Having a strop isn't going to make people recognise him. He is definitely not a superb player yet as superb is a superlative that he isn't matching. He has been inconsistent since he arrived and from what I hear at Juve too and for France. Their manager also refuses to build the team around him, so HE needs to decide himself if he wants to be the best in the world, or just another Nani.
6
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 6
- Assists
- 16
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Rewatched the first half now, and I maintain that he did useful stuff that helped the team and seemingly went unnoticed.
He covered quite a bit of distances to make himself available in build up, often on the left, but also on the right and centrally at times. He often collected the ball deep from the center backs. Many simple and unspectacular passes, but as I said, that stuff was vital to get the ball to open spaces or between the opponent's lines in the first place, which was clearly his main task. Did well dodging & passing safely out of pressure several times, secured several loose balls, distributed the ball (two nice passes to Young, for example).
But he also had two misplaced easy passes that lead to dangerous breaks, one of which he narrowly managed to stop with a sliding tackle. Some other passes were a bit off as well, his general precision was below par. It doesn't help that the chemistry between the players in terms of passing & movement isn't very good.
What didn't work was his play around Palace's box, where he had two failed dribblings and some other attempts that didn't come off (but were okay to try). The interplay between Sanchez and him was still a bit raw, but I think it has potential, especially when Sanchez and Pogba move in opposite directions, Sanchez trying to play him through.
Defensively he was actually more active than I initially thought, running quite a bit to shift position, close spaces, press (individually). A bit too passive in direct duels at times, and the criticism that he switched off for Townsend's goal still stands.
Not a particularly good half all in all, some unnecessary mistakes, but he still worked and contributed much more than he gets credit for - some of the criticism here is way OTT.
He covered quite a bit of distances to make himself available in build up, often on the left, but also on the right and centrally at times. He often collected the ball deep from the center backs. Many simple and unspectacular passes, but as I said, that stuff was vital to get the ball to open spaces or between the opponent's lines in the first place, which was clearly his main task. Did well dodging & passing safely out of pressure several times, secured several loose balls, distributed the ball (two nice passes to Young, for example).
But he also had two misplaced easy passes that lead to dangerous breaks, one of which he narrowly managed to stop with a sliding tackle. Some other passes were a bit off as well, his general precision was below par. It doesn't help that the chemistry between the players in terms of passing & movement isn't very good.
What didn't work was his play around Palace's box, where he had two failed dribblings and some other attempts that didn't come off (but were okay to try). The interplay between Sanchez and him was still a bit raw, but I think it has potential, especially when Sanchez and Pogba move in opposite directions, Sanchez trying to play him through.
Defensively he was actually more active than I initially thought, running quite a bit to shift position, close spaces, press (individually). A bit too passive in direct duels at times, and the criticism that he switched off for Townsend's goal still stands.
Not a particularly good half all in all, some unnecessary mistakes, but he still worked and contributed much more than he gets credit for - some of the criticism here is way OTT.
I did not watch him regularly at Juve, only a game here and there. Did those who watched him, even those who follow Juve, notice that he displayed a major lack of commitment?
He was terrible but still somehow managed to play better than Alexis Sanchez.
Terrible again. I dont see the fuss in this guy to be honest. His positional sense is non existent and keeps giving the ball away. For the player who is supposedly one of the best CM in the world, I would suggest he take a long hard look at all the other CM who are head and shoulders above him. Carragher had it spot on about him last night.
What did Carragher say? IMV it's quite clear that Pogba is among the most, if not the most, talented midfielders of his generation. And he's had games for us where he's made the difference (Arsenal away comes to mind). He's just not playing at full capacity. Nowhere near that. So I can only assume that his limitations are in his mentality. This isn't about being laid back on the pitch like a Berbatov (who can do that more easily as a striker). He just doesn't show any dynamism when we are defending, he's scared in aerial battles, he doesn't know how to tackle or time his challenges which is something that can be worked on, but not tracking back with commitment when he's not the Neymar of this team is inexcusable.
I'm not throwing him under the bus here. I love him. I hope he's here throughout his career. I just really want him to go from giving 50% (if that) to a 100%.
Disagree with you there. Just about the one positive that came out of that first half was that even though he was playing like shit, Pogba kept getting on the ball and trying to play himself into form. He regularly fecked it up, but he kept putting himself in that position to do something. It was noticeable because not only is it something that he has been guilty of in the past, but it felt like he was the only midfielder who was trying in the first half.
I think he blew both hot and cold yesterday, as he often has done for us.
What actually really annoyed me yesterday was the fact that he spent the first minute of the game putting on his gloves. When the whistle blows you should be ready for the game, no excuses. I know it might sound silly but it sort of summarized for me a bit of the criticism labeled at him for being "unprofessional" or "unserious". I am probably getting old and grumpy.
