[The United]

At this point I am wondering why he kept Carrick, surely it was for night's like this when he rests Blind and Herrera and we are playing in a secondary competition against lower level opposition, yet he plays a tree that we didn't need.

I don't mind playing a tree.

But, not playing carricks at all in games like this makes little sense.

 

[hirotan69er]

This is what happens when paired Fellaini. Midfield doesn't function and he ends up overplaying it.

Some his passing was sublime though.

Is it? I thought he wasn't that good tonight because he tried to play more fancier than he did against Leicester. Whenever he tried to pull a trick move at Juventus, he lost the ball. He tried it again tonight and he lost the ball.

 

[Pyroblazer]

It's painful to see him so deep, especially with Fellaini. He needs to drop deep to protect the defense because Fellaini alone can't do this and we basically expect him to control the midfield from deep, but he really isn't that type of player. He is more Yaya Toure, Lampard, Gerrard than Modric or Iniesta. That's why we need at least someone with creative ability alongside him (Carrick, Blind, Herrera). Still think the best is if he he gets a run in a more advanced role. Want to see him driving forward with the ball and getting into good shooting positions, he can't really do that so deep and it will be even worse against proper teams. If we use him like that, I guess it will be always hit and miss and never the performance we expected and wanted to see for that kind of money.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Seems weird to spend £90m on a player like Pogba to essentially have him playing the Carrick role. He was always the man dropping right back to Smalling/Bailly and playing the first ball from our own half. It's just not his game. It's not what he's good at. Breaking the world record for one of the best players around, the team really needs to be built around him.

He was naff today anyway. The position is no excuse, but I do think he'd have been significantly less shit if he was given a job to do that suits him.

 

[The United]

I think pog did decent enough. As long as he stops doing things to show off (which is fine when we are winning comfortably though), he can show why we paid him so much. Has all the skill sets to be a complete midfielder.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Had a few really good moments but overall, he knows he's capable of better. Hopefully we see him with Herrera against Stoke.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Thought he was dreadful overall. We really should try him with Carrick, think they'd really compliment each other.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Jose needs to stop hiding him behind formations... one of the reasons why Deschamps lost a final.

 

[Ban]

When playing with Fellaini he ends up too deep cause only passes Fellaini does or to the guy next to him or backwards.

With Herrera it all looks much better, he can go forward instead of coming for the ball most of time time.

 

[Redlyn]

He doesn't score nearly enough for the amount of shots he takes. His shot accuracy should be one of the worst for a top player. I saw a gif of his last season stats and he was around 25th in goals but number 1 in shots for midfielders in top 5 European leagues.

 

[NinjaZombie]

When playing with Fellaini he ends up too deep cause only passes Fellaini does or to the guy next to him or backwards.

With Herrera it all looks much better, he can go forward instead of coming for the ball most of time time.

I agree. Fellaini needs to go. Only thing he offers is the ability to win the ball back. You get that with Herrera, in addition to actually being able to play football.

 

[Sammyjunn]

I think my standard has dropped very much,because I think he was good today. Created a few good chances for us as well, he still can play much better but was quite pleased with what he showed.

 

[Hed Zitin]

No excuses he was poor tonight. Off the ball he was really poor in his attitude.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

I think my standard has dropped very much,because I think he was good today. Created a few good chances for us as well, he still can play much better but was quite pleased with what he showed.

Yeah he was OK. Wasn't a vintage performance but alot of it falls on the fact he doesn't work with Fellaini in midfield. Pogba's passing was excellent at times tonight but at the same time he lost it a bit aswell. We are going to have to take the rough with the smooth until he is in a settled midfield. Alot of people going ott.

 

[Moonred]

You restrict half of his abilities playing him so deep. Needs to cut out his sloppiness. He still shows a lot more creative play than most of the squad combined.

 

[Ban]

Some of his passing in the 1st half was great but wasn't so good in the 2nd. But as I said put Ander next to him and it will all look much nicer.

 

[Pexbo]

You restrict half of his abilities playing him so deep. Needs to cut out his sloppiness. He still shows a lot more creative play than most of the squad combined.

We're a football club not the Paul Pogba show.

I think the train of thought "pay X amount for a player so you've got to get the best out of him" is logically no different to "the most important thing is that we get the best out of player X".


It was decided that the best thing for the squad is that Pogba sacrifices some of his game to play deep every now and again.

 

[Devil may care]

I think it is a vital step for him to improve ie helping out in the build-up phase - so i didn't mind it at all.

