Where should Pogba and Rashford play?

[Henandez14]

I don't think there is a DM that could do it alone.

Fernandinho did it for city with delph stepping in occasionally to help out. Isn't Shaw perfect for that?

 

[Abraxas]

I'm not sure there is a formation that would cover the exact styles of players we have while getting them all into a favoured position. Some of the ideas sound like FM dreamland type stuff that sounds good on paper but is likely to be a disaster. Especially when we have a way of playing that is consistent, we're talking about ripping up the script just to suit these two but what about everybody else?

At the moment it is a compromise because Pogba isn't trusted deep within that two, but he can be for certain games. So that's part of the answer. In the other ones we may have to either accept Rashford's reduced threat on the right or accept that he's not always in the best side. Or we gamble on Pogba deep, which isn't likely as we also have McFred who are to be valued too, as well as another player in Fernandes who adds complication.

I think we'll continue to see some experimentation and chopping and changing within their roles as it is because of their own shortcomings we have to find these solutions. The manager's job is to pick an overall side that wins games, not necessarily to make everybody perfectly happy with their lot.

 

[Hammondo]

Fernandinho did it for city with delph stepping in occasionally to help out. Isn't Shaw perfect for that?

But the rest of their midfielder works harder to support him.

 

[Red00012]

Pogba left Rashford left bench

 

[Craig Ward]

4-2-2-2.

Cavani and Rashford up top. With Rashford more likely peeling wide right and dropping deeper to become a CAM while Cavani stays up top more often than not. Bruno and Pogba in the 2 behind the front two. interplaying, doing there thing and linking up with the fullbacks. Then McFred as the 2 primarily only caring about keeping it solid defensively and trying to win the ball back and giving it to bruno and pogba ASAP after the turn over

I can't see this working at all i'm afraid. How narrow do you want to play?

Seems like FM dross of "lets fit all the players we have in for the sake of it" logic which is all arse backwards.

Your not playing Greenwood at all? We have good wide players and your shuffling them all so narrow it doesnt make sense.

Our best formation is: 4-2-3-1.

Pogba finally getting out of the midfield pivot can only be a good thing, cos he's shocking defensively. Him playing well at LW is a positive, as he's finally playing well but i think we are all over reacting with this "Rashford must now play RW or be benched" rubbish.

Our squad has lacked quality depth and competition for what, 5+ years? We now have two players who seem to be able to play LW at a high level and we're all in a panic. Rotate them and dont complicate it, Rashford can adapt to CF but he is better at LW and pretty piss poor RW, where Greenwood seems to be very well suited anyway.

Pogba should now be LW or benched. He's gash centrally and will only perform well when free of any defensive work - can we as a team afford to carry such individuals with no team work ethos anyway?
Pogba is likely to be sold or run his contract down anyway and Rashford will be here longer, so lets not completely bum Rashford off because who is a top class player in his own right who can only get better.

So yeah - in a nutshell I respectfully disagree with your formation. 4-2-3-1 with the in-form player getting a start. The bench player then knows he has to perform well when brought on. End result - better performances for the team. See Shaw as an example. Threated by Telles, he upped his game to a new level. Shaw is now top class but he knows he cant dip cos there's a good player waiting to take his place.

Competition for a starting spot is so vital for this squad. So many of our players coast through cos they know the second choice is so far off them, it leads to complacency

On a final note - if you hands down got asked who is the better attacking player - it's rashford all day long. He's an actual forward player. Pogba isn't

 

[Lux Thunder]

They might play together, but we will need to sacrifice our most improved players: McTominay, Fred ( setup wouldn't work with double pivot ), and by some extent Luke Shaw, so I don't see it happening at all. And also this setup would require a proper monster DM and a quality RW so we will have to spend.


