We will never win the league with Paul Pogba in the team

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FlawlessThaw

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Honestly, we can't really defend Lukaku here. He has failed to score a single goal against top 6 sides this season.

I get the OP point, it's so frustrated when we see a striker playing for us with no technical skills but just pure strength, power and pace. If you don't have technical skills, you are just not top class footballer and any good defenders can exploit the player's technical limitation. People tend to say Smalling isn't good enough, I wonder if those people who said that are also the same people who thinks Lukaku is good enough? Because I just want to say that everytime Lukaku faced us in Everton, Smalling always had him in his pocket.

Just look at those top class striker out there, Lewandowski, Kane, Suarez, RVP, RVN, Eto'o, Rooney, Benzema they are all strikers with 3-4 times better technique than Lukaku. It's so frustrated because against Lukaku, all you need is as defenders just some muscle, stay tight with him and he will lose the ball.
This is crybaby Pogba thread, not the crybaby Lukaku one.
 

It's B Rubble

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How is he a prick off the pitch?
I was going to ask the same thing. Sounds like someone has a bit more whining to do about Pogs and they way he lives his life outside of football (which is honestly nobody's business). The absolute state of some of our "fans".
 

ricky-romeo

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midfield 3 in those big matches.

we can afford to have him in a midfield 2 against regular teams so we can have an extra attacker, but damn by now i though jose would know better how to set up against the top 6 teams, especially away from home. we are still a top class midfielder away even after spending hundreds of millions on MFs post Sir Alex.
 

J_Red 11

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This is crybaby Pogba thread, not the crybaby Lukaku one.
Well, that's the issue. Because Lukaku is so limited as a striker, we added more problems in our team when we already have problem in midfield. We need a better tactic and better players to give Lukaku better service means we need to spend more money. It's like he needs 9/10 rating of service in order to get the best out of him but we only need 6/10 rating service in order to get the best out of Suarez, Lewandowski & RVP.
 

VeevaVee

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Well, that's the issue. Because Lukaku is so limited as a striker, we added more problems in our team when we already have problem in midfield.
I've always insisted it's others not playing well enough, and while that's still very much true, I'd also agree with this tbh. He hasn't solved a problem other than that we didn't have a first choice striker. He's not improving our play at the moment.
 

FlawlessThaw

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Well, that's the issue. Because Lukaku is so limited as a striker, we added more problems in our team when we already have problem in midfield. We need a better tactic and better players to give Lukaku better service means we need to spend more money. It's like he needs 9/10 rating of service in order to get the best out of him but we only need 6/10 rating service in order to get the best out of Suarez, Lewandowski & RVP.
True though the latter 3 were all world class and either the best striker in the world or close to it at their peak. Lukaku clearly will never be as good as those players but we have won titles with strikers of similar quality who do depend on better service.

I'm not sure if we will win the league with Pogba and Lukaku but we are constantly making excuses for them, whether it is that we need to play Pogba on the left of a 3 man midfield or provide 9/10 rating of service to Lukaku. Might just be the problems are a bit broader, the main issue I had was the lack of fight once we went 2-0 down personally. No team will win the league with an attitude like that.
 

Nik70

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He was shit today but..... he's a great player.
 

amolbhatia50k

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People will laugh and mock this thread due to the title, but the general point made about Pogba has merit. He's putting up fantastic stats this season and puts on a show at times in the easier games. But whenever things get tight he appears to be unable to deal with pace and intensity, seemingly always a step or two behind those around. If he doesn't get over his need to have ample time and space, he's never going to be a truly great player. Deli Ali, for all the criticism we aim his way, along with Dembele completely showed up Pogba today. Not by doing anything great I might add. He just beat him by being aware and having speed of thought which you'd expect of any good player.

People will have a go at Lingard and Martial but they looked like mature pros playing next to the new and raw kid Pogba.

United fans have also put Pogba on a pedestal for some reason.
 

