Who's the player that makes us 'tick'?

[CM]

Herrera. When he plays in a three he brings the balance, energy and bite that a Pogba-Matic duo lacks. He works extremely hard out of possession and always seems to carry his instructions off to a tee.

Otherwise, probably Mata. He often provides another option in possession and knits the play together very well. It's difficult to think of a player Mata doesn't have good link up with.

 

[Steven Seagull]

Probably Pogba but it shouldn’t be. Not patient enough

 

[Witchking]

Herrera. When he plays in a three he brings the balance, energy and bite that a Pogba-Matic duo lacks. He works extremely hard out of possession and always seems to carry his instructions off to a tee.

Otherwise, probably Mata. He often provides another option in possession and knits the play together very well. It's difficult to think of a player Mata doesn't have good link up with.

This is correct. Pogba should be the player who makes us tick but in a midfield three it is herrera who actually is more important in terms of the work load, especially in the big games.

 

[TheFlagStaysDown]

Surprised to see a lot of Pogba answers, Pogba can hardly dictate the play, he can't even dictate the play for 90 mins, then regularly week in week out..
He's the best passer, there is no doubt but he could impose on the game much more, keep it simple so we could get a bit more possession, we lack control of the game hence, it's hardly to think about a player makes us tick, doesn't look like there is a gameplan either but goes to manager, with a stronger, forgive me the term, philosophy, he could do better for sure, but his position is a bit advanced too to makes the team work, he's good in flashes with an extreme highest level, which is basically our biggest problem, we have too many players being good in flashes. That's why I think that players like Mata, Herrera are important.

In fact combo of Herrera and Pogba could possibly match the criteria, Herrera keeps it simple, very good at one touch passing, does a lot of running, wins the ball and have a ocassional nice through ball, that allows Pogba to do what Pogba does - creative passing, taking on players in midfield, running with the ball. Pogba alone doens't make us tick, right now he's too tenacious and would be a bit of waste to play him deeper to make the play there but with a strong dynamic partner, it could be a great combo, I am not talking about Matic obviously who for me, even though he did well this season overall, won't get the best out of Pogba as he's too similar - trying to hold on the ball for too long and look for the pass, too static, even though being more defensive..

So it will be interesting who we bring into the team but I don't think we can match the best teams unless we make our team tick like you said in OP and that requires dominating the midfield, not losing it to any a bit more pressing team, and that requires 2 great dynamic midfielders who can pass and defend. That means a bit more Herrera at the expense of Matic, or at least midfield three more often than not.. and a bit more fluid and aggressive system, which will always be a problem under Mourinho..

 

[Reyoji-Utd]

No Consistency in this team yet, so, it's hard to find anyone that makes us tick. Pogba is that players so to speak, however, he's just as inconsistency as others.

Right now, it seems that Matic is the one that conduct the play mostly (more than Pogba in more matches) and it should be Pogba (that's what us fans want anyway). Whenever we have opposition players on Pogba/Matic, the team as a whole just doesn't have any ideas to move the ball/plays. Also, Mata (by what Mourinho said before) is the one that recycle/make the ball moving but he has his own problems when playing (too slow/light weight...etc.)

 

[Mihai]

Nemanja Matick

 

[Marcky411]

We are pretty much entirely reliant on Pogba for that at the moment. Hopefully we'll be bringing somebody else in over the transfer window to take over the main role, and allow Pogba to focus on his own game instead of relying on him making the team 'tick'.

I thought we bought Matic for that and Pogba is still not performing to the level he should be. We went from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 for Pogba and that hasn't had the desired effect either. Unfortunately we don't have a player that makes us tick, in the past it was Herrera but his game has dropped as well. I really don't know who we could buy in the summer who would make us tick. We are really screaming out for a leader in the team someone to lead by example and gets them going when things get tough.

 

[Ephrem]

None and that's exactly the problem

 

[Butters329]

Lingard when he's played in the Number 10 position. Makes the whole attacking unit more fluid and dangerous.

 

[Freak]

Lingard?

 

[Minimalist]

No one and certainly not Matic. Matic performs a certain function and he's generally done well but saying he makes us tick is absolutes madness.

The point people are correctly making is that while it shouldn't be him, it usually is.

 

[MadDogg]

I thought we bought Matic for that and Pogba is still not performing to the level he should be. We went from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 for Pogba and that hasn't had the desired effect either. Unfortunately we don't have a player that makes us tick, in the past it was Herrera but his game has dropped as well. I really don't know who we could buy in the summer who would make us tick. We are really screaming out for a leader in the team someone to lead by example and gets them going when things get tough.

Just changing to a 433 isn't going to do much if we don't have the right player to actually play that role of the third midfielder. At the moment, when we have the ball Pogba has to largely do the same thing whether we are playing 4231 or 433. None of our other midfield options are capable of controlling the team around so we are still really relying him to do that himself. Something that he has proven he can do (and invariably when he does play well the team as a whole clicks), but he can't do it consistently. What the 433 does do though is cover for Pogba's defensive deficiencies.

Herrera is a great option there against the top teams, but against everyone else we really need that third midfielder to provide significantly more in terms of creativity and playmaking. If we get somebody who can do that, I think it would bring out the best not just in Pogba but in many of our players.

 

[Adebesi]

We tick? When? I must have popped to the kitchen.

 

[lysglimt]

After Tim Howard left - we haven't had many players with ticks