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2016-17 Performances

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6.3 Season Average Rating
Appearances
51
Goals
9
Assists
6
Yellow cards
10
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He wasn't good enough in a midfield two today. He left Herrera with too much work in his hands. When Carrick came on in the 2nd he looked much the better player.

The Wanderer said:
diabolical performance, should of been hauled off in the first half.

This may ruffle a few feathers but I seriously doubt whether he is good enough for Man Utd.

On todays performance it is a definite NO, Mourinho new he played crap and gave him a mention at the end to either protect Pog from the press or to justify his £90m out lay.

No way would he get in Southamptons side based on this match never mind Real Madrids. Hence why they didnt buy him, even after he publicly stated he wanted to go to them.
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Come on mate. You've seen 30+ matches of Paul Pogba and on today's performance he's not good enough for us? :rolleyes:

It wasn't his best game today and Mou indeed shielded him from criticism. I agree with you there.

But Mou knows he fecked up too. Soton pressed high and with more players and he knew we needed another actual DM in there to help control the tempo. Having centre backs that hoof the ball did not help anyone either. When Carrick came on he played much better and helped to drive us forward.

Certainly not a good game from him, but why the exaggeration? He's been instrumental in our very good run since November.
 
Will be PFA and Writer's Footballer of the Year at least twice in next 5 years-guaranteed:) But I guess for some that still won't be enough
 
golden_blunder said:
Defensively awful, missed headers (1 directly leading to a goal), let tadic stroll by him several times leading to chances.

Good on the ball and used his experience well in the last 20 mins

But 2nd best on the pitch? Christ. Get eye tests
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I share the exact thoughts - not to mention another missed header led to Romeu almost scoring. He's awful at defending set pieces.
 
The Wanderer said:
diabolical performance, should of been hauled off in the first half.

This may ruffle a few feathers but I seriously doubt whether he is good enough for Man Utd.

On todays performance it is a definite NO, Mourinho new he played crap and gave him a mention at the end to either protect Pog from the press or to justify his £90m out lay.

No way would he get in Southamptons side based on this match never mind Real Madrids. Hence why they didnt buy him, even after he publicly stated he wanted to go to them.
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What a daft comment to make.
 
sammsky1 said:
he played a blinder today did he? I cant recall him playing a match winning blinder in a big game this season.
Pls provide some facts instead of the hyperbole!
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He played well. I've never been slow to criticise him when he plays badly and he's had a few very bad games. Today was not one of them. Blows my mind that anyone could see it any differently.
 
One thing I will give his critics, I think he gives Mourinho a bit of a headache. He won't ever be positionally or defensively astute enough to be a part of a two in Mou's much favoured 4-2-3-1, meaning that Jose will either have to purchase some demon-level DM this summer and thus bench Ander, or go over to a 3 man midfield.
 
sammsky1 said:
sound very high maintenance!

Stick Vierra, Keane or Yaya into any team or set of team mates and they'd turn up in big games and made it work.

Admittedly, Pogba is about same age as when Keane joined us, so he merits more time to settle. But he is still so raw and currently overhyped.
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Im only talking about a 4-2-3-1 though
Individually he suits a three man midfield but the team as a whole probably suits Jose's preferred formation.
When is the last time he played like this? Liverpool?
Pogba is an offensive midfielder. He's the only player in world football in his position that's being judged on both sides of the pitch.
Look at Kroos and Modric. Two players who we can say are better than Pogba yet they failed as a two. They kicked on after Madrid added Casemiro (sp) to cover their defensive liablities.
On TalkSport theyre saying excuses are running thin. It's ridiculous.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
He played well. I've never been slow to criticise him when he plays badly and he's had a few very bad games. Today was not one of them. Blows my mind that anyone could see it any differently.
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well the manager agreed with you! So you're probably right, I just never saw it that way.
 
sammsky1 said:
he played a blinder today did he? I cant recall him playing a match winning blinder in a big game this season.
Pls provide some facts instead of the hyperbole!
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If you want an objective (but flawed) metric he was voted the 3rd best player in our team today according to WhoScored, just behind Herrera after his matchwinning cross. He had more touches than anyone else and more dribbles than anyone else too. When the pressure started to pile on he was probably the best player on the pitch for me.
 
I actually thought he was pretty good today. I mean sure, in the first half it was like the team from the local pub turned up....but as it went on I thought he started to read it pretty well......
 
He's an absolute liability when defending set-pieces, to the point where he'd be more useful standing in the centre-circle.

