As good as he could be in this very average Utd team.
6
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 47
- Goals
- 16
- Assists
- 14
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Poor in the first half, a bit better in the second, but look at lack of co0hesion in our midfield in comparison to
juve tonight, ours were like 3 strangers in there, the passing and moving just isn't there most of the time, and that comes from the coaching.
juve tonight, ours were like 3 strangers in there, the passing and moving just isn't there most of the time, and that comes from the coaching.
When he has pockets of space he's great, we need to put guys with energy an technique around him. Not the Matic slug train.
Fred-Pereira-Pog midfield three and just accept the fact that we leak goals anyway, so why not try and score some as well
Fred-Pereira-Pog midfield three and just accept the fact that we leak goals anyway, so why not try and score some as well
As is the norm, looked ordinary while we sat back to contain, looked fanatastic when we played on the front foot.
Bossed the 3 Juve midfielders on his own at times tonight. Some lovely turns, touches and passes.
Bossed the 3 Juve midfielders on his own at times tonight. Some lovely turns, touches and passes.
He’s needs to be further up the pitch with more freedom. Unbelievably talented player.
He'd be dominating Seria A and challenging for the CL at Juve, instead he's playing with Martial, Lukaku and Rashford up front for us. Feel for him. The three of them together make about a third of a Ronaldo.
We’re wasting his prime years.
He was severely unimpressed with Rashford and Lukaku and let them know about it vocally.
Him along with De gea and Martial are our only world class players. If I was him with his talent, you want to be competing for the top honours. This teams just goes backwards every single year under every manager.
I wonder if they had a go at him when he single-handedly allowed the first Chelsea goal to occur at the weekend.
Baffled by those saying he was poor tonight. Apart from that one terrible cross field pass he was the ONLY player to do anything of attacking note. He’s so far ahead of our next outfield player it’s concerning IMO.
Class above the rest of the outfield players by quite a distance and he's not even been at his best, says it all really. We need his calibre of player to be at the top, sadly we don't.
1) First of all thanks for the very informative post. Well done.
2)
Taking Ndidi's place in the team.
2)
Taking Ndidi's place in the team.
Had that one good chance when he turned and nearly scored. We should shoot more from those areas around the box. Rather invisible but didn't do much wrong except for right at the end where he again lost the ball doing tricks.
All I could think was how good would he be if he was in that Juve team tonight instead.
Made a few little dodgy passes but ran the show in the 2nd half. If only we had a prime Roy Keane and Scholes to partner him.
Made a few little dodgy passes but ran the show in the 2nd half. If only we had a prime Roy Keane and Scholes to partner him.
I thought he had several moments of class and ability, including his shot off the post. Our only player going forward who didnt always hesitate and telegraph his pass so the Juventus players could read it easily. Also made 2 tackles and 1 interception which is more than plenty of his other performances and also more than what our midfielders manage in general.
Was very good again and if we were going to create something it was going to be through him. We did and was unlucky not to score.
That was a very good shot off his weaker foot. Shame, it would have been big for the team and Pogba.
Put him next to an expert passer, Pjanic, De Bruyne, Modric etc and in an attacking side and you'd see what a player he is.
For us, he looked a tier above what was out there. His ability to use his body, open the space up and charge into space shows what he is capable of.
Add an expert passer of the ball and a team that attacks, like Juve did today. Wingers cutting in with fullbacks pulling players out of position and he'd cause havoc.
Problem is, we don't have a Pjanic, we don't have an attacking mentality and we don't have movement in attacking areas, so we're left with a Ferrari stuck to a 30mph speed limit.
That being said, sometimes his attitude is a problem, but second half vs Newcastle, Chelsea and today, when we attacked, you could tell he was happier
For us, he looked a tier above what was out there. His ability to use his body, open the space up and charge into space shows what he is capable of.
Add an expert passer of the ball and a team that attacks, like Juve did today. Wingers cutting in with fullbacks pulling players out of position and he'd cause havoc.