What actually really annoyed me yesterday was the fact that he spent the first minute of the game putting on his gloves. When the whistle blows you should be ready for the game, no excuses. I know it might sound silly but it sort of summarized for me a bit of the criticism labeled at him for being "unprofessional" or "unserious". I am probably getting old and grumpy.
This reads like the Ferguson rant about Veron before he sold him.
Man Utd accept a bid from Chelsea for Paul Pogba £100m. (Summer 2018)
I did not think he was that bad. Certainly wasnt great either! But not as bad as he was against Newcastle. Willing to allow him a pass for this game too as everyone was awful. Not sure what has happened to him(or everyone else) but form has deserted a lot of our players at the same time.
Yeah hiding from the ball but somehow played more passes than anyone on the pitch.
He completed 4 dribbles, only Sanchez completed more with 5.
He was fouled 5 times, rest of the team combined was fouled 5 times.
He played 101 passes, next best was Smalling with 76.
Pogba had 127 touches on the ball, more than any player on the pitch.
If he you thought he was hiding then maybe you were watching some replay of the game in which Pogba didn't play.
Hard to defend that performance last night. Difficult to know exactly what's wrong, he might simply be out of form, might be sulking, might be carrying an injury. But whatever it is, he's incredibly prone to losing the ball in dangerous areas, and we're about to play the team in the league whose plan A is to win the ball from you in dangerous areas. I think we need Pogba on the pitch, but Mourinho needs to find a way to stop it happening or Liverpool will have a field day.
This
Yeah he definitely was not hiding, that’s a bizarre criticism. He’s clearly going through a rough patch though, doesn’t need to mean much, and to be fair it’s not easy to play well in a disjointed team completely devoid of rythm. And that extends to all our players.
I like to know too. Any Juve supporters here?
Watch it back again, if you can. In the first half he barely moved into space to make a decent option for a pass nor moved ahead of the ball to drive the game forward. The majority of the time he received the ball was a basic short pass to a teammate that he usually knocked straight back. So often he got the ball and was easily disposed and just gave up. He made no attempt to header the ball and I don’t think he made one tackle.
He was constantly pointing to another teammate for the ball to be given to them, and regularly seemed to be going in the opposite direction from the rest of the team.
I watched him very closely in that first half and it was an utter shit-show.
Hiding from the ball? He wasn't, not the first nor second half. He always come near and ask for the ball, but of course if there is a player sticking on your back following you, team mates shouldn't pass it to him. When he's free he always ask for the ball and get it, then start some attacking move or spreading the passes around. Nothing to complaint about his efforts, but obv need to work on his tactical sense (the common identifiable clear flaw of his game).
I cannot believe some posts I just read. He was just above average for the whole game, truly terrible in the first half.
I didn't watch the first half, so from what I saw he had a decent game. Played quite a few nice long balls that got us on the front foot and was useful on the counter.
I thought he made the effort but played quite poorly. There is a lot of positional confusion between him and Sanchez which seems to stifle both - that's quite worrying. Matic and McTominay having poor halves didn't exactly help either. He did have a couple of good passes and drove forward fairly effectively at times but it was at best patchy - even in the second half.
Maybe I'm reaching and maybe my impression's coloured by his overall performance level but another thing that disappointed me yesterday was his response to Smalling's goal. Prior to the corner he'd had a heated exchange with Lukaku over choosing the shot (leading to the corner) over playing the pass. I might be wrong but rather than feel galvanised his immediate instinct seemed to be to immediately use the goal as a personal justification in this argument. I'm not that enthused by the mentality behind this sort of response to his team getting back in the game.
Maybe I'm reaching and maybe my impression's coloured by his overall performance level but another thing that disappointed me yesterday was his response to Smalling's goal. Prior to the corner he'd had a heated exchange with Lukaku over choosing the shot (leading to the corner) over playing the pass. I might be wrong but rather than feel galvanised his immediate instinct seemed to be to immediately use the goal as a personal justification in this argument. I'm not that enthused by the mentality behind this sort of response to his team getting back in the game.
But he tried to make things happen.. ect
He was also worse in a 4-3-3 and improved moving to a 4-2-3-1 (still average but better).
The new thing is to blame Sanchez because 'he takes up the space of Pogba', god forbid that another player takes up space on the pitch that Lord Pogba wants to play in. Pogba is a midfielder, he's supposed to provide a platform for the attackers to shine.
We should just play 9 water carriers in the team so Pogba can take a selfie stick on to the pitch and instagram story what he's doing. It'll be the first player ever to document a whole game on social media, his twitter followers will go through the roof.
No problem with a player being out of form but with Pogba I feel that he has his goal celebration constantly running through his mind instead of concentrating on scoring that goal. If he had scored that Matic goal I get the feeling he would've made the result all about him and hash tagged it to death.