NFM

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Correct. I understand why people want him to succeed. He is an old boy coming home, he plays with great skill when the opposition let him, he is 'cool', he is well known etc etc. He also cost a lot of money to be 'the difference' in big matches. But in big matches he disappears. He was completely outplayed by Dembele and this is a recurring theme. When he is put under pressure by good players, he is just not capable of raising his game, he looks fragile, eventually he disappears from the match. Against Spurs it eventually was like playing with 9 men, both our 'wonderful' French stars did their usual trick of disappearing.
Of course some of United's players are not as talented or as physically endowed as Pogba, but the game on the grass ( as opposed to X-box) is much much more than just who is 'more talented'. As with most sports at the elite end, the major factor lies between the ears. And sadly Pogba has not got it there. When times get tough, he does anything but get going. His has the mental strength of an immature teenager.
If Madrid would be persuaded to match Barca's price for Coutinho, Unied should grab their hands off, and invest in two mature CMs. Same with Martial for enough to buy a decent right winger.
The two FB positions need sorting, but getting the CMs and RW corrected is far more important at this stage.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Correct. I understand why people want him to succeed. He is an old boy coming home, he plays with great skill when the opposition let him, he is 'cool', he is well known etc etc. He also cost a lot of money to be 'the difference' in big matches. But in big matches he disappears. He was completely outplayed by Dembele and this is a recurring theme. When he is put under pressure by good players, he is just not capable of raising his game, he looks fragile, eventually he disappears from the match. Against Spurs it eventually was like playing with 9 men, both our 'wonderful' French stars did their usual trick of disappearing.
Of course some of United's players are not as talented or as physically endowed as Pogba, but the game on the grass ( as opposed to X-box) is much much more than just who is 'more talented'. As with most sports at the elite end, the major factor lies between the ears. And sadly Pogba has not got it there. When times get tough, he does anything but get going. His has the mental strength of an immature teenager.
If Madrid would be persuaded to match Barca's price for Coutinho, Unied should grab their hands off, and invest in two mature CMs. Same with Martial for enough to buy a decent right winger.
The two FB positions need sorting, but getting the CMs and RW corrected is far more important at this stage.
Martial didn't disappear (not any more than the rest) and shouldnt be clubbed with Pogba due to nationality.
 

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I'm not sure that I would go as far as the OP, but I also question Pogba's decision making and maturity; and the same goes for Martial. When you look at today's game, there were 2 attacking players who had the composure and the decision-making to receive and hold the ball, and do something intelligent with it - Alexis and Mata. Pogba keeps trying to be fancy in every situation instead of playing hard and doing what is necessary for the team, and Martial had several opportunities on counterattacks to put in a cross, make a pass, or shoot, and he kept dribbling and losing the ball.

People get frustrated that results and performances are not better, but I don't think there is enough quality in this team yet to play "the United way". The entire front line should be looking at Alexis and Mata and taking notes, instead of practicing handshakes, as someone else put it.
Martial was also playing in an unfamiliar role out on the right. I agree that his decision making was off, but it's an unfamiliar role for him. I don't think Sanchez and Mata had particularly good games either tbh. This was collectively a bad performance, probably because we've still not integrated Sanchez into the side and also because our opponents simply played better football than us and put us under pressure. This thread is silly though, Pogba is clearly our best player and Jose just needs to play him in a midfield 3 in games like this one.
 

parkthebuslads

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If you focus exclusively on his performances in such games it's not a particularly harsh assessment and certainly I feel he's been over indulged at times. But almost everyone looks lost against the stronger teams. He stands out because of his position and profile.
 

Fuzzy Dunlop

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What the feck? Stop creating sci-fi themed posts and focus on the real world, please.

The team was shite. Pogba included. It happens. End of story.
 

suhaylah

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Imho Pogba is too inconsistent to be world class. He has not the ability to run a game on his own against big teams.
 

freeurmind

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No one wants to say it because he has ability and cost a shite load of money, but it's more true than the thread saying the same about Lukaku.

Pogba is a playground footballer. Turns up to show off in games where the opposition are poor enough to allow us the luxury of him doing so. As soon as the team need him however, you can forget it.

He is more interested in inventing silly handshake routines, showing off, and wanting people to look at his hair, than he ever will be in working hard to help his team win a game.

He has the selfishness of a Gerrard or a Ronaldo but without any of the desire, determination, or basic maturity to go with it, and he's 24 years old. It is unlikely at this point he will ever grow up, and that means he will never be more than a liability in any game where it is important for him to put in work for the benefit of the team.

The idea some people have of playing him further forward because he doesn't work hard enough to play in central midfield is a nonsense...as if playing him in another position somehow makes it less important that he works hard. In a succesful team, every player works harder than Paul Pogba ever does.

