midfield, well he could but he would never be that good. But i do hope he can improve his form under Jose. And if he gets his head round it i think he could be an important player and extend his career in more of a support role. Coming off the bench and only playing in certain games.

 

[Cassidy]

We are really really rich, the reason we don't have a world class number 10 isn't financial and it isn't because rooney is there.

It actually likely is since if he left we would replace him. Hes seen as a starter so we won't buy a player in his position.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

It actually likely is since if he left we would replace him. Hes seen as a starter so we won't buy a player in his position.

If we could buy a better player we would though. That's the basic understanding of upgrading a squad. If mourinho thought we could get a better player there he would be after one.

 

[Cassidy]

If we could buy a better player we would though. That's the basic understanding of upgrading a squad. If mourinho thought we could get a better player there he would be after one.

Probably not since there were other parts of the squad which required funding more urgently. CB ST and CM. Also Mourinho bought Mhiki as his fundamental creative player signing so you could even call that the no10, but I suspect he will play on the right.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Probably not since there were other parts of the squad which required funding more urgently. CB ST and CM. Also Mourinho bought Mhiki as his fundamental creative player signing so you could even call that the no10, but I suspect he will play on the right.

Yeah suspect he will be rw and rooney ten. Genuinely curious who people think we could get better in the number ten slot, not a player who is better, there are several of them, but one we could get.

 

[Cassidy]

Yeah suspect he will be rw and rooney ten. Genuinely curious who people think we could get better in the number ten slot, not a player who is better, there are several of them, but one we could get.

James for one, there are also plenty of players better than current Rooney since current Rooney isn't that great anymore so plenty would be available. I just don't think its a priority especially when we have some young players to try there and also Mhiki can play there.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

James for one, there are also plenty of players better than current Rooney since current Rooney isn't that great anymore so plenty would be available. I just don't think its a priority especially when we have some young players to try there and also Mhiki can play there.

Couldn't get james as the club at been at pains to stress, we already have a very stretched relationship with Madrid, that wouldn't happen and Madrid and zidane have already gone out of their way to say he is staying. I honestly don't see a viable alternative.

 

[Cassidy]

Couldn't get james as the club at been at pains to stress, we already have a very stretched relationship with Madrid, that wouldn't happen and Madrid and zidane have already gone out of their way to say he is staying. I honestly don't see a viable alternative.

I don't believe we tried to get him, and also I suspect Real actually wanted to sell him, but couldn't find a buyer for the price they wanted. Now they have changed their tune and try to act like they always wanted to keep him, I think thats complete BS tbh.
They have done exactly the same thing with Morata

 

[itso 7]

If we could buy a better player we would though. That's the basic understanding of upgrading a squad. If mourinho thought we could get a better player there he would be after one.

Or we could play 4-3-3, a formation that seems to suit our soon to be new record signing better and seemingly complements a couple of our other midfielders. I don't see the logic of spending a hundred million on a player that excelled playing LCM only to shoehorn him in a position that nullifies his best attributes.

 

[baanke laal]

He is back to his 2011 twitter form. Looks like he got the login to his twitter back from his PR guys

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

I hope that Pogba is not going to be played in a deeper central midfield role in order to accommodate Rooney at no.10. I don't want to see a £110m mistake.

 

[Sky1981]

He's finished as a starter now. There's no way he plays ahead of Zlatan up front, Mickey in the wings, and Pogba in Midfield.

 

[itso 7]

I hope that Pogba is not going to be played in a deeper central midfield role in order to accommodate Rooney at no.10. I don't want to see a £110m mistake.

Sadly I think this is what is going to happen until we are too far behind in the league to achieve anything just like under LVG.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

Yes, choose that over the rest that I've written.

The rest of it was probably the usual drivel.

He was decent playing as a midfielder, he will be a 10 under Jose. He was moved to midfield because he's lost his legs so I don't see how him looking ok playing in CM in the World Cup and towards the end of the season is any indicator he will be good as a 10 and revitalised all of a sudden? It's no secret I don't like him very much, but speaking from a strictly footballing perspective trying to shoe horn him into the team isn't beneficial for us at all. If we do sign Pogba, we would be handicapping our record signing and best midfielder to fit Rooney into the side.

