Re: Official: Pogba returns to Manchester United

by Adit Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:50 pm

He plays like a striker/winger accidentally playing as a midfielder. He needs to learn there is a thing called passing if he wants to succeed as one.

by urbaNRoots Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:50 pm

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
urbaNRoots wrote:Lots of overreacting on Pogba going on. He was not great today but he was not terrible either. Before that he had two great games for Utd.

This criticism reminds me of the De Bruyne criticism when he signed, I suppose the transfer fee causes this. In the end de Bruyne showed his class as I'm sure Pogba will continue to do.

De Bruyne has been put in a position to succeed though.

I really don't see how Pogba can do so consistently if he's play CM in a 4-2-3-1 alongside Fellaini lol.

Hope he does though.

That is a problem but I doubt Mourinho will continue playing him there for too long. Surely he must see that giving him defensive responsibilities as well as attacking ones will be too much for him.

In the end it all boils down to Rooney. He's currently occupying Pogba's best position in the current formation. Let's see if Mourinho has the balls to do what is necessary for Pogba (and his team) to succeed.

He's pure talent though, I'm sure he'll find a way to adapt if Mourinho does NOT drop Rooney or rearrange his position.

by Mr Nick09 Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:53 pm

Again not true, it's about skillset, and it is certainly not a skillset Pogba has. I remember Banega in his good days murdering pep barca from midfield with superb decision making and ball retention. I remember Modric destroying pep bayern from midfield with superior decision making and movements.

What you are saying is that no player can be good in a 4231 vs a pep team, that's not true, and that's the biggest copout to defend pogba i have ever seen. This city team is nowehre near the levels of the two teams i just mentioned, they gave plenty of space to man utd in midfield, yet Pogba was still mediocre even on the touches he had. Why try to defend that?

He is a very good player, just not made to be great or influential in a double pivot. He needs space, he needs to play higher up the pitch, he is not god almighty, he cant do everything, nor play everywhere and be great.

by footyfan01 Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:54 pm

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:
urbaNRoots wrote:Lots of overreacting on Pogba going on. He was not great today but he was not terrible either. Before that he had two great games for Utd.

This criticism reminds me of the De Bruyne criticism when he signed, I suppose the transfer fee causes this. In the end de Bruyne showed his class as I'm sure Pogba will continue to do.

De Bruyne has been put in a position to succeed though.

I really don't see how Pogba can do so consistently if he's play CM in a 4-2-3-1 alongside Fellaini lol.

Hope he does though.

Not a good example - De Bruyne has been a massive success anywhere he has been given a proper chance - Huge success at City last season, major success at Wolfsburg, big player for the Belgian NT. He was good last year adapting to a new league, coach etc while playing a LW sort of role which he was clearly not suited to play.

There is a huge difference between the 2. De Bruyne is in a different league - Pogba is 1 tier below but is under Mino Raiola scheming hype factory

by sportsczy Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:01 pm

Banega played in a 433 with Valencia with Dani Parejo, Feghouli, Tino Costa, Jonas, Soldado, Andres Guardado, etc. around him. All of those guys were good technically or had a lot of movement or both... and they played very close to each other. It was a spanish style system where everyone triangulated in small areas to open passing options.

You can't possibly compare that team's set up with Mourinho's. Come on. Pogba had Fellaini, Lingard, Rooney and M--yan. Lingard and M---yan were completely overmatched and Rooney was Rooney. Fellaini tried... but he's limited.

by Kaladin Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:45 pm

100 مليون يوروhttps://t.co/4tIOi9w0mW
— EPL Jokes (@EPLJokesS) September 10, 2016

by Mr Nick09 Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:52 pm

I am comparing players in similar zones of play, i can even mention Wilshere playing in a double pivot one night of CL football and just absolutely rekt barca. I can also mention Schweinsteiger rekting barca one night of CL football playing in a double pivot with martinez (inbefore it was not pep coaching lol)

Again, performing against that style of play from a double pivot is not unheard of, it's just that Pogba clearly lacks the tools to do so

He is still a good player though

by Sushi Master Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:56 pm

Pogba is still very young, and those are all mental attributes that make a good CM great. Pogba does not possess them yet, even if he has the technical skills.

Even though he had a shit game, I still do not understand what kind of midfield setup Mou went for in that game. Even with Herrera in, it was just hoof there and hoof that. Pathetic from such a blessed manager. Well, and the Fellaini factor and the Rooney factor. Their existence just kills any momentum whatsoever.

by Glory Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:09 pm

No way Woodward is going to let his world record signing flop that easily. If pogba is struggling in a pivot in 4-2-3-1, chances of rooney dropping out of the lineup is imo increasing. bounce

So can take a few poor performances as a matter of fact if that means in the end we United fans can see Mou deploy that best formation 4-3-3 with rooni out and pogba with license in front of 2 proper midfielders. Thumbs up

The lad needs to work on his positioning tho. The fact that Fellaini was comfortably better than him today is not a good sign.

by juve_gigi Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:15 pm

Firenze wrote:he's played 3 games and a lot of people considered him the best player on the pitch on his debut

RG pls

people expecting him to be nutmegging and smashing in screamers like he did against those part time pizzeria workers over in Turin or something ffs

Insulting all the hard working pizza workers in Italia. You've reached a new low in your hatred of Serie Zzzz..

:coffee:

by juve_gigi Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:30 pm

Not surprised. Pogba will never succeed in a double pivot playing as a DM. Either Mou needs to change it up or his tenure will be cut short.

Pogba excels in a 3 man midfield. That's where he needs to play. I watched him for 4 years. As most of you never watch Serie Zzzz I can assume most haven't actually watched much of Pogba these last few years.

