Paul Pogba image 6

Paul Pogba France flag

2017-18 Performances

View full 2017-18 profile

6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
37
Goals
6
Assists
16
Yellow cards
5
Red cards
1
Status
Not open for further replies.
He was brilliant today. Anyone saying otherwise either don't know football or have some weird agenda.

Love watching Pogba play football. He's brilliant and only going to get better.
 
@Pogue Mahone : What did you think of him ? I think he was much better than against Real Madrid obviously and mainly because he was making the ball alive with passing and movement. He was playing like a cog in a well oiled machine, instead of trying to be the main man.
 
My man of the match today. His composure and ability to receive the ball anywhere on the pitch is fantastic. His passing and vision was different class.

I constantly keep changing my mind about whether he's better in a three or deep in a two.

I think games like today, where we are likely to dominate, then in a two he can be superb.

Super game from Pogz.
 
kouroux said:
@Pogue Mahone : What did you think of him ? I think he was much better than against Real Madrid obviously and mainly because he was making the ball alive with passing and movement. He was playing like a cog in a well oiled machine, instead of trying to be the main man.
Click to expand...

I think he was better than Madrid but not as good as he was against Barca. More than good enough but he's special talent who can and will play better. So fecking pleased he scored. Every goal helps ease that monkey on his back so he'll feel less and less pressure to do it all by himself. Which is, as we agreed, his biggest weakness.

Also. Feck Martin Atkinson.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I think he was better than Madrid but not as good as he was against Barca. More than good enough but he's special talent who can and will play better. So fecking pleased he scored. Every goal helps ease that monkey on his back so he'll feel less and less pressure to do it all by himself. Which is, as we agreed, his biggest weakness.

Also. Feck Martin Atkinson.
Click to expand...
Feck Atkinson indeed, he should really retire.
Matches with everyone around him having solid performances will help him play simply IMHO. He doesn't need to be the savior ala Gerrard.
 
Brwned said:
Yeah, I agree. I said much the same last year:

(...)
Click to expand...
I know you did, I always enjoyed reading your posts in the various Pogba threads last season, all the more so if things got crazy.
Brwned said:
I suppose I was commenting more on how he'd be judged, than what he actually contributed. He'll also do stupid, selfish stuff so I think he'll always have a Giggs-esque reputation. Maybe he'll tone it down later in his career. I expect him to be a better player than Giggs at his peak.
Click to expand...
His development in that respect may depend on the role his managers give him in the next years. I like him much more when he's playing in a DM tandem than when he is positioned higher up the pitch, trying to make penetrating plays all the time. His decisions are better when he has more responsibility for the earlier stages of attack and the game is in front of him, imo. It seems both Mou and Deschamps are favouring him playing in that role, I hope they stick with it.
 
His touch is just stupid. When it looks nailed on he's going to get tackled by any one of 3 or 4 players, he goes and lobs it over everyones head and dribbles away. He keeps the ball in situations where nobody else could, his control is magnificent, and players just bounce off him when he shields it. So good to watch.

Him and Matic together are going to bully just about everyone they face. They're bigger, stronger and faster than anyone they're likely to come up against in midfield.
 
Sad that some have such an agenda against him that they have to pollute this thread with their shite.
 
Good showing today, could've had several assists and topped it off with a nice goal. We need to start seeing performances like this against big teams but I have faith he'll get there.
 
After he created that chance for Mata he seemed to settle into the game and got better as it went on, good to see him get off the mark as well.
 
the gulf between him and pretty much any other player is huge. He is the player to get us back to the top.
 
Synco said:
I know you did, I always enjoyed reading your posts in the various Pogba threads last season, all the more so if things got crazy.

His development in that respect may depend on the role his managers give him in the next years. I like him much more when he's playing in a DM tandem than when he is positioned higher up the pitch, trying to make penetrating plays all the time. His decisions are better when he has more responsibility for the earlier stages of attack and the game is in front of him, imo. It seems both Mou and Deschamps are favouring him playing in that role, I hope they stick with it.
Click to expand...