Poor first half, improved a lot when Carrick came on.
 
cyberman said:
Im only talking about a 4-2-3-1 though
Individually he suits a three man midfield but the team as a whole probably suits Jose's preferred formation.
When is the last time he played like this? Liverpool?
Pogba is an offensive midfielder. He's the only player in world football in his position that's being judged on both sides of the pitch.
Look at Kroos and Modric. Two players who we can say are better than Pogba yet they failed as a two. They kicked on after Madrid added Casemiro (sp) to cover their defensive liablities.
On TalkSport theyre saying excuses are running thin. It's ridiculous.
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From what I've seen of him this year (I never watched him play at Juve), it seems he plays best as no 8 in a 4231. Thats where he was in todays first half.
I don't think he has the on ground ball control (yet) like Mata, mhki or Martial to conquer no 10.

I think he should get his head around conquering no 8, be it in a 4231 or 433. And become the best in the world at that. And in that context, he has underwhelmed me.
 
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Pogue Mahone said:
He played well. I've never been slow to criticise him when he plays badly and he's had a few very bad games. Today was not one of them. Blows my mind that anyone could see it any differently.
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I thought he was ok. Not bad and not good either
 
He is too immobile to play in a two. Whether we like it or not he doesn't get around enough, doesn't position himself properly and doesn't have the acceleration to compensate for it.

We need to build the team around him in a 4-3-3.
 
Looked visibly tired but did alright on the whole. And what do people want from him when they compare him to Zlatan? He is a midfielder and he is never going to score many goals.
 
Him and Herrera were both culpable in the first half, I know most here don't like it but if the plan is a 4-2-3-1 we need a proper holding midfielder that understands positioning and discipline. In the second half I thought he was very good and was the one relieving the pressure on the team by winning the battles in midfield and pushing us forward.
 
Brwned said:
If you want an objective (but flawed) metric he was voted the 3rd best player in our team today according to WhoScored, just behind Herrera after his matchwinning cross. He had more touches than anyone else and more dribbles than anyone else too. When the pressure started to pile on he was probably the best player on the pitch for me.
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thanks! Whilst 3rd best, he is among 4 or 5 players who had very similar scores, so whilst factually correct, its a flattering statement. Why do you this its a flawed assessment on WhoScored?

I think he was very influential in final 20 mins, as stated in my post, but was a liability at times before that. There were countless hoofs (mishit hollywood passes to Zlatan) straight into the Southampton GK's arms, and positional issues in first half. Once Carrick allowed him to play no 10, he performed better, albeit he was excused of most of his defensive duties.

I respect your and @Pogue Mahone views on football. But for some reason, I don't see Pogba like you guys do. He does not excite me like Keane or Carrick did.
 
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DWelbz19 said:
3DB5EF9E00000578-4261694-image-a-188_1488135033423.jpg
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Awesome. I was hoping someone got a picture of it!!
 
edcunited1878 said:
Pogba's job isn't to bang in the goals. It's to battle and influence the match in the midfield. When you have at minimum two ankle bitters at you the entire match, it's hard to be world-class on the day. He was the second most willing player behind Ibra and then him and Herrera.

The player that didn't walk the walk (again) was Martial. Pogba was admirable alongside Ander and I'm satisfied with his performance. He can and will do better, but he contributed to a trophy today, so not too much to complain about.
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Martial played apart in 2 of our goals Pogba on the other hand played a part in 1 of their goals

tbh i thought he was pretty good today seen him have worse games cant understand why alot of people are on his back
we won maybe thats clouding my judgement
"Pogba contributed" but "Martial didnt walk the walk"?playing apart in 2 goals must`nt be contributing
 
sammsky1 said:
thanks! Why is it flawed.

I think he was very influential in final 20 mins, as stated in my post, but was a liability at times before that. There were countless hoofs (mishit hollywood passes to Zlatan) straight into the STH'TON GK's arms, and positional issues in first half. Once Carrick allowed him to play no 10, he performed better, albeit, defensive mistakes were less likely as he was excused of much of his defensive duties.

I deeply respect your and @Pogue Mahone views on football. But for some reason, I don't see Pogba like you guys do. He does not excite me like Keane or Carrick.
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Pure quantitative metrics are inherently limited and these ones are particularly skewed towards attacking players. That said, if you look at the top 10 players in the league last season based on their ratings it's not particularly controversial (Mahrez, Payet, Sanchez, Dembele, Ozil, Kanté, van Dijk, Kane, Vardy, Fuchs).

I think it's all about expectations and perceptions of his role. There were a few moments when he let his runner go but that's inevitable when he's up and down the pitch as often as he is. The fact Mourinho doesn't hold that against him suggests he's not tasking Pogba with playing the disciplined role that everyone assumes he's playing or even wants him to play. He looks lackadaisical at times but his game is very high intensity, in my view. All those bursts from deep take a serious toll after a long game and he's always on the move.

To me he's clearly a level above most players in the league and the majority of the time makes the game look easy. There's a very real chance he'll go down as one of our best midfielders ever, possibly behind only Bobby Charlton. That's an incredible thing. There's certainly strides he needs to make but I think the wide range of talents he has makes people take for granted how good he is already at so many things. He's so involved in every facet of the game.
 