And no he can't replace Rooney as an AM. That won't work either. Either you play Pogba as b2b midfielder with a free role in a 3 man midfield or you watch your €105M investment go down the tubes. Any other argument to the contrary is a big fail.

by Glory Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:34 pm

Well even if technically he wont like for like replace rooni, but if rooni's dropped from the team then by default it will revert back to a 4-3-3 Laughing

.
He's the one thing thats' standing in the way and not really letting Mou employ 4-3-3. Read a reliable-ish article some time back that said Mou want to go 4-3-3 long term with Pogba at the heart as the free roaming playmaker/attacking b2b.

by Art Morte Sat Sep 10, 2016 5:00 pm

Watching Pogba today made me feel OK about the Wijnaldum transfer.

by juve_gigi Sat Sep 10, 2016 6:01 pm

Glory wrote:Well even if technically he wont like for like replace rooni, but if rooni's dropped from the team then by default it will revert back to a 4-3-3 .
He's the one thing thats' standing in the way and not really letting Mou employ 4-3-3. Read a reliable-ish article some time back that said Mou want to go 4-3-3 long term with Pogba at the heart as the free roaming playmaker/attacking b2b.

Yes if you drop Rooney to play a 4-3-3 and then play Pogba as a left b2b midfielder then you will put Pogba in a position to succeed. And of course you also need to drop Fellaini from your starting lineup.

by Guest Sun Sep 11, 2016 2:02 am

I LOVE the way, even after 30 minutes of eating the midfield alive, he let De Boss do whatever he wanted in the midfield.

Cant defend worth a damn Laughing

Shameful performance.

by McAgger Sun Sep 11, 2016 2:26 am

Art Morte wrote:Watching Pogba today made me feel OK about the Wijnaldum transfer.

Funny thing is Wijnaldum is playing a role in Klopp's 4-1-4-1(4-3-3) that Pogba would be perfect for.

by breva Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:13 am

Pogba had a much better supporting cast at Juventus. The Juve players are real footballers, they can control the ball. At ManU he has a bunch of hoofers around him. Outside of Ibra at ManU they are just kickers and runners. I see a disaster coming.

by Adit Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:20 am

Elite players earned their tactical freedom over the years. One shouldn't ask tactical freedom just to be remotely effective.

by CBarca Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:20 am

#PogBACK

by VanDeezNuts Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:22 am

I don't really think it was Pogba's fault. It was all down to tactics-

Pep had 5 midfielders- Mourinho had.. 2? Maybe? He's not really going to win that battle.

In the second half Mou added an extra midfielder in Herrera and it was more of an even battle and United were able to at least compete and earn more chances.

Still I don't think it is fair to judge any United midfielder in this match, they were almost entirely bypassed the whole match.

by juve_gigi Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:23 am

breva wrote:Pogba had a much better supporting cast at Juventus. The Juve players are real footballers, they can control the ball. At ManU he has a bunch of hoofers around him. Outside of Ibra at ManU they are just kickers and runners. I see a disaster coming.

Yes when you are playing with Pirlo, Vidal and Marchisio for 4 years it definitely allows for your weaknesses to be covered up. Whenever Pogba tried to nutmeg 4 guys in one shot and then ultimately lose the ball he had world class players like Vidal and Marchisio covering his mistakes for him. At ManU he has Fellaini. Big difference.

Unless Mou changes it up and actually puts Pogba in a position to succeed as well as give him a better partner than Fellaini I am sorry to say his career at ManU is not going to be what people are expecting, with all due respect to the ManU fans here...

by Winter is Coming Sun Sep 11, 2016 6:07 am

vanDEEZ wrote:I don't really think it was Pogba's fault. It was all down to tactics-

Pep had 5 midfielders- Mourinho had.. 2? Maybe? He's not really going to win that battle.

In the second half Mou added an extra midfielder in Herrera and it was more of an even battle and United were able to at least compete and earn more chances.

Still I don't think it is fair to judge any United midfielder in this match, they were almost entirely bypassed the whole match.

That played a small part, but not a huge part to why United did well in the second half. City under Pep thus far have been quite poor in the second half, Sunderland, West Ham, Stoke all seemed to have improved in the second half against them, but in reality it was City dropping the tempo off their game rather then the team improving. In this case the defense and Bravo had huge communication issue, which is why City was invited United back into the game.

by halamadrid2 Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:33 am

Imagine all those midfielders United could've had for 30-40 odd millions who would've done exactly what Pogba did and more. Pogba is going to be the worst piece of business they have made. He is just a support player. When you need someone to rescue you Pogba won't be it because that's not what he does

by Hapless_Hans Sun Sep 11, 2016 9:48 am

vanDEEZ wrote:I don't really think it was Pogba's fault. It was all down to tactics-

Pep had 5 midfielders- Mourinho had.. 2? Maybe? He's not really going to win that battle.

In the second half Mou added an extra midfielder in Herrera and it was more of an even battle and United were able to at least compete and earn more chances.

Still I don't think it is fair to judge any United midfielder in this match, they were almost entirely bypassed the whole match.

Which were the five midfielders? De Bruyne? Nolito? You might just as well say Pep played with one midfielder against 2 in Pogaba and Fellaini.

by VanDeezNuts Sun Sep 11, 2016 3:30 pm

They had the midfield 3, plus the 2 fullbacks pushed up and pinched in to overload the midfield.

Pep tactics 101

by chad4401 Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:06 am

Been saying for a while now every time I watched pobga, he just doesn't do any actual midfielding, every time he gets praised its for everything except being a good midfielder, dribbles, screamers, ball control,etc...

That why players like kroos should be treated with more respect, instead focusing on lack of athleticism and flare, the amount of posters who wanted pogba over kroos, are now acting like they always knew his short comings is funny, this forum is in prime form Proud

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