Out of curiosity, what actually is "shoe horn"ing Rooney into the team? Has that become the goto phrase to describe him as a starter? Or what?.. I find that term "shoe horn" a bit confusing in this instance. As far as I understand he is more now (and lets face it, his entire career he's been just deeper than a natural #9) a natural #10 (the SS/AM kind, not the playmaker kind) than any other position. He can fill-in essentially as a striker with the right setup and if we literally have no more midfielders to play or up front wide. Essentially, playing him playing anywhere other than #9/#10/SS/AM is in my opinion the definition of shoehorning him into the team. Is it not?..

Pogba will be okay, he's young and can literally play in every midfield position. 10/8/6 - Does that mean if we play Pogba at 6 we are shoehorning Pogba into the team because he's playing 15-20m behind where he should be playing? It is all so over-complicated. Rooney is a reformed(ing) striker and playing him closer to goal makes the most sense to me. Personally I have no idea why anyone would want to play him 60m from goal where he can pretend he's a midfielder. Jose has confirmed as much.

No one is suggesting that, what is a reasonable expectation is that once a player realises they are beginning to decline they accept the fact that their appearances will start to be less frequent with some good grace. I don't begrudge Rooney his spell in midfield, even though it didn't work out because that at least show enough self awareness to recognise his days as a top striker are done, but its not unreasonable given that when he was dropped for ONE SINGLE GAME by SAF (against Real) the tweets started, and when you add that to his comments about having nothing to prove its not unreasonable to believe he will take his drop in status with the grace of a child being told no sweets today, and that is not acceptable when you perform so poorly for an entire year.

Can you link these tweets? Or provide some sort of source on this at least? He was not dropped either. This is a very infuriating myth used to perpetuate the idea that SAF was railroading his departure. Danny Welbeck played as the 10 to play on Alonso because of his solid work in the first leg where Rooney started wide left.

"He will be here next year, you have my word on that," Ferguson said.
“He (Rooney) understood the reasons completely,” Ferguson said. “Tactically we got it right. We don't always, but we did then.
"He understood the reasons for not playing him and that was completely tactical. And I think I was right.
“Danny Welbeck is the best player we have in terms of operating in a double role.
“We had to choke Xabi Alonso's ability to control the game, which Danny did, and that took away Alonso's control of the game and his ability to go further forward and be an attacking player. We don't always get it right, but we definitely did on Tuesday.
"I left out Shinji Kagawa after he scored a hat-trick last Saturday. I thought I would get more stick for that.

The end.

 

[Womp]

The rest of it was probably the usual drivel.

Out of curiosity, what actually is "shoe horn"ing Rooney into the team? Has that become the goto phrase to describe him as a starter? Or what?.. I find that term "shoe horn" a bit confusing in this instance. As far as I understand he is more now (and lets face it, his entire career he's been just deeper than a natural #9) a natural #10 (the SS/AM kind, not the playmaker kind) than any other position. He can fill-in essentially as a striker with the right setup and if we literally have no more midfielders to play or up front or wide. Essentially, playing him anywhere other than #9/#10/SS/AM is the definition of shoehorning him into the team. Is it not?..

Pogba will be okay, he's young and can literally play in every midfield position. 10/8/6 - Does that mean if we play Pogba at 6 we are shoehorning Pogba into the team because he's playing 15-20m behind where he should be playing? It is all so over-complicated. Rooney is a striker and playing him closer to goal makes the most sense to me. Personally I have no idea why anyone would want to play him 60m from goal where he can pretend he's a midfielder.

It means that he's played because he's Wayne Rooney, rather than because he warrants to play. Pogba won't be as effective in a 2 man midfield as his forward play will have to be restricted. Don't see the point of paying 100m for a player only to employ tactics that handicap his play-style. An example of shoe-horning Rooney would be to completely change our formation to allow him to get into the team, rather than play a formation like say, 433, which would do wonders for a lot of our players, Pogba and Herrera to name a few.

Another example would be the fact that even if we do play 433, he would still most likely play as a CM. That is shoehorning. It's as if he's played for his marketability these days, can't think of any other reason why we haven't signed a better 10 if we intend to play 4231.