Problem is, we don't have a Pjanic, we don't have an attacking mentality and we don't have movement in attacking areas, so we're left with a Ferrari stuck to a 30mph speed limit.
That being said, sometimes his attitude is a problem, but second half vs Newcastle, Chelsea and today, when we attacked, you could tell he was happier
The Game Dissected: key to unlocking Paul Pogba’s potential is role, not position
In his weekly column, Tom Clarke explains that the Manchester United midfielder excels in many different areas but needs a manager to curb his enthusiasm
With Chelsea on Saturday and Juventus next Tuesday it will be a daunting return to domestic football for Manchester United.
While debate will continue about the future of José Mourinho another big name still dividing opinion is Paul Pogba. Having put in a man-of-the-match performance in the 3-2 comeback win against Newcastle, Pogba will need to be at his best again if United’s revival is to be confirmed in those two big games.
In this week’s Game Dissected we analyse the £89 million star who delights and frustrates in equal measure.
Trying to win it on his own
After starring for France as they won the World Cup in the summer (more on his international performances later), the pressure was on for Pogba to return to United and finally justify his price tag and potential.
Midfielders are often judged on their passing and Pogba fares pretty well so far this season. As the graphic below shows, he is second only to Chelsea’s pass master Jorginho when it comes to passes made in the opposition half and, of those six midfielders who have made the most passes, he has a good accuracy rating too.
The players listed in the graphic above are the names you would expect: the playmakers and linking midfielders who see a lot of possession, starting attacks from the back and also helping their forwards to recycle the ball.
The graphic below shows two other categories for midfielders this season: shots on goal and duels (50-50 challenges to win the ball).
Pogba has had the most shots of any midfielder and also had the most duels for the ball (winning 45 per cent of those 121 duels).
What is interesting here is not so much the statistics but the categories themselves. Let us consider the idea of a modern-day, three-man midfield.
You might have your defensive midfielder, the likes of Mo Diame or Wilfred Ndidi who sit deep, fight for the ball and feature in the duels category. You would have your linking midfielder who sees a lot of the ball, like James Milner, Granit Xhaka or Jorginho, prominent in the passing category. And then an attacking midfielder like Christian Eriksen and Gylfi Sigurdsson who will push on, join in with attacks and try to score goals.
Three different statistics reflect three different types of player and yet Pogba features prominently in all three categories. Indeed no other player even features in two categories.
That is fairly remarkable and tells us that Pogba’s effort for the United cause cannot be questioned. It is interesting to note that Pogba is also the only player from a “big-six” side to feature in the duels category, hinting at the fact that United haven’t always dominated games like their rivals. Pogba is making passes, he’s taking shots and he’s happy to battle the opposition for the ball.
But is he trying too much? In a team struggling for consistency both in terms of results and tactics, is the star in the middle — perhaps frustrated by misfiring forwards and error-prone defenders — trying to save United on his own?
The graphic below is interesting in this regard. On the left we see that only two midfielders have had more touches of the ball than Pogba. On the right we see that only Huddersfield’s Philip Billing has lost the ball more than Pogba.
Now, players who lose the ball can either lack ability or be guilty of trying passes, flicks or tricks which don’t come off. Only last week we discussed how Declan Rice’s conservative passing for West Ham might mean he isn’t suited to being a midfielder. Play ten-yard passes from side to side and you’ll be top of the passing accuracy charts.
But Pogba isn’t that type of player and he knows United need more from him. They need him to open up the opposition. The only problem is that sometimes this season they have needed him to score and scrap to win back the ball too.
Pogba is trying to be United’s Roy of the Rovers and it is affecting his ability to show us the player he can be. I am focusing on this season’s statistics alone but it is interesting that in the last Premier League campaign Pogba again featured fairly prominently in many categories from assists (10) to duels (373).
