[Rozay]

building team around players is a dumb thing anyway. It’s a dinosaur type belief

Agree. I hate the expression.

 

[Rozay]

PP was great today, and robbed of a brilliant assist. He’s had a very good season on the whole. Was poor in his first 4 games, but has been consistently good since then when he’s played. Seems to be winning the appreciation of more fans too, which is good. Of course, there will be a group that will doubtless be insinuating that McTominay is a better player soon enough.

In the long run, I’d like him to stay, although I’m still unsure about him and Bruno together every week.

 

[laughtersassassin]

Great analysis non Pogba and the game on MOTD Tonight.

Pogba Shaw Bruno have been our best 3 players this season.

Sign some top players and get him to stay. We nearly have a very good team.

Losing him would be detrimental.

 

[diarm]

Great analysis non Pogba and the game on MOTD Tonight.

Pogba Shaw Bruno have been our best 3 players this season.

Sign some too players and get him to stay. We nearly have a very good team.

Losing him would be detrimental.

Not having him for that couple of months after Christmas has cost us a proper crack at the title.

 

[Freak]

Top performance today

 

[kouroux]

Desailly made a great point about Pogba today. He said Pogba needs to be part of a well-run team. He's not the player you can build the team around.

I've been saying it for years as have many others, @Rozay too

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I've been saying it for years as have many others, @Rozay too

Agreed. But the thing is, where do you fit him in? He's not an attacker and we need pace on the flanks. And as a midfielder, it's extremely hard to fit both him and Bruno into one midfield. Either they both work harder defensively, or we just take that risk against weak teams. But no doubt, Pogba is a player who needs the midfield and defense to give him service rather than being the heart of the midfield. Once we do that, his absolute brilliance on the ball shines. Fantastic today.

 

[Member 117152]

Pretty much every player needs that nowadays, even the Madrid team that won 3 CLs in a row wasn't really built around Ronaldo.

Barcelona have been worse because they built a team around Messi for years too.

Pretty much every season they had other players around him to take the burden off and they won trebles as he just played as he always does.

Even 2012 and his crazy year they didn’t win the champions league. Came close but the focus shifted too much towards Messi that season onwards apart from maybe 2015.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Easily the most talented midfielder in the world right now. If he maintain this kind of form, he would surely challenge De Bruyne as best midfielder in the world too.

 

[kafta]

Ridiculous how he was bouncing players off him, and dancing past them. A rare combination of power and skill. A joy to watch when he plays like that.

I hope we manage to keep him.

 

[RedRonaldo]

You know those threads about the lack of entertainers in football today, we've had one for the last 5 years and he spent most of that time shoehorned into a midfield 2 to screen the defense.

This I never understand. I’ve always thought he is at his best in AM role, I thought it is so obvious even every grandma would have notice that too, as all his strengths are about attacking. I never understand the insistence to put him in DM and ask him to shield the defence.

 

[kouroux]

Agreed. But the thing is, where do you fit him in? He's not an attacker and we need pace on the flanks. And as a midfielder, it's extremely hard to fit both him and Bruno into one midfield. Either they both work harder defensively, or we just take that risk against weak teams. But no doubt, Pogba is a player who needs the midfield and defense to give him service rather than being the heart of the midfield. Once we do that, his absolute brilliance on the ball shines. Fantastic today.

He can play as a midfielder as long as he can simplify his game (he's done that in several games for United as a pure CM but it's never mentioned enough) but he's obviously better and more dangerous when given more freedom to roam forward like yesterday. If he is 100% fit like he is these days, there is all to gain by playing him, no matter the position

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He can play as a midfielder as long as he can simplify his game (he's done that in several games for United as a pure CM but it's never mentioned enough) but he's obviously better and more dangerous when given more freedom to roam forward like yesterday. If he is 100% fit like he is these days, there is all to gain by playing him, no matter the position

You're right, but I'm trying to recall the formation we would have played. I think he would have been the most attacking of a 3 man midfield. Thing is, Bruno presses and is a tryer but his best work is really high up the pitch. I guess its all about employing your tactics well. Nobody thought Silva and KDB would be a good midfield either.

But seriously, wonderful performance from Pogba. On days like that, he's on a different level altogether.

 

[kouroux]

You're right, but I'm trying to recall the formation we would have played. I think he would have been the most attacking of a 3 man midfield. Thing is, Bruno presses and is a tryer but his best work is really high up the pitch. I guess its all about employing your tactics well. Nobody thought Silva and KDB would be a good midfield either.

But seriously, wonderful performance from Pogba. On days like that, he's on a different level altogether.

This is the key right here and I have to say that OGS has done wonderfully well when it comes to that

 

[Bwuk]

Agreed. But the thing is, where do you fit him in? He's not an attacker and we need pace on the flanks. And as a midfielder, it's extremely hard to fit both him and Bruno into one midfield. Either they both work harder defensively, or we just take that risk against weak teams. But no doubt, Pogba is a player who needs the midfield and defense to give him service rather than being the heart of the midfield. Once we do that, his absolute brilliance on the ball shines. Fantastic today.

