What is the solution to our midfield?

[Pogue Mahone]

Fred and Mctominay played consistently well as a midfield pair last season, and our midfield looked very good once Bruno was playing ahead of them. I remember saying on here that the biggest bonus of the season at that point was having a functioning midfield for the first time in years.

Pogba's been here over 4 years and the only thing we've learned is that he's a midfielder who you can't play in midfield without it making the other team's midfield better than yours, and that if you don't let him do what he wants drama ensues. Where as Chelsea fans will tell you Matic lost the ability to cover enough ground a good year and a half before he even left there.

I actually think it is that simple. Pick players that can't or wont do their job and it really isn't a surprise when they don't. I think it's been obvious Pogba and Matic doesn't work as a partnership since Jose's second season...yet here we are still trying it despite having two players who have both proven they can do better.

You can apply this to our defence too. Maguire can't play at centreback for us but will continue to get picked there anyway. Even if we did sign another centreback he'd still play and we'd still have the same problems.

Our best performances post-lockdown (and arguably in the whole of last season?) featured Matic in central midfield. I actually can’t remember many really good performances with Fred, McT and Bruno in our starting XI. Could be my memory letting me down though! What games do you have in mind?

 

[Leftback99]

Fred and Mctominay played consistently well as a midfield pair last season, and our midfield looked very good once Bruno was playing ahead of them. I remember saying on here that the biggest bonus of the season at that point was having a functioning midfield for the first time in years.

Pogba's been here over 4 years and the only thing we've learned is that he's a midfielder who you can't play in midfield without it making the other team's midfield better than yours, and that if you don't let him do what he wants drama ensues. Where as Chelsea fans will tell you Matic lost the ability to cover enough ground a good year and a half before he even left there.

I actually think it is that simple. Pick players that can't or wont do their job and it really isn't a surprise when they don't. I think it's been obvious Pogba and Matic doesn't work as a partnership since Jose's second season...yet here we are still trying it despite having two players who have both proven they can do better.

You can apply this to our defence too. Maguire can't play at centreback for us but will continue to get picked there anyway. Even if we did sign another centreback he'd still play and we'd still have the same problems.

It worked because it was simple. Win the ball and give it to Bruno. Pogba just complicates everything.

 

[sp_107]

Proper DoF and a good coaching staff !! Then talk about players.

Our club is screaming for a good DOF and a good coaching setup

 

[acnumber9]

Fred and Mctominay played consistently well as a midfield pair last season, and our midfield looked very good once Bruno was playing ahead of them.

They played together in a team playing poorly. McTominay started one game with Fred and Bruno before lockdown and Matic also played. You saw what you wanted to see.

 

[friendlytramp]

McT
VdB
Fernandes

 

[Ludens the Red]

I've said it before and I'll say it again our best from was post Bruno signing and pre lockdown i.e. when there was no Pogba

Defensive shield of any two of McTominay/Fred and Matic behind the usual front 4

Yep, it was unspectacular but it brought balance and Fred and Mctominay however limited, will work their arses off. Im not sure how Vdb would be in one of those roles but I’d like to see him tried alongside fred to start with.
I’m sure though it’ll take another several abject games for this to be figured out by Ole and crew though.

 

[Hammondo]

Some of us have been saying for a few years we need to get a midfielder who can run our game

Pogba doesn't come close, and we have no one who can.

We miss Carrick

 

[red woppit]

I've said it before and I'll say it again our best from was post Bruno signing and pre lockdown i.e. when there was no Pogba

Defensive shield of any two of McTominay/Fred and Matic behind the usual front 4

Hallelujah.
I've also been saying this for months. Matic, Pogba and Bruno does not work. Despite their limitations Fred and McTominay put the hard yards in, and do their damnedest to win the ball, even Bruno works to get the ball back.
Why we've started to play at such a slow pace is beyond me
When Ole first joined we played at a high tempo, our flair players took opponents on, and we always played the ball forward when we were in the opponents half with players making forward runs. What has happened to change that?

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Throw Pogba out and get players who can do a job.

 

[charlenefan]

Hallelujah.
I've also been saying this for months. Matic, Pogba and Bruno does not work. Despite their limitations Fred and McTominay put the hard yards in, and do their damnedest to win the ball, even Bruno works to get the ball back.
Why we've started to play at such a slow pace is beyond me
When Ole first joined we played at a high tempo, our flair players took opponents on, and we always played the ball forward when we were in the opponents half with players making forward runs. What has happened to change that?