The fact is that he is on a pedestal as United's best player, but when you look at City (i.e. the team top of the league), if Paul Pogba played for them in the same way he does for United, he would be told to either grow up or feck off. He wouldn't get close to getting a game for them unless he had a serious change of attitude. At United he seems to go completely unchecked for it because he can showboat around onceor twice every ten games, against the likes of Stoke.
Garth Crooks is that you?
 

Adnan

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We broke the world transfer record for a midfielder who starred for Juve domestically and in the UCL in a 3 man midfield. How many times do people like myself need to harp on about him playing in a 3 man midfield to get the best out of him.. Play him in a midfield 3 and i'm confident he'll produce in big games, but if this 4-2-3-1 continues then I expect more threads like this one to appear after another big game dissapointment due to him playing in a midfield next to Matic who was worse.

I remember when I was a lurker on the Caf years ago in Ronaldo's first 2-3 years at the club and there was a thread on here wanting Aaron Lennon to replace him. :houllier::lol:
 

Ashley R1+O

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Underneath the bravado and presented package, there is a very good underlying point that reinforces my "stack of marbles" theory.

That Pogba absolutely has to play a free role with no strings attached to it at all costs for him to thrive. I have no idea why you would even bother with giving him a role in which he has to track back and do any defensive work what-soever. He just isn't that player at all, the player who wants to do all of the 1%ers en route to his overarching role. We need to develop some form of behind the striker and between the midfield role in which he doesn't have to do anything. He simply is to much of a liability trying to play as a two-way player.

The problem this causes is, like I say with a "stack of marbles" is that if you pull this particular marble out then you have to pick the marbles up off the ground and then rebuild the stack. 4-3-3, players shifted into different positions, that extra player out of the attack for Pogba to roam.

He has the selfishness of a Gerrard or a Ronaldo but without any of the desire, determination, or basic maturity to go with it
I think this is actually a very poignant statement wrapped up in all of this. I would say he's in this situation without any hardworking credits in the bank for which to be set free in the system. Ronaldo worked his bols off in his first couple of seasons to buy the freedom to be able to shine as the lone/free player and get away with mistakes. Pogba's fee/pedigree/return seems to have provided a blank cheque that I am not sure he has earned.

I completely agree that he needs to mature as a player, lest we completely shift the entire system around for him. Both will be a mammoth task.
 

Ekeke

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This is a thread from someone who is, or was, a mod of this forum. What a load of nonsense in several ways.
 

NikSab

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I hope this is a post to distract everyone because if it's not, it's hilarious.

Btw, it's our first loss in 18 months with him in the squad in the premier league. Let that sink in .
 
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Devil may care

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I've seen this being mentioned a lot recently - its something you can apply to a full back, placed on a midfielder it just means 'too lazy to track back'.
Not it doesn't, you often see Pogba racing back but he's drifted so far out of position it's too late, he's not aware enough of the distance between him and Matic and leaves too much space.
 

SER19

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Genuinely thought this was one of those joke threads in response to the other shit Lukaku one.

Dreadful thread, no real discussion just an angry moan and should be closed in all honesty
 

manunited1919

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Is the average age of people posting threads like this one any higher than the average age of our team?
 

SaboTaj

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I find it strange and bewildering to think that there are people out there who believe that the league can not be won because of one player, especially when that player is one of the best in the world in his position. There have been worse, more irresponsible and downright petulant players who’ve won more than just a league.It depends on the whole team, the management staff, the club and some luck.

Having said that I think this is probably the dumbest thread I’ll see all year, and that Pogba will end up taking us to many trophies in the near future. Cheers!
 

kiristao

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I agree to bits and parts of the OP but I think our tactics are more at fault here that Pogba is. More often than not, when he plays in a midfield 3 he looks a much better player. Against poor opposition we need an extra attacker to break teams down so we can risk Pogba as part of a two man midfield but against better teams we need to play with a 3 man midfield.
 

Crashoutcassius

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I think this thread is to make a point, that lukaku is working hard and we are being told winning the league is impossible with him in the team, meanwhile pogba has showed up yet in a big match (someone said arsenal lol). I think the point is fair, his attitude and mentality is a problem, even if he does look top class against weak sides. How does mourinho fix this and have him play for the team and not himself
 
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