Brwned said:
If you want an objective (but flawed) metric he was voted the 3rd best player in our team today according to WhoScored, just behind Herrera after his matchwinning cross. He had more touches than anyone else and more dribbles than anyone else too. When the pressure started to pile on he was probably the best player on the pitch for me.
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Whoscored rated him 4th behind Rojo (also behind Ibra, Herrera) which shows how shitty Whoscored is.

fwiw I thought he was poor in the first half, had a better second half and a good finish to the game. Nothing outstanding but not awful.
 
Is there a gif of when he turned those two Southampton players I think near the end of the first half and you could hear the crowd collectively nearly wet themselves.
 
I thought he had a good game not getting the agenda on talkshite tonight
 
Out of interest, did he get hammered by any of the pundits at half time? I didn't watch the analysis but I've often thought it just takes one pundit with an axe to grind in order to bias fan opinions (including my own). I thought Pogba improved as the game went on but even in the first half he was one of our better performers (a low bar tbf!)
 
sammsky1 said:
Herrera is not reliable enough at no 6 and Pogba is not efficient enough at no 8. Hence why they always need Carrick to baby sit them to make it work.
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Always?

It might be a strange concept, but the same midfield does not work against all different types of opposition (shocking, I know)

If you play an aggressive and skilled team with 3 in the middle, it's unrealistic to expect 2 men to grab hold of the game and dictate the tempo. Say we play PSG who play Rabiot, Veratti and Matuidi. Is it realistic to even expect a duo to do well? No.

For most of the EPL games however we have like 65-70% possession and teams just cede the ground to defend deep. In that scenario, having Carrick on is pointless. We played our last few games with Mkhi instead of Carrick and looked 10 times more threatening than we usually do.

So yeah, different games, different approach. Today we needed 3 in the middle. Most times we don't.
 
Brwned said:
Pure quantitative metrics are inherently limited and these ones are particularly skewed towards attacking players. That said, if you look at the top 10 players in the league last season based on their ratings it's not particularly controversial (Mahrez, Payet, Sanchez, Dembele, Ozil, Kanté, van Dijk, Kane, Vardy, Fuchs).

I think it's all about expectations and perceptions of his role. There were a few moments when he let his runner go but that's inevitable when he's up and down the pitch as often as he is. The fact Mourinho doesn't hold that against him suggests he's not tasking Pogba with playing the disciplined role that everyone assumes he's playing or even wants him to play. He looks lackadaisical at times but his game is very high intensity, in my view. All those bursts from deep take a serious toll after a long game and he's always on the move.

To me he's clearly a level above most players in the league and the majority of the time makes the game look easy. There's a very real chance he'll go down as one of our best midfielders ever, possibly behind only Bobby Charlton. That's an incredible thing. There's certainly strides he needs to make but I think the wide range of talents he has makes people take for granted how good he is already at so many things. He's so involved in every facet of the game.
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Im expecting that but so far have rarely seen it. Its all conjecture, potential or hype.

Admittedly, players like Charlton, Keane, Zidane or Yaya played in fully developed teams when they were at their pomp. All the supporting pieces were in place that allowed them to deliver player of the era type performances. Our side is still 3 or 4 players and another 12 months together before we can dream of such things. And its fair to say that one cant expect to see the very best of Pogba until he finds his dream water carrier and no 10.

But these are still excuses which do not deflect reality right now that he doesn't deliver what is expected, neither is he a teenager still making his way in the game.

Ill be the first to say he is world class and revel in it when he does turn up one day.
 
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Shark said:
What a daft comment to make.
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why because he cost £90m he is good enough ??
He isn't currently good enough to get into Bayerns, Reals, Barcas even Citys teams, so why is he definitely good enough for us ??
 
I am imagining a hypothetical situation. Suppose Fergie had not let Pogba leave, and he became a Lingard like 'home grown' first teamer from Fergie's last season onwards. How would we have evaluated him then? More importantly, How would we have viewed his inconsistent performances? I am certain for a lot of caftards, the verdict by now would have been "not united quality"! "A squad player, but we need better if we have CL winning ambition."!

Good for him that he was sold out and then bought back as the most expensive player ever.

Now my opinion: he is a terrific asset for us despite his inconsistencies.
 
The Wanderer said:
why because he cost £90m he is good enough ??
He isn't currently good enough to get into Bayerns, Reals, Barcas even Citys teams, so why is he definitely good enough for us ??
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He'd walk into Barca's midfield right now. You have not seen Barca for a while it seems.

City play with 4 AMs, Pep's "special" system. But with Toure a decade older than Pogba, they'd gladly have him too.

Real and Bayern have Modric and Thiago so they are sorted.
 
He's very good, and he's going to be great, but he either needs to cut down on, or get a lot better at needlessly inviting opposition players towards him just so he can turn them, because it's an insanely inefficient way of playing football.
 
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