Pogba's now fit

 

[TwoSheds]

If the midfield works the defence doesn't get so exposed. They go hand in hand.

Bullshit. If you can't clear a ball after 5 goes then you can't blame the midfield.

 

[red woppit]

Throw Pogba out and get players who can do a job.

Fred, McTominay and VDB in a three, and possibly Bruno if we just play two up front. Solid midfield, which will give our full backs the opportunity to go FORWARD, not hold hands with our CB's. I haven't seen today's game, but I watched Brighton, and they found it so easy to work the ball through our midfield, they always found space in and around our box, and could have beaten us quite easily.

 

[red woppit]

Pogba's now fit

Indeed. Nail on the head.

 

[Leftback99]

Bullshit. If you can't clear a ball after 5 goes then you can't blame the midfield.

And if you control the midfield you have less panic scenarios at the back.

The back 4 comes down to personnel. Smalling should never be getting sold.

If Guardiola comes in he'd still pick the same back 4. He would play Matic, Pogba, Bruno.

 

[TwoSheds]

And if you control the midfield you have less panic scenarios at the back.

The back 4 comes down to personnel. Smalling should never be getting sold.

If Guardiola comes in he'd still pick the same back 4. He would play Matic, Pogba, Bruno.

Guardiola is trash at organising a defence though, what sort of justification is this?

Also, no. Nobody in their right mind thinks Bailly is good enough to be starting for Man Utd. Lindelof is an ok squad player. It's embarrassing that we still have an assortment of failures at CB and Smalling is training on his own. In any sensible world he'd still be our 3rd choice CB and Lindelof 4th choice. Rojo and Jones at the very least would be a long way away, probably Bailly too.

 

[Sing you a song]

2 Words

Drop Pogba

 

[Fredo]

Drop Pogba and play matic(rotate with fred mct) /bruno/vdb

 

[Leftback99]

Guardiola is trash at organising a defence though, what sort of justification is this?

Also, no. Nobody in their right mind thinks Bailly is good enough to be starting for Man Utd. Lindelof is an ok squad player. It's embarrassing that we still have an assortment of failures at CB and Smalling is training on his own. In any sensible world he'd still be our 3rd choice CB and Lindelof 4th choice. Rojo and Jones at the very least would be a long way away, probably Bailly too.

I'd be dropping Pogba and starting Smalling with Maguire with the midfield in the OP. I think we'd be a lot more effective all round. With Smalling gone we're praying Tuanzebe can step up.

 

[TwoSheds]

I'd be dropping Pogba and starting Smalling with Maguire with the midfield in the OP. I think we'd be a lot more effective all round. With Smalling gone we're praying Tuanzebe can step up.

Tuanzebe ain't doing shit man. Mengi maybe but it's not fair to put that pressure on him with the run of games we've got coming up. Lindelof has to play and do something.

 

[Devil may care]

I'd sell Pogba to PSG while he still has a high value and get rid of Matic as well as he's just too slow and immobile, then buy Camavinga and Bruno Guimares. For this season Fred has to start and I'd drop Pogba and give VdB some games.

 

[FootyGirl88]

We need a Matic replacement, ive been saying this for about 2 years.

 

[imamuppet]

Sell Pogba and use the money to buy midfield players who understand the responsibilities involved when playing in the midfield.

For all his talents and physical attributes he still has not grasped that.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I've said it before and I'll say it again our best from was post Bruno signing and pre lockdown i.e. when there was no Pogba

Defensive shield of any two of McTominay/Fred and Matic behind the usual front 4

Yea i agree.

 

[Bobcat]

Its clear Pogba and Matic does not work. Matic needs two workhorses alongside him, Pogba needs to find a new club.

Play Fred, Matic and Bruno.

 

[Valencia's Left Foot]

Pogba needs to be on the bench. Such a fragile mentality for a professional footballer, I don’t care how talented he is; when a player lacks the competitive spirit, the rest of his skill set doesn’t really mean all that much. I’d rather have Fred or get DVB going as a box to box cm which will likely end up being his best position.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Pogba has to go.