Guess it's just preference though. I would much rather quick and agile 10's rather than one who was slow, sluggish and had limited passing range. I don't doubt he will score a few goals, but we could do much better in that position, but we won't. He is Wayne Rooney after all.

 

[Stacks]

It's things like this that would hinder the club from moving forward. It's like fans enjoy hugging history while the world passes by. Raul of Real, Xavi of Barcelona, Del Piero of Juventus; bigger legends and better players at clubs that essentially raised them did not have to retire there. When these players left their respective clubs, they were still performing at a higher level at Rooney in their mid thirties. These clubs have moved on replaced these legends and are way ahead of United footballing wise.
The right, If he wants? What the heck does that mean. Do we support Wayne Rooney or United? Because of what he has done? Why don't we keep Rio, Nev, Brown et al, they were part of United's golden era and by that should stay here!
A player should be at the club as long as he is actively helping the club progress on the pitch not just because of what he has done in the past like they did it for free and out of their generosity, the kindness of their heart and their undying love for the club.

This is the untruthful truth. This should be saved as the default response when people say "he is a legend, he deserves..this and that"

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Sadly I think this is what is going to happen until we are too far behind in the league to achieve anything just like under LVG.

I hope that Mourinho doesn't let that happen - I wouldn't want a third consecutive manager undone (to a large extent) by trying to accommodate Mr Rooney

 

[Smoking_Owl]

I think Rooney will most likely start the season as the #10 and Pogba (if he signs) will be played as a box to box CM, just ahead of a DM. This will be subject to change though. If Mourinho isn't getting enough impact from Pogba in that box to box role, he'll be under huge pressure to give him more freedom in the team which would mean replacing Rooney. Rooney is going to have to be on his game big time.

This is all good, because his place in the team is in genuine danger he's more likely to be motivated and thereby more effective. I think Rooney's security in the side over the last several years has been pretty bad for both himself and the club - this could be the reignition he needs.

Mourinho will play him at the start and give him enough rope to hang himself. Hopefully Rooney reacts positively and returns to being a consistently effective player again.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

I think Rooney will most likely start the season as the #10 and Pogba (if he signs) will be played as a box to box CM, just ahead of a DM. This will be subject to change though. If Mourinho isn't getting enough impact from Pogba in that box to box role, he'll be under huge pressure to give him more freedom in the team which would mean replacing Rooney. Rooney is going to have to be on his game big time.

I think this is true as well. Well, Mourinho has already said he'll play 4-2-3-1 with Rooney as the SS but yeah. I think it will work out even better for Rooney that there is a fire under his arse. Mourinho will be all over him and I think that is what Rooney needs for the next couple of years leading up to the World Cup in 2018. The year before his contract expires, it will be a crossroads for him.

@Womp you aren't really describing the shoehorning of Rooney. You're saying we should play 4-3-3 to suit Pogba as a box to box player when Jose's preferred formation is 4-2-3-1 with a 9½ in the AM position. That is why I didn't understand what you meant. But you made it quite clear that you are talking from your perspective and not through the manager vicariously. Which I understand. If we're going to play 4-3-3 then there is no point pushing Rooney into the #8 position when we have a plethora of other midfielders. I would share the same view if Van Gaal had have stayed, I'd have said there is no point keeping Rooney and shoving him at 6/8 in the 4-2-3-1 tragedy we rolled out last season.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

I think Rooney will most likely start the season as the #10 and Pogba (if he signs) will be played as a box to box CM, just ahead of a DM. This will be subject to change though. If Mourinho isn't getting enough impact from Pogba in that box to box role, he'll be under huge pressure to give him more freedom in the team which would mean replacing Rooney. Rooney is going to have to be on his game big time.

This is all good, because his place in the team is in genuine danger he's more likely to be motivated and thereby more effective. I think Rooney's security in the side over the last several years has been pretty bad for both himself and the club - this could be the reignition he needs.

Mourinho will play him at the start and give him enough rope to hang himself. Hopefully Rooney reacts positively and returns to being a consistently effective player again.

But that's still not ideal is it, because even if Rooney is not on his game big time (and I hope he is) and we move Pogba forward, who then plays the box-to-box role? We are stuck until January and, realistically, next summer. Whereas, if we plan now to play Pogba in his best position, we can make arrangements this summer to also buy a box-to-box mid, someone like Matuidi.