That's not who he is as a player IMO, he's a final 3rd player who creates openings, the deeper he gets the less impact he has.

 

[Moonred]

We're a football club not the Paul Pogba show.

I think the train of thought "pay X amount for a player so you've got to get the best out of him" is logically no different to "the most important thing is that we get the best out of player X".


It was decided that the best thing for the squad is that Pogba sacrifices some of his game to play deep every now and again.

Strange thing to say. Not like we put in our best performance when Pogba had more freedom to play. And it's not like we are tearing teams apart playing Pogba deep. In a one off game, it's fine. The whole idea that we need to get the best out of him stems from the fact that it would automatically lead to betterment of the team as a whole. It's not at the expense of the team but for the benefit of it.

 

[Pexbo]

Strange thing to say. Not like we put in our best performance when Pogba had more freedom to play. And it's not like we are tearing teams apart playing Pogba deep. In a one off game, it's fine. The whole idea that we need to get the best out of him stems from the fact that it would automatically lead to betterment of the team as a whole. It's not at the expense of the team but for the benefit of it.

My point is that getting the best out of Pogba isn't the absolute end game for us just because he cost us £90m. Sometimes he'll have to sacrifice himself for a bit balance. Today for whatever reason we opted to have a midfield where he needed to drop deep.

That meant Herrera, Carrick and Blind were rested. Perhaps they will all start at the weekend. Remains to be seen.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

My point is that getting the best out of Pogba isn't the absolute end game for us just because he cost us £90m. Sometimes he'll have to sacrifice himself for a bit balance. Today for whatever reason we opted to have a midfield where he needed to drop deep.

That meant Herrera, Carrick and Blind were rested. Perhaps they will all start at the weekend. Remains to be seen.

He had to drop deep because only the back five were getting the ball due to how deep Zorya played and how compact everything was ahead of them. As a CM he should be running the game so he should be dropping deep, he also made several attempts at runs over the top. Tonight wasn't really a game where balance was important as Zorya offered no threat.

 

[Moonred]

My point is that getting the best out of Pogba isn't the absolute end game for us just because he cost us £90m. Sometimes he'll have to sacrifice himself for a bit balance. Today for whatever reason we opted to have a midfield where he needed to drop deep.

That meant Herrera, Carrick and Blind were rested. Perhaps they will all start at the weekend. Remains to be seen.

Point taken. I am not saying that either. Sometimes he'll have to sacrifice himself but it won't get the best out of him which is fine if we meet our objective. Should be one off instances and not the norm.

 

[Pexbo]

He had to drop deep because only the back five were getting the ball due to how deep Zorya played and how compact everything was ahead of them. As a CM he should be running the game so he should be dropping deep, he also made several attempts at runs over the top. Tonight wasn't really a game where balance was important as Zorya offered no threat.

If Blind played at centre back or Carrick or Herrera instead of Fellaini, Pogba wouldn't have been required to drop deep. He had to take on the role of playmaker today and that meant dropping deep often.

 

[hirotan69er]

If Blind played at centre back or Carrick or Herrera instead of Fellaini, Pogba wouldn't have been required to drop deep. He had to take on the role of playmaker today and that meant dropping deep often.

I think it has more to do with how simply Pogba can play? He did well tonight when he was keeeping his game rather simple like against Leicester. Then? He got all fancy and lost the ball around the circle like 4, 5 times?

 

[LouisDanGaal]

If Blind played at centre back or Carrick or Herrera instead of Fellaini, Pogba wouldn't have been required to drop deep. He had to take on the role of playmaker today and that meant dropping deep often.

Yeah that's fair, I was begging for Carrick to come on at half time, I didn't think about it to change pogbas role too much but he would have benefitted from a more progressive player behind him. Herrera and especially Blind would always be in my team.

 

[bpet15]

Interesting this Pogba.

Talent all over the place but he loves wander - sometimes to get on the ball more often and sometimes to find those pockets of space, wherever they may be.

I am convinced that the key to his success is find the correct partner. And if we don't have the right partner for him, then we need to truly play a midfield 3.

As I think back - Vidal was immense for Pogba. The fact that Vidal covered so much ground really enabled Pogba the freedom he needed to create.

When Vidal left, it was a bit more difficult for Pogba, but the organization of Juves backs still provided Pogba a bit of freedom.

Don't really know what the solution is at the moment. Herrera, possibly. Carrick, not in a midfield 2. Fellaini, never. Whoever it is needs one of two qualities - they have to be able to run for days, or they have to be disciplined enough to sit in.

