He was our best player other than Rashford, and that was the most worrying thing about today's performance. He clearly has the quality on the ball, his footwork is good, great strength, and that means his bottom level is passable. But his decision making has been poor.
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Has anybody ever compared Di Maria to Messi? We are talking about GOAT prospect here.
He's still a young player and we have to develop him. I am not that sure that playing him with a bean pole with funny hair and a washed up no 10 would do that. What's the combined IQ of Fellaini and Rooney? 60?
Poor guy has to have Fellaini alongside him and Rooney ahead of him. Far cry from the likes of Vidal, Pirlo and Tevez.
So if apparently he's incapable of functioning without a "proper midfielder" next to him, who United apparently don't have, which is something the experts on here can see. Why wasn't this so called proper midfielder purchased while splurging out so much on Pogba? Because according to the people on here, United have spent so much on a player that can't function without another type of player, whom United haven't purchased.
Do you watch Messi for Argentina? And nobody is comparing
Messi coming here wouldn't make a big difference when the other players around him aren't great.
It's not Fellaini's fault when Pogba doesn't play great. We've seen them both look good together vs Southampton. He's a young player that needs time and cohesion more than anything. We can see the quality but not the consistency and that's pretty normal in your first few months.
I think Pogba right now is an example of a "Headache Midfielder." Aaron Ramsey and later-career Yaya Toure are also members of the same species. Whatever they contribute offensively playing in a two man midfield is outweighed by their liabilities in positional discipline and defensive effort. But they aren't really suited to playing as a 10 either, since they aren't naturally comfortable drifting between the lines and playmaking in tight spaces. So the team needs to be built around them in a very specific way. Pogba is more talented than Ramsey and still young so he has a much better chance of transcending these limitations and realizing his potential. But one can reasonably ask whether its a bad idea to build a team around this kind of player (indeed, Arsenal fans have been saying this about Ramsey for a long time).
Yes, that's most certainly his position.
That was solely as a result of Southampton playing into our hands. The truth is, even as we saw in that game, Pogba has no defensive nous. He goes walkies, he loses runners, he leaves gaps.
Southampton were too star struck to do anything about it, others not so much. Our double pivot hasn't looked secure since Bournemouth away. Pogba has too much attacking ambition for it to be.
Pogba is a worldly player being misused. We'll never get the best out of him until he can assume that Lampard/Gerrard role ahead of his own Makelele and Essien or Xabi and Mascherano.
This sounds exactly like the problem we at Chelsea are having with Fabregas and why he hasn't started at all yet under Conte. He needs pretty specific circumstances around him to be effective.
We can continue that discussion in a different thread, but:
Yes I do watch him occasionally for Argentina. While there is a difference, I still find him an exceptional player. He will also appear different if he played for us, but in no way he would look 'shit'. That is if everything is ok in the dressing room. If there are other outside factors involved, then basically any player can turn to shit rapidly.
The elephant in the room is Rooney. We need to put Pogba as the more attacking midfielder in a 3 men CM
The fake experts here are only saying he needs a proper midfielder beside him, just because a pundit said it on tv, so they`ll repeat this cliche in these forums for the next 2 years at least as fact
I would rather play him as a 10 with fellaini / Herrera behind him or Carrick.
Give him the free role that Rooney gets and let him create havoc.
So unlucky not to score in the first half, desperately wanted that in for him.
I thought he had a good game with no protection from that prick Oliver. Can't believe he booked him for that little push lol.
Give him the free role that Rooney gets and let him create havoc.
So unlucky not to score in the first half, desperately wanted that in for him.
I thought he had a good game with no protection from that prick Oliver. Can't believe he booked him for that little push lol.
Sure he will bounce back. he's made of the right stuff. It's sad that a few of our players aren't playing in the set up best suited to them simply because of one player.
The amount of stipulations for this guy to play well is great reading. Apparently to get the best out of him we have to drop about 8 of the team, sign 6 players, switch formation and buy him a diamond ring. I would rather think he is just playing atrociously, which he is, than he is the most high maintenance player in world football.
Tell me about it, it's hilarious. The £100 million world class midfielder who apparently only works in already top class midfields and doesn't actually fix anything for us himself. Brilliant.
The worrying part for me is that in the last two games, we have changed systems to specifically suit him and he hasn't really turned up. Early days, though.
He seems to be following the same trajectory as Di Maria, though I feel Di Maria was better.
Di Maria was unbelievable for 3 games before he took a nose-dive.
Pogba was good good for 1 game, before his decline.
Even Messi would struggle. No players reading his runs failure to make a 1-2 with him etc. Messi needs movement and there is hardly any movement at United.
Perhaps we should have trusted SAF's judgement of him. Must have been a reason not to play him.
A CM being suited to a 3 man midfield with more freedom to do what he does best and what made the club splurge a world record fee on him than playing in a limited/restricted role in a 2 man midfield isnt a surprise at all. Ofcourse he needs to do better, no doubt about that but if we ever want to see a return on the investment made and at the same time , want to play him in a 2 man midfield, lets hope like hell he learns and does things he's not done in his career so far. Bit of shit recruitment policy though to buy and mould a player for a role while spending top dollar for him.
Indeed. Based on what I have seen of him I am certainly not impressed.
And as for Higuain - many scoffed that Juve were paying big money (but less than what we paid for Pogba) for a player who was not great. How wrong they were.
I actually think that it is we who got duped.
Nothing to do with that. Sir Alex didn't play him because he was 18 and didn't think he was ready, which, at the time, he wasn't. It wasn't a case of Sir Alex wanting to get rid of him.
Get him in a 3 man midfield pronto.
Worlds most expensive player and we are playing him as dm to play rooney.
What a joke
Worlds most expensive player and we are playing him as dm to play rooney.
What a joke
No midfielder on this planet would look good in our team right now. Everybody involved in football recognises this lads talent, but at the end of the day he is just a very talented young footballer. To expect him to fix us on his own is insane. The problems lie elsewhere.
If I read one more comment about him being asked to play as a DM my cocking head will explode. We played 3 in midfield today. With Pogba the more advanced on the left. Exactly how he's been asked to play since half time in the derby. Exactly how he played at Juventus
Amen to that.
He's like a more talented Barkley with all the same weaknesses.
The excuses we are coming up for him is embarrassing.
Then he needs to be told to move forward.
Pogba is too deep for us atm, needs to push forward and link with the wingers and Zlatan
No, you just need to look at the midfield's needs and what he brings to the table. It's rather easy.
It's honestly hilarious how they keep ignoring it. They did not watch him at Juve at all.
He wasn't totally shit but he needs to recover some of that form he's showed for Juve, I think he'll come good.
Didn't we play a 3 today?
Yeah that's why I posted it. Now quote this too.
A midfield 3 with Rooney, Fellaini, and Pogba is terrible.
An embarrassment at the moment - was very patchy in the EUROS - has he a football 'brain'?
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