The idea behind this is to break opponents' press/first line and then progress even further down the left side/left half-space. Luke would require to change his position a little bit and act as an inverted wing-back and instead of overlapping the left flank, he would occasionally make underlaps which we all saw in some games, especially in 3 man defense when he was good as a ball carrier. I think that his technical ability and tactical awareness would make him good in this position. As he moves to the middle, it will open space for Pogba to receive the ball on the left flank as Rashford also moves as an inverted winger to pull his marker with him. Pogba can then progress further or at least find enough space and time to switch the ball to the right flank with, hopefully, Sancho, staying wide to receive. And Pogba can switch focus to another side very sexy. Not just that we will escape press/break the first line, we will also quickly turn it into a great attacking position. If the opponent responsible for Pogba choose to follow him wide as man marking instruction, then the gap will open centrally, and Shaw will exploit it carrying the ball through left half-space, which is, of course, even a better way to progress. It is also important that Rashford in that situation stays as wide as possible but if there is a switch to the right side he will already be cutting inside to find himself in promising attacking positions.


But, but, football is not chess, people are hardly figures. And I need to find a girlfriend, too.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Pogba is at his best in a 3 man midfield with the freedom to go forward. Rashford is best on the left. Sure we can shove them in other positions or on the bench but whats the point. If thats the case then just sell them. The only way of getting Pogba, Rashford and Fernandes in the same team is to play 4-3-3 with Fernandes as a false 9. Now I have no idea if this will work because we havnt tried it enough, so we could be solving Rashford and Pogbas best positions at the detriment of Bruno. But its the only way I can think of getting them all in the same team and playing to their strengths at the same time.

Rashford-------------Bruno------------------Greenwood
------------Pogba------Fred------McTominay-----------

 

[Lux Thunder]

Pogba is at his best in a 3 man midfield with the freedom to go forward. Rashford is best on the left. Sure we can shove them in other positions or on the bench but whats the point. If thats the case then just sell them. The only way of getting Pogba, Rashford, and Fernandes in the same team is to play 4-3-3 with Fernandes as a false 9. Now I have no idea if this will work because we havnt tried it enough, so we could be solving Rashford and Pogbas best positions at the detriment of Bruno. But its the only way I can think of getting them all in the same team and playing to their strengths at the same time.

Rashford-------------Bruno------------------Greenwood
------------Pogba------Fred------McTominay-----------

Don't agree with the bolded part, it could be a way but not necessarily only one. With right-winger staying wide, Bruno can make those runs and exploit right half-space which will, IMO, suit him even better. We will not need both McFred with DM and inverted LB securing the central area to prevent overturns and also with RB not pushing high.

 

[mancan92]

If we want to win anything I believe we need to move to a 433.

So you would have a world class dm that Bruno and Pogba play either side of and rashford left forward.

 

[Borys]

I don't see it as a problem really. Pogba can be our Grealish from the left, meaning we can play:
- 4-2-3-1 with current setup (2 man midfield + Pogba + Bruno + RW + CF) - balanced
- 4-3-3 with Pogba on the left midfield and Rashford on the left (Bruno as a false 9) - offensive

Rashford is a weird one, I don't rate him as a wide player at all. He has good movement so deserves a chance as a forward IMO. At the same time, I think he would be pretty decent RW if given some time to adjust.

Both Rashford and Pogba don't really play glued to the position. Pogba is better on the left wing against packed defenses (two footed, can cross with left, less predictable, shields the ball better and good dribbling in tight spaces). Rashford on the other hand is better in running from the left when defenders are higher up the pitch. We can fit them both no problem.

 

[Van Piorsing]

I don't mind Pogba playing on the left, if Rashford's got injury complication and when Martial's injured too. Player of Grealish or Sancho profile will balance everything out. Still early to say if Pellistri and Amad are the final solution.

Pogba's rich ability set can allow him to play many different roles and this season he already scored a winner from the right side of the box. Unlike Donny, Pogba can cope with majority of different roles, he'll thrive in every version of 4-3-3 & 4-2-3-1. Fergie's headache is a good headache.