[jem]

Again, I can no longer blame him for not being interested, which he blatantly isn’t. He’s said he doesn’t want to be here, he has valid concerns and reasons for not wanting to be here when he could be in Madrid with the chance to win things.

This is how it will be all season.

Yeah but he’s being paid handsomely, so there really is no excuse for not being interested.

 

[Jeppers7]

Wow must have been awful in the first half....because watching only the second half he was very good.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Wow must have been awful in the first half....because watching only the second half he was very good.

Got caught in possession about four or five times in the first half. Was horrible.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

His 1st half was the worst performance I've seen from him.

He was that bad.

I don't think he was that great in the 2nd either, but at least it wasn't the abomination that was the 1st half.

 

[Hugh Jass]

His 1st half was the worst performance I've seen from him.

He was that bad.

I don't think he was that great in the 2nd either, but at least it wasn't the abomination that was the 1st half.

If madrid start throwing 140 million at us, i think we should take it. Use that money to buy Sancho. Then buy a MF and a ten.

 

[Hoboman]

Midfield version of Berbatov.

Technically brilliant, with sparks of genius, but very difficult to integrate in certain gameplan and lacks ability to constantly influence the game.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Absolutely disgraceful performance. His constant dallying with the ball and losing possession so cheaply is the reason we lost control of this match at a time when we were actually playing well. This is nothing to do with an agenda but me pointing out that Pogba was shite today and deserves to be called out for it.

 

[fps]

With a top centre forward in the team that'd have been Pogba assisting for the winner again today.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

Absolutely disgraceful performance. His constant dallying with the ball and losing possession so cheaply is the reason we lost control of this match at a time when we were actually playing well. This is nothing to do with an agenda but me pointing out that Pogba was shite today and deserves to be called out for it.

Who put up the ballon door thread?

Not scored sine February in open play but walks around like he is he the don.

feck him

 

[BusbyMalone]

Basically what i say about him. He vacillates between the sublime and the very ordinary over the course of one match.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Two things:

Like everybody else has said, better going forward, and we saw this last season. Ole know it too, but, our build up play from the back may not be as smooth in theory. In reality, i don' t think Pogba has had the effect playing from deep that ole would have hoped for, and in fact his defensive liabilities are hurting mctominay. The improvement in our defence on the ball, with mcguire and wan bissaka coming in, seem to have been more responsible for this than anything pogba has done. Playing Matic there or experimenting with Fred as a dm should be considered, but neither mctominay or pogba should be the dm's for our team.

no. 2, Pogba is not worth all of the fanfare over his departure. He's not that influencial, not nearly as influential to us as people would believe. If a kroos or thiago were playing in his spot in a two man midfield ( where there are only two influencers from deep), the team wouldn't look as poor in possession and aggression through the middle as it sometimes does. He has moments of magic during the game, but unless the game is open, does not really impact our control of games. People would have you believe that losing him would absolutely destroy us as hes irreplaceable. It may, if noone else was signed in his stead, but he can easily be replaced in the market by players who fit the premier league model of what a midfielder should be.

I don't believe he is a premier league midfielder, and as a result, has struggled for consistent form. In less aggressive leagues, Pogba would be a phenom with his skill combined with his physical stature. But in the premier league, where second balls matter, a good midfielder has to have good concentration, anticipation and a high enough work rate to perform defensively. Keane, vieira, gerrard, lampard, scholes, all had these features. Pogba does not.

We got Maguire not Smalling or Jones anymore, to me our play from the back shouldn’t be too much concern now. Fred playing as DM isn’t experiment, we have played him there against PSG & Barcelona. Pogba should be playing further advanced because we got Fred who can take the deeper role & Maguire with ability to play from the back. I don’t know what is holding Ole for doing it.

 

[haram]

Bad, bad game.

 

[Terminator]

Least of our problems. He is inconsistent but atleast he's not mediocre like most of the others. Only source of creativity.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

If madrid start throwing 140 million at us, i think we should take it. Use that money to buy Sancho. Then buy a MF and a ten.

Take it.

The only worry is how we'd spend that money(hopefully not on Longstaff ffs), but take it and run.

A world class player doesn't need 10 other world class players to not lose the ball 3 times in 30 seconds.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

I refuse to believe we wouldn’t be improved a lot if we replaced him with a proper creative CM who is only a little worse than him going forwards but actually knows how to retain possession, when to keep it simple and where to stand on the pitch.