Another interesting statistic from last season is that when it comes to losing possession the midfielder who topped the charts was Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, losing the ball 810 times. But with 16 assists (the most in the league and six more than Pogba) and surrounded by a stunning team who won the title with 100 points, giving the ball away is easily excused. When Pogba — the £89-million, flashy, 25-year-old with the many haircuts — attempts a 30-yard pass that is intercepted he has nowhere to hide.
Now I’m not saying Pogba is purely a victim of circumstance, I have been frustrated and confused watching him play over the past few seasons. But I do think some of the criticism levelled at him is unfair and think, as the statistics suggest, that his struggles come from lacking a clear role in a team who has lost their identity.
And this idea — about a role and identity — leads us to that win against Newcastle.
The beating heart of Manchester United’s comeback
At 2-0 down at home to Newcastle there was only one thing for Manchester United to do: attack, attack, attack. The chant that has come to embody the frustrations of United fans, and was referenced by Pogba in comments that got him in trouble with Mourinho, was the perfect tactic.
But for the modern manager it’s not that simple. Quite often just throwing on attacking players and sacrificing defenders doesn’t work as the opposition can just mark a big mass of forwards, clear long balls that are lumped into the box and even score on the counterattack.
So Mourinho needed more attacking threat but still needed to retain a balance and ensure he had players who could help those attackers flourish. Enter Pogba.
Mourinho moved his all-action midfielder into a deeper role for the second half and gave him the responsibility of transferring the ball effectively from defence to those attackers. How do I know? Mourinho said so: “He [Pogba] was playing with Matic in front of [Chris] Smalling because we need some technical quality to bring the ball from the back.”
So United had a clear identity and Pogba had clear role and we see that role clearly in the opening seconds of the second half. The image below shows Pogba, alongside Nemanja Matic, beckoning Smalling to run forward into space.
Pogba was certainly doing his job of creating chances for his team-mates. He had a long-range shot which was parried and Matic should have scored the rebound and he also crossed for Marcus Rashford to head just wide. But with their attacking efforts United were leaving themselves open. As the image below shows Pogba was forced into picking up his first booking of the season for this trip on DeAndre Yedlin to stop a Newcastle counterattack.
With Alexis Sánchez coming on for Rashford and Juan Mata scoring a free kick in the 70th minute United had hope. Up stepped Pogba who played a key role in both United’s equaliser and the winner.
The image above shows the start of the move which led to Anthony Martial making it 2-2. Seeing Sánchez on the ball Pogba moves into space to receive a pass and immediately flicks the ball to the onrushing Mata who sends the ball wide to the left.
The image above shows the ball then on the other side of the pitch with Martial laying the ball off for Luke Shaw to cross. Note where the three players from the first image are now — Sánchez and Mata have continued their forward runs into the box but not Pogba. He has moved across the pitch and is in space on the edge of the box.
Why? Because United have four players in the box already — if Newcastle clear they need someone to win it back and keep possession and momentum. Indeed Pogba is actually looking back towards his own goal, assessing the state of the pitch as a whole and whether or not there is a threat on the counter.
Shaw’s cross is cleared but, as the image above shows, who is in the perfect place to win a header straight back to Martial? Pogba.
So United can attack again and, as the image above shows, with Shaw now deeper, Pogba can help Martial, attacking the space and offering a short passing option. Newcastle’s Mo Diame spots Pogba’s run and moves to track him.
Diame gets close to Pogba but not close enough. As the image above shows Martial makes his pass, gets the ball back thanks to a clever backheel by Pogba, takes another touch before scoring from the area vacated by Diame tracking Pogba.
The statistics log Pogba’s involvement in Martial’s goal as an assist but his role is far more important than that. He moved across the pitch, finding space, giving his team-mates options and moving Newcastle players out of position. It showed intelligence and awareness and he did it again for United’s 90th-minute winner.
As the image above shows a Newcastle throw-in is easily intercepted by Shaw, who has an easy option of heading the ball to Pogba on the left wing.