He's not exactly slow though is he, and with Shaw having such a strong season up and down the left it allows Pogba to roam inside and drift. It's the same as when we used to play Mata off the right.

 

[kouroux]

He's not exactly slow though is he, and with Shaw having such a strong season up and down the left it allows Pogba to roam inside and drift. It's the same as when we used to play Mata off the right.

I'd even add pace for the sake of pace isn't what's needed, good and intelligent movement is the key. It's how Cavani has made his career with all those goals.

 

[Marwood]

Great analysis non Pogba and the game on MOTD Tonight.

Pogba Shaw Bruno have been our best 3 players this season.

Sign some top players and get him to stay. We nearly have a very good team.

Losing him would be detrimental.

Nah he's not played enough for that. Maguire and AWB at the very least are ahead of him in terms of contribution this season.

He was great yesterday but lets not forget was average at best against a poor Granada team just a few days before.

He needs to give us a full season of quality before we can say losing him would be detrimental.

 

[Bwuk]

I'd even add pace for the sake of pace isn't what's needed, good and intelligent movement is the key. It's how Cavani has made his career with all those goals.

Agreed. I'd rather have Pogba on the left than Dan James.

I don't think it's his best position, but he was superb there yesterday and has been recently when played wide.

 

[kouroux]

Agreed. I'd rather have Pogba on the left than Dan James.

I don't think it's his best position, but he was superb there yesterday and has been recently when played wide.

And it gives him many opportunities to come inside and link up with others. This is how Zidane used to play at Real Madrid with Roberto Carlos behind him and enough freedom to dictate the play by coming inside

 

[Water Melon]

At his best, he is one of the best midfielders in the world. Fantastic performance. Great combo of physicality and skill. I have got a feeling that we will offer him a new contract that he and his agent will gladly take. The main concern would be his form afterwards. If he manages to get consistency, we will have one of the best midfields in the world. Him and Bruno are top-class. Find a proper CDM and we are set. McT and Fred will then be decent rotation options.

 

[Escobar]

Agreed. I'd rather have Pogba on the left than Dan James.

I don't think it's his best position, but he was superb there yesterday and has been recently when played wide.

He pops up everywhere anyways so it does not matter as long as our fullbacks are up for it

 

[laughtersassassin]

Nah he's not played enough for that. Maguire and AWB at the very least are ahead of him in terms of contribution this season.

He was great yesterday but lets not forget was average at best against a poor Granada team just a few days before.

He needs to give us a full season of quality before we can say losing him would be detrimental.

Completely disagree. All our bad periods of form have been when Pogba was injured this season.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Really hope we can keep him.

 

[Jeppers7]

Nah he's not played enough for that. Maguire and AWB at the very least are ahead of him in terms of contribution this season.

He was great yesterday but lets not forget was average at best against a poor Granada team just a few days before.

He needs to give us a full season of quality before we can say losing him would be detrimental.

Oh don’t you worry, that will be remembered far more than the 15 good games he had to that and another average performance

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

building team around players is a dumb thing anyway. It’s a dinosaur type belief

Agreed, it's idiotic. Let's entertain that we do it, you're left with workhorses to offset the lack of defensive contribution. When Pogba is injured for a year as he was in 19/20, that left us with a midfield of nothingness? Having to sign Bruno which thankfully worked out.

 

[Marwood]

Completely disagree. All our bad periods of form have been when Pogba was injured this season.

We've had plenty of bad periods with Pogba in the team as well. He alone isn't the key to good and bad form.

Like I said he was average just a few days ago against Granada. He cost us the opening goal against Brighton by being really sloppy just a week ago.

He was brilliant yesterday but he's not irreplaceable. Guys who perform all season long are the one's you keep hold of at all costs.

 

[The Original]

We've had plenty of bad periods with Pogba in the team as well. He alone isn't the key to good and bad form.

Like I said he was average just a few days ago against Granada. He cost us the opening goal against Brighton by being really sloppy just a week ago.

He was brilliant yesterday but he's not irreplaceable. Guys who perform all season long are the one's you keep hold of at all costs.

This argument is rather strange as there is not a player in the world who does not have the odd average game or occasionally give away a pass.

By this standard--being that one must play at their best for every game in an entire season according to you, who is an irreplaceable player that you can think of?

 

[kouroux]

This argument is rather strange as there is not a player in the world who does not have the odd average game or occasionally give away a pass.

By this standard--being that one must play at their best for every game in an entire season according to you, who is an irreplaceable player that you can think of?

And the only examples who come close to those ridiculious standards have played in better teams than Utd for long periods.

 

[laughtersassassin]

We've had plenty of bad periods with Pogba in the team as well. He alone isn't the key to good and bad form.

Like I said he was average just a few days ago against Granada. He cost us the opening goal against Brighton by being really sloppy just a week ago.

He was brilliant yesterday but he's not irreplaceable. Guys who perform all season long are the one's you keep hold of at all costs.

Its like talking to a wall. You pretend people say things that they don't. If your pretend he is easily replaceable you are insane.

To replace him and not regress we will have to spend a lot of money on probably two players and get the right players.

You trust United to do that well? Not a chance.