Of course we would.

Swap him with Verratti. We'd improve easily.

PSG would get worse.

Pogba remains who he is. A moments player. He's not capable of controlling or dictating the tempo.

 

[Hugh Jass]

If he starts posting pictures this week of him smiling with some celebrity i am going to be fuming. When you win i dont mind. But when you are as bad as you were in the first half, its not justified.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Of course we would.

Swap him with Verratti. We'd improve easily.

PSG would get worse.

Pogba remains who he is. A moments player. He's not capable of controlling or dictating the tempo.

This 100%. he is not even aware of people behind him.

 

[Steerpike]

Two things:

Like everybody else has said, better going forward, and we saw this last season. Ole know it too, but, our build up play from the back may not be as smooth in theory. In reality, i don' t think Pogba has had the effect playing from deep that ole would have hoped for, and in fact his defensive liabilities are hurting mctominay. The improvement in our defence on the ball, with mcguire and wan bissaka coming in, seem to have been more responsible for this than anything pogba has done. Playing Matic there or experimenting with Fred as a dm should be considered, but neither mctominay or pogba should be the dm's for our team.

no. 2, Pogba is not worth all of the fanfare over his departure. He's not that influencial, not nearly as influential to us as people would believe. If a kroos or thiago were playing in his spot in a two man midfield ( where there are only two influencers from deep), the team wouldn't look as poor in possession and aggression through the middle as it sometimes does. He has moments of magic during the game, but unless the game is open, does not really impact our control of games. People would have you believe that losing him would absolutely destroy us as hes irreplaceable. It may, if noone else was signed in his stead, but he can easily be replaced in the market by players who fit the premier league model of what a midfielder should be.

I don't believe he is a premier league midfielder, and as a result, has struggled for consistent form. In less aggressive leagues, Pogba would be a phenom with his skill combined with his physical stature. But in the premier league, where second balls matter, a good midfielder has to have good concentration, anticipation and a high enough work rate to perform defensively. Keane, vieira, gerrard, lampard, scholes, all had these features. Pogba does not.

You've hit the nail squarely on the head there. Pogba's style of play is not presently a good fit for this league, and he doesn't give the impression that he is prepared to adapt his game to change that.

I believe he will have left before the start of next season and that the move will benefit both him and the club. I also suspect that we'll accept a much lower price for him than is generally supposed (his value has not been enhanced during his time with us). The notion that he is indispensable is pure fantasy.

 

[fergiesarmy1]

(his value has not been enhanced during his time with us.

His value is mainly marketable

 

[John Blund]

His 1st half today was the worst performance I've seen from him. I actually think it was the worst performance I've seen from a midfielder on our team in quite some time. We're much better off playing anyone but Pogba along with McTominay. Matic, Fred, Jones, I don't care. Anyone.
Pogba as our number 10, that's another story. Yes, he'll toss away the ball 50 % of the time, but he'll also create stuff.

 

[pocco]

Watching his performance today was the final straw for me, but for the coaches. This is in relation to him turning over the ball constantly when playing deeper.

Picking the ball up on the edge of our box he should be looking for a quick layoff to bypassing players that are actually facing the right way. Instead he awaits contact to try to out manoeuvre the opposition and loses the ball in dangerous areas.

We're talking about an incredibly talented player here. So either one of two things is happening... either he's ignoring orders to play simple passes to set off counter attacks, or hes simply not being told to do so.

Whichever way you look at it, the coaches look like fools.

 

[Stacks]

Was shit then set up 4 chances when freed up. This is why he must play in every game for any team worts and all (except maybe City as they demand perfection)

 

[roykeane19]

Hes being absolutely wasted here, immenly talented and wasting his prime here, I`d have hoped since he joined, a team was built around him, with word class players in most positions, however we seem to be getting bloody weaker by the year in terms of our squad, its so frustrating, it would be a joy to see Pogab with us in a properly finctioning team, with others at his wavelngth.

 

[tentan]

Sell him while his price tag is still high.

 

[Infra-red]

His partnership with McTominay is a complete disaster. I cannot believe we persisted with it again after the Palace game. It offers no protection for the back four and no control in midfield.

If Ole doesn't change the midfield setup for the Leicester game, he needs his head examining.

 

[RooneyLegend]

For me he was sloppy and generally lacked intensity. But he was also not helped by his teammates who have the tendency to give him the ball when he isn't open.