Again, as the image above shows, the United midfielder attacks the space and brings United’s forwards into play, this time playing the ball to Sánchez.
Sánchez plays the ball wide to Romelu Lukaku and, as the image above shows, Pogba again shows good positional awareness. With United’s striker and target man in Lukaku being out on the right Pogba makes a run into the box. Sánchez and Mata make runs to join him while Ashley Young makes a charge to overlap Lukaku.
The key theme of all of these images is that Pogba is either on the ball or close to the team-mate that is. He is always providing an option, facilitating United’s movement of the ball and helping to keep the attack alive.
As the image above shows Pogba is close enough for Lukaku to play a short pass to him just inside the box. Pogba has drawn Newcastle’s centre back Federico Fernández out of a central area which is now dominated by four United players. Pogba holds on to the ball just long enough to also get the attention of Newcastle left back Javier Manquillo who attempts to close down the United man.
But Pogba is still able to lay the ball off for Young — now forward and in an attacking position — who crosses for Sanchez to head home. Not even an assist for Pogba but he was the heartbeat of United’s winning goal.
So is he United’s star man? I think he might be but he needs a clearly defined role to shine and against Newcastle he got it. As the graphic below shows he covered all areas of the pitch to keep United’s hopes alive and of the statistics listed Pogba was best of United’s players but for recoveries (Matic made 11).
It is interesting to think back to France’s World Cup-winning side and Pogba’s role in it. It was remarkably similar to his role in that United team against Newcastle.
France had N’Golo Kanté, the ultimate holding midfielder, charging around and winning the ball back and in front of him were Pogba and Blaise Matuidi who were given the task of getting the ball to Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann in positions where they could hurt the opposition. Pogba was an effective part of a well-drilled and dominant machine who could beat both stubborn and attacking opponents.
Indeed it is interesting that in France’s 2-2 draw with Iceland last week Pogba played in a deeper role without Kanté and struggled, being taken off midway through the second half with France 2-0 down.
Also when he was struggling to make an impact in his first season at United many fans were saying “he needs to play on the left of a midfield three” — the position where he had impressed for Juventus. But the position is not the key. What is important is giving a player with so much talent, who can be guilty of trying to do it all, a clear role in a clearly defined system. Do that and Mourinho and United might still be able to turn their season around.
Interesting article. Very good read and I agree.
Pogba cannot be everything in one, although he wants to be.
"I want to become a new midfielder. From defensive midfielder to attacking midfielder to attacker. I want to take the qualities from everyone.
"Cristiano, Ronaldinho, Messi, everyone. Andres Iniesta. I'm serious. All players rolled into one. I'd like to get to the level where I have everything: Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Ronaldo. It wouldn't be bad, that.
https://www.goal.com/en/news/723/se...-to-be-messi-ronaldo-zidane-and-vieira-all-in
The thing is, as the article stated, he cannot be everyone and needs to stick to a specific role.
It seems that Mourinho, in the last two games, has gone with Pogba in the deeper role he played when he first arrived and currently plays for France.
Personally, I prefer him in the deeper role, although I always change my mind. He has an excellent range of passing, has the ability to carry the ball up the pitch and has a good shot on him. He's almost like a deep-lying playmaker, if you like, and needs to stick to that role.
Next to him; however, we need legs, and tonight showed that Matic shouldn't be the partner for Pogba going forward.
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He was very good tonight. He's a beacon of light in this team, I honestly shudder to think how bad we'd be without him. That is the level of player we need to bring in.
On a side note, he's been fantastic since he has been removed from vice capitan. Maybe it's given him a kick up the backside, perhaps relieved some pressure on him. Not sure either way, but he's been good and, dare I say it, actually looked more of a leader on the pitch strangely enough.
On a side note, he's been fantastic since he has been removed from vice capitan. Maybe it's given him a kick up the backside, perhaps relieved some pressure on him. Not sure either way, but he's been good and, dare I say it, actually looked more of a leader on the pitch strangely enough.