People have spoken recently about his immaturity in his personal life affecting his football. I wholly agree with that assessment. Of course he can have a life and enjoy himself but he is not a rapper/pop star/model. He is a professional athlete and should conduct himself as such instead of looking for adulation on social media.
Having said this I still have 100% confidence that he will justify his price tag with us. There is not many players in the league that can be as dynamic as him. He just needs to be all in with the club and manager and understand that it's unacceptable for a United player not to give it his all when Liverpool and City are above us in the league.
People have spoken recently about his immaturity in his personal life affecting his football. I wholly agree with that assessment. Of course he can have a life and enjoy himself but he is not a rapper/pop star/model. He is a professional athlete and should conduct himself as such instead of looking for adulation on social media.
Having said this I still have 100% confidence that he will justify his price tag with us. There is not many players in the league that can be as dynamic as him. He just needs to be all in with the club and manager and understand that it's unacceptable for a United player not to give it his all when Liverpool and City are above us in the league.
he basically said that both him and Sanchez play like they are on the school yard, not taking their roles seriously enough, constantly giving the ball away and out of position. Basically what we actually see
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He has always been too far up his own arse but that can be changed by accepting his role as the manager on the pitch. So immature for a player of his calibre but hopefully players like Sanchez/Lukaku/Matic can snap him out of it for next season. I kind of hope he has a total embarrassment of a World Cup as it may ground him a bit and make him realize that greatness comes on the pitch and not in the clicks.
Wasn't at his best but played OK.
The more worrying thing was his balance in the first half? I'm not sure what's happened to his balance/core strength but he kept falling over so easily.
I have no doubt's he still our most important player, he is so vital to our midfield build up.
The more worrying thing was his balance in the first half? I'm not sure what's happened to his balance/core strength but he kept falling over so easily.
I have no doubt's he still our most important player, he is so vital to our midfield build up.
He experiencing a slight dip in form and he’s not playing terribly, just below what we’ve seen of him. Even top players have that sometimes. Assess him again after the full season. Too much over reaction and believing media hype again from some posters.
I don't trust him against Liverpool. He's not in the right form for it. Especially with the way we will sit back. The whole midfield is going to be pressed to high heaven.
A slight dip in form!!
Lets call it as it actually is, His performances have gone from inconsistent to poor.
I don't read newspapers, you can evaluate his form and effort from watching the games.
Have to agree, he's going to have the likes of Henderson yapping in his ear the whole time. Would be nice if he did get some fouls called but also can't just play expecting everything to go his way. Still hope he doesn't try to win the game with every touch, he's at his best when he's helping to create for others.
He is one of our best players picking it up from deep positions. Liverpool will be wary of him breaking the lines.
Unfortunately I just don't see him having enough time on the ball to show that.
He is strong enough to hold the ball and his passing is good enough to evade Liverpool's midfield if needs be.
Of course it is worth mentioning. We didn't do it in the second half against Chelsea. Essentially we stayed rigid 4-3-3 and didn't interchange. Pogba was ahead of McTominay who would curl around beside Matic from the right when we didn't have the ball. These little tactical nuances are important in helping Pogba grow and flourish in my opinion. But obviously Pogba will learn a lot more being uncomfortable and interchanging but he has to grow individually himself as a result.
For the second bolded part,4-2-3-1, naah, early season he have done it actually, and in fact it's one of the reasons why Mourinho persist with the formation and him as CDM at 2 man midfield. His play and performance is more organized compare to the freer LCM in midfield of 3. Still in some games, he's more effective playing in 4-3-3, so it's a nice option to have.
I personally don't think he can play in a straight 4-2-3-1 as the second midfielder (and he's shown a lot of signs of struggles through the year). But in this game we were chasing and it was allowing him to come up the rear of the attack, which was allowing the play to stay in front of him and let Sanchez and later Mata interchange in front of him. In the first half he was right in the middle of it, almost getting in the way of Sanchez. Not ideal for him.
Essentially you want the entire attack to function around him but so far Jose is trying to integrate 10 other players during the 90 minutes and every player is different. It will take time. Lukaku was getting up him and that was good to see him respond in the second half with some improvement.
I don't think he takes enough care about what he's doing - the simple stuff. And, I'd rather he just control the ball, it doesn't have to be rolled around using the sole of the boot at least twice - not every time, anyway.
Interesting that Smalling was given the armband rather than Pogba when Valencia went off. I think it will be a long time before Pogba wears it again.
It’s Smalling one of the vice captains..... can’t keep track of who is nowadays
You didn't watch it last season then? He ponders on the ball and loses it against a press.
He can ponder at times, but he is our best player holding off pressure in a deep position.
Liverpool targeted him in OT last season, at least now he will know what to expect so hopefully he can play better.
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