 

[Tel074]

This in my opinion is where we have the biggest problem.. Ole continues to play a clearly out of sorts Pogba in a position he simply can't play .
We offer no cover to our already frail defence and Keeper .
I'm a huge Ole in person but for continuing to play Pogba I'm now at the point of thinking that maybe it's time we thought about our manager

 

[Borys]

I still can't understand why we ditched Fred-McTominay partnership so fast. Although neither is a top player, both are competent midfielders and were doing really well together last season.

What we need is some energy and defensive contribution, Matic and Pogba don't give us that. Pogba in current form is not a threat anyway so it's time to try something different. Matic is good enough but needs support, so Matic - Fred would be my second choice midfield.

Don’t play to non runners in a double pivot would be a good start.

This.

 

[CG1010]

Pogba had a string of 3-4 games with good performances post-lockdown when PL teams still were trying to put 11 men behind the ball to stop us. And he therefore had no pressure on the ball.

Now teams have realised we can be out run in the midfield and are adopting that strategy.

Fortunately there is a simple solution of playing Fred there (not convinced VDB playing there - he is too attack minded for me). But would Ole have the balls to do it? Like someone said above, Pogba getting injured was maybe a blessing in disguise.

 

[Zen86]

Matic + Fred/McT with Bruno in front should be our central setup. Matic adds composure to our midfield with one of Fred or McT adding the work rate. VDB would obviously be knocking on the door as well. Pogba is somewhat of a passenger in our side, a luxury player.

 

[Offside]

Solution is drop Pogba.

 

[Borys]

Some of us have been saying for a few years we need to get a midfielder who can run our game

Pogba doesn't come close, and we have no one who can.

We miss Carrick

With Carrick in midfield we would get overrun even more. Matic is a good DM, on par with Carrick but with better general play against pressing teams. Pogba just isn't a midfielder, and Bruno is terrible defensively.

You put Xavi in that midfield and it's still non functional. We need to change at least one of Matic/Pogba for more mobile players, even if some of our attacking threat from modfield suffers. Possibly both should be benched.

 

[Jibbs]

For me Bruno and VDB should start every game. Fred and McT should be used as DMs

 

[OldTrevil]

Play a actual midfield three from any of Fred, Bruno, Pogba, VDB, McT and you will have balance.

Play Matic when you have ball playing fullbacks that allow for a midfield diamond so that he can essentially play like a third CB who occasionally forrays into midfield; alternatively, bring him on in the normal set up late in games when we are defending a big lead and need to slow the game down.

 

[eire-red]

I think we may have to reset and go back to basics, just to get a little bit of confidence back into our game. With the Telles signing, we could switch to a back three of Lindelof, Maguire and Shaw, with AWB and Telles providing the width.

In midfield, Matic and Pogba just can't play together. For me, Fred has to play. Either alongside Matic or McTominay. For me, its a matter of either Bruno or Pogba in that number 10 position, and Bruno wins that argument all day for me.

Given Martial is suspended, I'd go with Greenwood and Rashford up top, with Cavani to slowly be integrated over the coming months.

Playing Shaw solves our pace at the back, and allows Telles to attack with a bit more freedom. That core is a bit more solid to me with the 3 CB's and two deeper midfielders in there. We need to stop shipping goals at the back, and I think for the next few games we need to see a bit more of a pragmatic approach until we've ridden this wave of negativity.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

3, with Fred or Matic in DM with 2 of Pogba/VDB/Bruno as 8s. Similar to City’s Fernandinho, Silva & KDB in their 100 point season. Playing with Bruno at 10 & Pogba as a DM isn’t working.

 

[R.N7]

The solution is to sack the manager, the quality is there.

 

[Jazmodo]

Spend some Money Glazers, you Cheap B**tards.

Thats how,,,

 

[Gavinb33]

Pogba is an incredible talent first off.

In a 2 he is a liability, he doesn't release the ball quick enough when pressed and tries to dribble his way out of trouble, he is unable to track runners and his defensive diligence is non existent.

We looked far more secure with a 2 of Fred/Matic/Mctominay and Bruno ahead of them.

If we give Pogba a new contract we are asking for trouble if we want to keep playing 4-2-3-1 and putting him in the 2.

I would sell him if I could tomorrow

 

[UnofficialDevil]

The solution is a new manager, we havent such good players in the midfield for years.