There was a strange moment when Mata passed him the ball and there were 4 players around him. We're watch some rather foolish football here.

 

[In Rainbows]

I refuse to believe we wouldn’t be improved a lot if we replaced him with a proper creative CM who is only a little worse than him going forwards but actually knows how to retain possession, when to keep it simple and where to stand on the pitch.

Of course we would.

Swap him with Verratti. We'd improve easily.

PSG would get worse.

Pogba remains who he is. A moments player. He's not capable of controlling or dictating the tempo.

This again...

Replace McTominay with Verratti and we'll instantly improve. Make a 3 man midfield and pair up Verratti and a legit DM and we'll instantly improve. What are you saying here? You consistently do not get what we're lacking in midfield and instantly attribute that to Pogba.

It's been clear for a while now that we do not have a midfielder who can run the game through their passing, and safety in possession. It's been clear for a while now that we do not have a legitimate defensive midfielder. If you replace Pogba with a slightly less creative midfielder, but someone who can retain possession, we're still not better in regards defending the back four, and we've gotten worse going forwards. Your hypothetical does not solve our midfield, it's just a cheap shot aimed at Pogba as if he's the sole reason why we're not good in midfield.

What is the point of McTominay? My guess is that he balances out Pogba's lack of energy in the middle. But what else does he provide? He's not a particularly great defensive player. He's not great going forward. He's not the best passing option to retain possession, nor can he run the game through his passing.

If we take out Pogba and put in Herrera to be paired with Mata how have we solved our midfield crisis? We got worse going forward. Herrera can't run the game through his passing. We became more energetic at the expense of creativity. Still lack in 2 key areas.

Pogba is not the problem. The problem is we're lacking in genuine quality in midfield in 2 current areas. All you're saying is that you prefer a different flavor of a midfield crisis (us to become better in 1 area, but be mediocre in 2 other areas). Same as right now.

And to be even more clearer, try to make a combination of players that makes our midfield shine in as many areas as possible

Chance creation
Distribution
Defensive aptitude
Energy

You can't do it with Pogba, or with a Pogba replacement. And why do we need to replace Pogba in particular, and not add a quality midfield to be beside him? Why the hell can't we have a stacked midfield like Juve had, France has, Barca had, or Real Madrid? Some parts of the fan base is so weird and think we need 1 midfielder to carry our entire midfield.

 

[Red_toad]

Got caught in possession about four or five times in the first half. Was horrible.

Lad can't win, he takes risks that don't come off and gets criticised. I'd rather he was risk taking over watching constant safe sideways passing. Pogba needs to be moved into the role Mata and Jesse have been playing and a holding midfielder be brought in.

 

[Dec9003]

I don't really get why excuses need to be made for him when he's poor.
He didn't play well, at one point he was messing up five yard passes, he needs to be better than he was.
It's as simple as that, that's not me hating on him, it's just how it is.
I fully expect he'll perform better than he did today this season, he had improved somewhat in the second half so we know he can do better.
It's not a big problem, as long as it doesn't happen consistently.

 

[Carl S Bridge]

Most fans slaughter him but who would you replace him with? Yes he's frustrating but that's the same with all special players.. either there great or poor. Tbh look who he plays with. He's the shining light in a shite team.

 

[WR10]

Let me get this straight... we have Paul Pogba - who went on a mad run of world class games in the #10 role when ole took him on and we instead choose lingard/mata/Perreira to play in place of him?

Madness. Our midfield two is fecking useless whichever combination you slap together right now so might as well put Pogba back up in the hole and have whatever idiot bumble around Scott for now.

As long as Ole gets 40 points then we can avoid relegation then we’re good

 

[In Rainbows]

Lad can't win, he takes risks that don't come off and gets criticised. I'd rather he was risk taking over watching constant safe sideways passing. Pogba needs to be moved into the role Mata and Jesse have been playing and a holding midfielder be brought in.

It's because there was a 10-15 minute period where he lost the ball like 5 times and didn't have much work rate. One of those times came from a dumb pass from Mata where he was surrounded by 4 players and obviously lost the ball (which was blamed on Pogba by the commentary). Shocking 10-15 minutes even without the Mata pass, so the criticism there is understandable.

They ignore the good moments of the 1st half, and then the 2nd half.