Mourinho did originally describe him as a Lampard-esque player in some regards so I'm not entirely sure where he sees him long-term, but I agree, I think it'll be the position where he matures the quickest and long-term has the most influence. That said, if he does magically improve his finishing to be Lampard-esque then it'd be hard to put him on that leash!
 
I know it's early days but he looks like he's improved since last season. Brilliant at times today.
 
Majestic.

He's a special player. Very happy he scored too. Deserved a goal.
 
Pogba struggled for goals and Mkhi struggled for assists last season. Both got one respectively already in game 1.
 
Trigg said:
He was brilliant today. Anyone saying otherwise either don't know football or have some weird agenda.

Love watching Pogba play football. He's brilliant and only going to get better.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

Really enjoyed his play today.
 
golden_blunder said:
Matic is gonna help him reach a new level
Click to expand...
Hopefully. I still think he needs to play as the advanced man in a 3 man midfield with Herrera and Matic playing behind him when we play big teams. We have to sacrifice a #10 aka Mata or Mkhi and give Pogba the freedom to play that role.
 
2 things that has helped pogba

1 - matic anchoring the team

2 - Neymar taking pogba's place has the worlds most expensive player, the eyes are not on him so severly and you get that sense he feels normal again, he can play his normal game, and not certain idiots asking him to be a player and produce levels that are not his game.

Pogba is not ronaldo, messi, neymar, suarez, bale, his game is dominating games and creating chances for our forwards but help chip in with 8 to 12 goals hopefully
 
I was delighted he got his goal today. Impressive stuff from on. Some of his touches were majestic.
 
Played better in the second half. Wasn't trying to do it all by himself. Passing when needed, and taking the ball on when needed. Very, very good.

Don't see how anyone thinks he was better than Matic today though but ok
 
Brwned said:
Mourinho did originally describe him as a Lampard-esque player in some regards so I'm not entirely sure where he sees him long-term, but I agree, I think it'll be the position where he matures the quickest and long-term has the most influence. That said, if he does magically improve his finishing to be Lampard-esque then it'd be hard to put him on that leash!
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if players like prime Lampard, Gerrard, Toure could have the same impact in 2017. Maybe their interpretations of a goalscoring B2B midfielder were products of a different time, even if it was just a few years back.

The PL is becoming more continental in style, and that means less space in midfield to exploit. To me, the answer is better & faster collective play, more focus on passing. Toure and City already suffered a lot in the CL because of his individualistic style when he still tore up the PL. Today, West Ham has given United all the space they wanted, so it all looked fine, but the first half against Real was more akin to top level football - and Pogba failed to play that kind of role then.

So I fear trying to form Pogba into a player like that could turn him into an anachronism. Even if he'd be still good enough to do that (I'm not sure), I think his value further back would be higher in any case, provided the team functions well and isn't in need of heroism on a constant basis.

Then again, if he starts to regularly plow through midfield and bangs them in left & right I certainly won't complain.
 
Was brilliant today and will be a real force for us this season. He played a disciplined role for most of the game and was a real threat to them with his vision, along with Matic. Was really happy he scored too..
 
Said it before and will say it again, he's so much better in a midfield 2.

It opens up options of him playing long balls and short quick passes, but also allows him to run through the middle and take on his man.

In a 3 he gets boxed out too easy and doesn't position himself all that well.

4231 is the way to go.
 
Neymar getting sold for 222 million and us getting Matić are probably 2 of the best things that could have happened to Pogba. Pressure of being the most expensive player on the world is there no more, therefore I expect this to be his season.
 
One ridiculous moment when he lobbed the ball over two players in the middle of the park. Majestic player.
 
Signs of things to come - everybody has been talking about it and I have to agree; if what we saw from Matic today is reflective of what he will do week in week out, Pogba will truly blossom and become a legend. Hope I'm not jinxing him but that was very encouraging
 
RDCR07 said:
Hopefully. I still think he needs to play as the advanced man in a 3 man midfield with Herrera and Matic playing behind him when we play big teams. We have to sacrifice a #10 aka Mata or Mkhi and give Pogba the freedom to play that role.
Click to expand...
This will definitely happen. Jose sets up against the big teams to not concede - he'll pack the midfield.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.