 

[In Rainbows]

I didn't watch the game. He looks alright in that compilation. I'll watch the full match tomorrow to see how he did in relation to everyone else.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Are people going to just ignore the fact that he had to (and in a handful of previous games as well) play alongside in a midfield pivot with Marouane fecking Fellaini? He's bound to look out of place with such a limited and regressive midfielder. Yet when he plays with a dynamic, active midfielder like Herrera against Leicester he looks world class. It's not rocket science. Luka Modric would look pedestrian if he had to play alongside Fellaini in this setup.

Regardless of how good of a midfielder you are, you can't do it all by yourself - especially when your midfield "partner" is a glorified lamp post.

 

[Snow]

He's only 23. Same age as when our last Paul cemented his spot in the first team. The guy is great and he won't have any 'Di Maria problems'.

 

[Z_Wolf]

Are people going to just ignore the fact that he had to (and in a handful of previous games as well) play alongside in a midfield pivot with Marouane fecking Fellaini? He's bound to look out of place with such a limited and regressive midfielder. Yet when he plays with a dynamic, active midfielder like Herrera against Leicester he looks world class. It's not rocket science. Luka Modric would look pedestrian if he had to play alongside Fellaini in this setup.

Regardless of how good of a midfielder you are, you can't do it all by yourself - especially when your midfield "partner" is a glorified lamp post.

I don't think Iniesta or Modric would do much better than Pogba if they played with Fellaini in a two man midfield.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

I don't think Iniesta or Modric would do much better than Pogba if they played with Fellaini in a two man midfield.

Yeah exactly, that's my point.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I don't think Iniesta or Modric would do much better than Pogba if they played with Fellaini in a two man midfield.

The thing is people still keep insisting that players like Herrera and Pogba aren't 'good enough' or shouldn't need other types of players around them to play against better midfields...who (although might have better players) play with a midfield three/hybrid formation.

You can argue talents but the fundamental point is that football is a team game and the midfield is used massively to control games. 3 man > 2 man and that's not taking into account the levels of the players.

 

[AgentP]

Even in this subdued role, Pogba has played more throughballs than any of our midfielders did last season. Atleast Mata played today which helped Pogba to play quick one-two passes and dictate play. Any player needs good players around him to complement his game. I can't wait to see the combination play between Pogba, Herrera, Mata, Mkhi and Ibra. We actually have a very good team this season and once the team gels, I'm sure we'll see some eye watering football with Pogba at the fulcrum.

 

[sport2793]

I didn't think he had a bad game at all today. What I will say is that having Herrera as another guy who can pass from the back makes a huge difference as it allows Pogba to get into the box more often rather than having to collect the ball from the back and ping cross field passes to the full back (which admittedly he's also good at that).

Daley Blind also wasn't there as a passer from the back today so in the back 6 only Pogba was capable of ball distribution.

 

[Devil81]

He wasn't that bad, when you think about how shit our midfield has been the last few years he's a breath of fresh air.

 

[Lawman]

Even in this subdued role, Pogba has played more throughballs than any of our midfielders did last season. Atleast Mata played today which helped Pogba to play quick one-two passes and dictate play. Any player needs good players around him to complement his game. I can't wait to see the combination play between Pogba, Herrera, Mata, Mkhi and Ibra. We actually have a very good team this season and once the team gels, I'm sure we'll see some eye watering football with Pogba at the fulcrum.

This but wish we has signed Mane for his blistering pace and ability to go in behind. As he would have complimented this lot.

 

[kafta]

When playing next to Fellaini, all our attacks go through him. He's coming deep to collect and to dictate. When i watched him for Juve, he never did that, and never took as many touches as he did yesterday. This definitely leads to some misplaced passes and some loss of possession. I think he had an alright game, i'd rather see him paired up with a midfielder that can actually pass to take some of the onus off him.

 

[Borys]

He always looks dangerous when in the final third, can't understand why we're playing him so deep. Would rather play Carrick and Fellaini behind Pogba in games like yesterday rather than him in 2 man midfield.

 

[.Rossi]

I remember Carrick playing in midfield with Fellaini....He was shite too

Coincidence?

 

[OldTrevil]

His first half was great, a better final ball from any one of his openings and the match would have turned. Second half he wasn't as dominant, lost possession a little more than you'd like but that was across board. We created far less in second half, its encouraging we still found a way to score.