Very good performance again by the Pogstar. Thankfully we still have someone in the team I look forward to watching every game..
He was decent tonight, with the close goal the highlight but he cannot do it on his own, he's capable of a moment of brilliance that once in a while will win you a game but that's no consolation and without the rest of the team looking decent at the very least, there is no player on this team that can step up and drag them out of this, although to be fair there are only a handful of players capable of that in the game.
Juventus would receive him back without blinking. And he would be one of their best players. It tells a lot. Of course he will never be a supercreative midfielder or one of the greats at decision making level but under the right model where everyone knows their role he is a top player. Even if it isn't popular to say this these days.
He was the only one showing any composure and quality on the ball. Should've got a goal but for the lucky rebound off their keeper.
He went completely missed for large parts of the game, didn't seem to run much. People need to stop making excuses for him.
I thought he was a class above the rest of our team to be honest. Him and Martial despite all the criticism they face, were the only ones I fancied to create anything. I think people underestimate quite how hard that match was last night and Pogba on more than one occasion beat 2 or 3 players by himself just to create a little bit of extra space for others (which of course they wasted). He was also incredibly unlucky with that left food strike, such a phenomenal turn! Overall a real bright point in an otherwise insipid performance.
excuses? The guy was the only one driving us forward. In the second half he was the only one who actually showed composure
Jog on, one missed pass when chasing the game and with no runs in front of him, against the best defensive unit in the world basically. And no, he was not shite, he was our best player.
It was on the half way line. Not sure what their defence has to do with it.
One misplaced pass, outside of the boot under no pressure straight to Ronaldo on the half way line. Yeah no bother.
He lost the ball plenty more times than this without even passing it too.
Wasn't good by any stretch but people are easily pleased because he hit the post.
Found this one in reddit. One of the reasons why we suck, There is just no eagerness to pass and move
That's purely tactical though. Mourinho's instructions are get the ball wide and flood the box. Pogba knows the cross is coming in, and instead of running passed the ball he positions himself ready to recycle it incase it's headed out.
100% tactical indeed. Those are simple pattern of plays that coach need to implement but fecks know what Mourinho does
We were crossing all day and it was clearly not working. Instructions should've come to shake things up. Feck all we do in training.
Honestly if I was Pogba I'd leave this summer. He is wasting his prime years at a terribly mismanaged club that we have been since saf left.
He could be winning titles and challenging for the champions league at Barca, real or Juve...why stay here?
This hurts to say but sometimes the truth hurts.
He could be winning titles and challenging for the champions league at Barca, real or Juve...why stay here?
This hurts to say but sometimes the truth hurts.
Yeh. He's 25 y.o. and maybe another 5 years at his peak. If he wants to put his name among the GOATs history, he needs to start it about now.
He joined us when we were 6th and in the EL.
Its striking how not one fan has even speculated that maybe DDG and Paul have a love for playing for Utd?
Does it even cross your minds?
That was then. He joined us to help the team progress forward, get back into the CL and hopefully win the PL. We are no closer to winning the PL now than when he arrived and it looks likely we may not be in the CL next season. If there's no progression happening it would be normal if he and DDG would be considering their futures.
As much I love UTD, I do not like the upper management , owners or the direction the club has taken since SAF left.
Pogba is world class and I dont blame him (or DDG) moving to clubs where they can win leagues and Champions League titles.
As another posted stated, I dont see us being in the Champions League next season and both he and DDG can do better than being in the Europa league every other season.
You're missing my point. Paul joined us when we were in EL and finished 6th. Turning down Madrid in the process.
You're projecting your insecurities onto the players and in doing so are muddying the waters for yourself.
Its like the United fans in the DDG thread hoping be leaves us because he deserves better. What the feck is going on?
Maybe they should simply stop supporting United and move on themselves.
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