Basically you have a crowd that think Pogba needs to carry our midfield going forward, defend with passion, and run the game through his passing while in a deeper role. They want the perfect midfielder and everyone knows he can't do it all at once. It's obvious to a couple of us that Pogba is not Verratti, Modric, Scholes, or Xavi. He's also not Keane or Vidal. He's more of an advanced #8 like Iniesta, but obviously in his own style and obviously not as good as Iniesta as Iniesta was one of the greatest ever.

They need to realize his shortcomings are what they are and that we have nobody else in midfield of any quality for the role they want to do. It's a terrible midfield. You move Pogba further forward, and we struggle to bring the ball to Pogba because our midfield lacks quality with regards to passing and ability to control the game. We compensate for that by playing Pogba deeper in order to fulfill that role, but then that stifles creative play. Everything stems from a lack of quality midfield unit.

The simple solution is to just get more quality players or find those young quality players, but people just have an agenda and feel that we can't have that and thus need to get rid of Pogba.

 

[LLMU]

Lad can't win, he takes risks that don't come off and gets criticised. I'd rather he was risk taking over watching constant safe sideways passing. Pogba needs to be moved into the role Mata and Jesse have been playing and a holding midfielder be brought in.

This. I agree. He can’t be playing deep as his style of play is about taking risks. A proper deep lying midfielder is what we needed. His movement and anticipation playing further forward when Matic came in is an evidence of what we should be doing.

 

[In Rainbows]

This. I agree. He can’t be playing deep as his style of play is about taking risks. A proper deep lying midfielder is what we needed. His movement and anticipation playing further forward when Matic came in is an evidence of what we should be doing.

Exactly, but this isn't an excuse at Pogba, it's just a recognition that our midfield as a whole lacks genuine quality and that we recognize what type of midfielder Pogba is. The only counter argument (weak one btw) is that we tried unlocking Pogba by buying Matic, because Pogba is the only midfielder in the world who needs a defensive midfielder by him, nevermind the basic fact that it's a requirement for most teams to get better. Imagine the idea that Real Madrid's midfield would be better off without Casemiro next to Modric and Kroos. Or Busquets not needed for Barca's midfield to get better even though they already had Xavi and Iniesta. No, a dm is only bought because Pogba needs to get babysat.

Absurd idea, but a legendary myth in this forum.

 

[predator]

I didn't think he was outstandingly bad like so many of you lot are saying. What has cost us in the past 3 games is the fact that our attacking options are so sparse. Alot of us recognised this before the arson even started. We literally do not have a proper striker.

 

[RedRonaldo]

I don't like watching Pogba in DM role, its really painful to watch sometimes, where he would not be arse. But Pogba as no.10, at least he can create something out of nothing, I don't understand why Ole don't play him there more often.

 

[beergod]

I refuse to believe we wouldn’t be improved a lot if we replaced him with a proper creative CM who is only a little worse than him going forwards but actually knows how to retain possession, when to keep it simple and where to stand on the pitch.

Same. The uncertainty he brings makes it impossible to maintain a functional midfield.

 

[tjb]

You've hit the nail squarely on the head there. Pogba's style of play is not presently a good fit for this league, and he doesn't give the impression that he is prepared to adapt his game to change that.

I believe he will have left before the start of next season and that the move will benefit both him and the club. I also suspect that we'll accept a much lower price for him than is generally supposed (his value has not been enhanced during his time with us). The notion that he is indispensable is pure fantasy.

I agree. We will get a reduced value for Pogba, luckily we are rich enough to replace him easily. His actual value in terms of what he offers the club at present rather than his overall skill is easily replaceable in my opinion. There are centre midfielders who are far better team players, less reckless, better defensively and more conductive than Pogba is. There are also attacking midfielders who are more creative, with more offensive awareness and better ball control than Pogba. We have a full year to plan his departure and ensure we replace him adequately, like liverpool did with coutinho. We can get it right, we just need to copy the model we used in the present window.

 

[Jaap]

Playing him so deep is a crime itself. Pogba‘s best games came in a three-man midfield for Juventus, France & for us.

He‘s too careless on the ball to be playing this deep & much more effective further up top.

Anyway, I still reckon he‘ll be gone by Monday night.

 

[In Rainbows]

Playing him so deep is a crime itself. Pogba‘s best games came in a three-man midfield for Juventus, France & for us.

He‘s too careless on the ball to be playing this deep & much more effective further up top.

Anyway, I still reckon he‘ll be gone by Monday night.

If he's gone by Monday, we're screwed.