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Paul Pogba France flag

2016-17 Performances

View full 2016-17 profile

6.3 Season Average Rating
Appearances
51
Goals
9
Assists
6
Yellow cards
10
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I'm all for plenty of criticism of him, because on the whole he's not really been anywhere near as good as we'd have wanted him to be, but I do think that people writing him off completely, or saying he's average, or that Juventus have mugged us, are being a bit preemptive and reactionary.

Players have average seasons. It happens. Especially when they're still fairly youngish, fitting into a team that's still trying to find some semblance of an identity/what it wants to be, and are in a new league. I'd be worried if Pogba had been consistently dreadful for us and was displaying Fellaini-esque levels of ability, but I still think he'll turn out to be excellent for us in the long-term, and having a slightly average, meddling first season doesn't do much to change that for me. Although I'll admit to being completely wrong on that front if we sell him to Everton next January.
 
People will say hes young but when hes 23 Rashford is only 19 and looks interested and as a result is one of our better players today when he gets the service which Pogba certainly isnt helping with,never bought the hype tbh so cant say im surprised id blame the club/woodward more surely a 89m price tag isnt helping either so in that respect i do feel for the lad regardless we still need a cm.How long have we been saying that?
 
Roberto420 said:
People will say hes young but when hes 23 Rashford is only 19 and looks interested and as a result is one of our better players today when he gets the service which Pogba certainly isnt helping with,never bought the hype tbh so cant say im surprised id blame the club/woodward more surely a 89m price tag isnt helping either so in that respect i do feel for the lad regardless we still need a cm.How long have we been saying that?
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He's not young as in a new, fresh player who's just off the blocks and hasn't got much experience before, but in general footballing terms he's youngish in that he should ideally be starting to approach his prime years. If he doesn't perform at a higher level next season then I'd be a lot more worried but for now I think we can still expect to see considerable improvement from him next year. Hopefully.
 
We are playing with 9 men here tonight. He's done nothing of any note. At least get booked for the team FFS!
 
He was the icing on top of the cake in Juve's midfield. He's come here expected to be the cake, so he's obviously going to struggle. It's going to take some time before we get the performances out of him that we want to see.
 
El Zoido said:
I think he's just shattered tbh. Plays every minute of every game in a demanding position. Even when we've tried to rest him we've had to bring him on at some point.
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Why would Mourinho play him if he is so shattered?
 
Shocking tonight. When you need someone to calm us down, look for the ball and dictate the game - he hasn't stepped up. Too slow on the ball when he has bothered to get on the ball, looks more a street baller than practical footballer.

Imagine a Keane or Scholes in this situation after a sending off? feck me
 
A few weeks ago he was doing the basics and looked good. Now he's back to trying too hard and ruins the game completely.

Someone needs to have a word with him because it's fecking infuriating watching him.
 
Can't wait to see him be captain, as the caf told me he's totally captain material, such passion and leadership shown in sooo many games this season :drool:
 
He's having one of those nights tonight. Shame they often come on the big nights
 
Making three touches too many every time. Overall this game his contribution is negative in fact he did nothing apart from losing possession.
 
Cheesy said:
I'm all for plenty of criticism of him, because on the whole he's not really been anywhere near as good as we'd have wanted him to be, but I do think that people writing him off completely, or saying he's average, or that Juventus have mugged us, are being a bit preemptive and reactionary.

Players have average seasons. It happens. Especially when they're still fairly youngish, fitting into a team that's still trying to find some semblance of an identity/what it wants to be, and are in a new league. I'd be worried if Pogba had been consistently dreadful for us and was displaying Fellaini-esque levels of ability, but I still think he'll turn out to be excellent for us in the long-term, and having a slightly average, meddling first season doesn't do much to change that for me. Although I'll admit to being completely wrong on that front if we sell him to Everton next January.
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He's clearly not average, and is probably the most naturally gifted player on the pitch right now, but he has absolutely glaring weaknesses in his game and has to be carried through virtually every game he plays because of them.

He has all the tools, but I really do worry this move has come too soon for him, how do you impress on a player that they need to improve on the basics when you've just splurged a world record fee on them?
 
At the end of the day, there is no difference between his "dangerous" shots and Herrera's pointoess shots, both are very ineffective and should stop shooting.
 
He needs to be dropped but with Herrera out suspended for two matches and Schweinsteiger and Carrick not up to much, he'll carry on dilly dallying in midfield with his poor poor performances.
 
Time for him to step up in a big game like this and score an important goal. Can't see it though. Mou should have taken him off when we went don't to 10 men as he just doesn't seem to have the workrate and loses the ball in bad places.

He is still young I guess.
 
I don't care so much about his shooting. Even his dodgy hollywood balls against Bournemouth, at least he was trying. But tonight all he has done is that pathetic poncey jogging, never sprinting, never even trying to block any cross or shot. At fault for the goal and displaying an awful mentality all game. Deserves a smack and some public shaming.
 
I think it's both that we aren't good enough to get the best out of him yet and that his performances, particularly in the last few weeks, haven't been good enough.

You can argue that for £80m a player shouldn't need the team to be good enough for them to perform well.
 
What the feck is he meant to do? Seriously.

Plays every fecking minute, never substituted and then his midfield partner gets himself stupidly sent off. Any world class CM would have struggled tonight, remember he's playing against the best side in England with a man advantage.

His form hasn't been too good recently but he couldn't have done anything else tonight.
 
DatGuyRich said:
What the feck is he meant to do? Seriously.

Plays every fecking minute, never substituted and then his midfield partner gets himself stupidly sent off. Any world class CM would have struggled tonight, remember he's playing against the best side in England with a man advantage.

His form hasn't been too good recently but he couldn't have done anything else tonight.
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In fairness I think thats a question a lot in here are asking, but for different reasons.
 
Another awful game from him. His problem is that he contributes next to nothing in terms of defence and winning ball, duels while his attacking contribution is scarce. I think weak mentality plays a major part here.
The problem is not that he does not look a 80-90m player, he hardly looks good enough for a 25-30m investment. Today Kante has been head and shoulders better even in 11 Vs 11.
 
That he gets away with these performances is more frustrating than the performances themselves.
 
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