Anyway you picked out one poor game this season where the whole team was shit. Other than that and the few games at the start of the season where he was recovering from Covid Pogba has been brilliant this season when fit.

We have been much better with him than without as we have in all the seasons he has been here.

You'd swear we where blessed with top players how people talk on here.

 

[Marwood]

This argument is rather strange as there is not a player in the world who does not have the odd average game or occasionally give away a pass.

By this standard--being that one must play at their best for every game in an entire season according to you, who is an irreplaceable player that you can think of?

I'm not arguing he can't have average games here or there. You must know what I mean when I talk about a player performing all season.

 

[Deery]

Was very good yesterday, I was of the belief that I wouldn’t care if he stays or goes but now I’d rather he stayed as he’s a wonderful player on form and I don’t think we’d replace him with anything better.

 

[The Original]

I'm not arguing he can't have average games here or there. You must know what I mean when I talk about a player performing all season.

You've said what you meant.

When talking about Pogba not performing all season you specifically mentioned him having an average gave against Granada, and giving away a pass that led to a goal against Brighton. Therefore, your standard is that he must have a great game and not make any mistakes in any games for an entire season.

For you to make this reply, I can only conclude that even you don't know what you meant.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This argument is rather strange as there is not a player in the world who does not have the odd average game or occasionally give away a pass.

By this standard--being that one must play at their best for every game in an entire season according to you, who is an irreplaceable player that you can think of?

Complete strawman of an argument. Who has been more consistently good this season? Luke Shaw? Or Paul Pogba? The answer to that question is why so many have been disappointed with Pogba.

Considering his cost/status/wages it’s not unreasonable for him to have had at least one season of consistent excellence like Shaw is having for us now. Just like all our best players over the years did when they hit their prime. He clearly hasn’t managed this yet, which is obviously a problem. A strong finish to the season, performing like he did yesterday in our last ten games or so would completely change that narrative. And considering he’s played fewer games than most of his team mates that should be the expectation. Over to you, Paul.

 

[flappyjay]

Agreed. I'd rather have Pogba on the left than Dan James.

I don't think it's his best position, but he was superb there yesterday and has been recently when played wide.

He is also a decent long ball outlet. I know people don't like long balls but they can be useful if you don't spam them.

 

[Marwood]

You've said what you meant.

When talking about Pogba not performing all season you specifically mentioned him having an average gave against Granada, and giving away a pass that led to a goal against Brighton. Therefore, your standard is that he must have a great game and not make any mistakes in any games for an entire season.

For you to make this reply, I can only conclude that even you don't know what you meant.

You're being silly. When anybody says a player has had a good season they don't mean he's literally performed every single game. I mentioned those two games because they were just this week. Three games this week. Excellent in one, average in the other two. I'm sure if I went through the rest of the season there'd be other average games from him as well. Believe me I'm not saying he has to be perfect every game. That narrative can be dropped.

This isn't revolutionary stuff. I'm just saying we need to have Pogba performing at a high level for a full season(doesn't mean every aingle game) before we start saying it's essential we keep him.

He could stay or leave for me, there are postives and negatives to both scenarios. But if he does leave it's not some impossible task to replace him. We've replaced better players many times.

 

[The Original]

Complete strawman of an argument. Who has been more consistently good this season? Luke Shaw? Or Paul Pogba? The answer to that question is why so many have been disappointed with Pogba.

Considering his cost/status/wages it’s not unreasonable for him to have had at least one season of consistent excellence like Shaw is having for us now. Just like all our best players over the years did when they hit their prime. He clearly hasn’t managed this yet, which is obviously a problem. A strong finish to the season, performing like he did yesterday in our last ten games or so would completely change that narrative. And considering he’s played fewer games than most of his team mates that should be the expectation. Over to you, Paul.

Of course he's been just as consistent as Shaw. You're simply conflating his absence through injury, with inconsistency in performance. In reality, he's played consistently well since he recovered from covid.

 

[The Original]

You're being silly. When anybody says a player has had a good season they don't mean he's literally performed every single game. I mentioned those two games because they were just this week. Three games this week. Excellent in one, average in the other two. I'm sure if I went through the rest of the season there'd be other average games from him as well. Believe me I'm not saying he has to be perfect every game. That narrative can be dropped.

This isn't revolutionary stuff. I'm just saying we need to have Pogba performing at a high level for a full season(doesn't mean every aingle game) before we start saying it's essential we keep him.

He could stay or leave for me, there are postives and negatives to both scenarios. But if he does leave it's not some impossible task to replace him. We've replaced better players many times.

So how has Pogba not been great over this season?

 

[Escobar]

I really hope he signs a new contract. Would be great and we badly need him. People should know by know what he can bring to the team

 

[Kostov]

When he is like this, he is unplayable. Aurier will have nightmares about him.

 

[Red_Aaron]

If he stays fit this current squad is a title challenger, with a couple of additions it's a CL contender too

Was brilliant today, reminded me of a performance of his away at arsenal (under mou) where he bossed it. At his best he just strolls past players, such fantastic ability.

He controlled a hoofed ball late on with such ease it was like watching a fifa player