[Renegade]

Looking very good in the deep midfield position.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Hope its the start of his season, he looked awful in the Finland game.

 

[laughtersassassin]

Play him with Fred against West Brom. Even if it doesn't work there would be no excuses not to beat west Brom. It's a team game after all.

I know people are liking McTominay but his inability his defensive work doesn't make up for his inability to distribute the ball for me.

Plus against West Brom we'll need the distribution more.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He’s been ok. Working hard and fairly disciplined. Done nothing special though. Not yet anyway.

 

[eire-red]

He's been good so far against Portugal. International football suits him with the slower pace, more evidence to suggest the claim of Pogba simply not suited to the intensity and physicality of the PL.

 

[laughtersassassin]

He’s been ok. Working hard and fairly disciplined. Done nothing special though. Not yet anyway.

Insane cross field ball to Coman was very special.

And then keeping things ticking along nicely.

Solid 7 or 8 put of 10.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Yeah been good. Kept it simple but effective.

Ive said numerous times how we should stick to McT and Fred but we haven't seen enough of Fred and Pogba.

With Fred being the closest thing to Kante, it'd be nice to see them have a run of games.

The two were really good in the Europa, especially against a good Sevilla side. A game we dominated and should have easily won.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

He’s been ok. Working hard and fairly disciplined. Done nothing special though. Not yet anyway.

What is special, though?

These are the performances I want from a centre midfield. Keeping possession, working hard, passing forward, etc.

Its when he tries to do special things people get annoyed with him.

These are the type of performances we consistently see from the likes of Modric, Thiago, Verratti, etc.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

What is special, though?

These are the performances I want from a centre midfield. Keeping possession, working hard, passing forward, etc.

Its when he tries to do special things people get annoyed with him.

These are the type of performances we consistently see from the likes of Modric, Thiago, Verratti, etc.

“Special” would have been scoring or assisting a goal. Failing that, creating a really good chance, for himself or others. Or even some passes that other, less talented CMs couldn’t pull off.

We didn’t pay 90 million quid for a central midfielder who brings nothing to the table but working hard and keeping it simple. And we all know he can’t be relied upon to do these two things consistently.

 

[Jeppers7]

Insane cross field ball to Coman was very special.

And then keeping things ticking along nicely.

Solid 7 or 8 put of 10.

Not enough for the poster you’re referring to. If he scores three he wasn’t disciplined enough if he’s disciplined he wasn’t special enough. Just a massive agenda. He’s probably not even watched it but has an opinion

 

[Hugh Jass]

“Special” would have been scoring or assisting a goal. Failing that, creating a really good chance, for himself or others.

We didn’t pay 90 million quid for a central midfielder who brings nothing to the table but working hard and keeping it simple. And we all know he can’t be relied upon to do these two things consistently.

This.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Only caught some parts of it but looks like he put in a shift and even made a few tackles and worked hard. The comments must've fired him up.

 

[VP89]

Play him with Fred against West Brom. Even if it doesn't work there would be no excuses not to beat west Brom. It's a team game after all.

I know people are liking McTominay but his inability his defensive work doesn't make up for his inability to distribute the ball for me.

Plus against West Brom we'll need the distribution more.

I don't get why we'd test Pogba with Fred over VDB. Unless you've bought into a myth that VDB is just a 10?

 

[Rajma]

I genuinely think he’s regressed in the past year or so, at least from the technique point of view. He struggles nowadays to pull anything that’s not rather basic.

 

[acnumber9]

We didn’t pay 90 million quid for a central midfielder who brings nothing to the table but working hard and keeping it simple

We paid £50m for one that people are raving about currently.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

We paid £50m for one that people are raving about currently.

Fred?

If only Pogba was getting similar rave reviews.

 

[Jeppers7]

Fred?

If only Pogba was getting similar rave reviews.

Pogba has done five times as much as Fred in his time at United. Fred has done nothing yet. People jumping in two footed on Pogba who last season was out for seven months then had Covid. Won’t see him near his best until next year probably.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

Admittedly didn't see the first half but the second Pogba fell over impressively a few times, had a great run which he spoiled by missing a header from 6 yards, played about a dozen 10 yard passes and didn't feck up which I suppose is a plus. On the positive side he does look like his fitness is returning.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

Pogba has done five times as much as Fred in his time at United. Fred has done nothing yet. People jumping in two footed on Pogba who last season was out for seven months then had Covid. Won’t see him near his best until next year probably.

That would be a supprise, we havent seen his best in 4 years, why would he suddenly be at it next year?

 

[Bondi77]

He played alright just doing the simple things as we should expect,
He didn’t do anything stupid in his own penalty area as we should expect,
I was more impressed with Martial as while he should have scored at least one goal I thought his movement was really good and was the movement of a #9 which is a good sign for us.

 

[Drz]

He was better than against Finland. But that's not saying much, particularly when you see the work Rabiot and Kante put in, the intensity with which they make themselves available for inter-play when France had the ball, and the intensity they put in to press when Portugal had the ball was in stark contrast to Pogba, who until France scored I felt was playing American football, in the role of the protected QB, waiting in space to make his long pass, if it's not on just pass it on...

 

[acnumber9]

Fred?

If only Pogba was getting similar rave reviews.

Yeah but Fred is getting rave reviews for exactly what you described.

 

[appleman]

Play him with Fred against West Brom. Even if it doesn't work there would be no excuses not to beat west Brom. It's a team game after all.

I know people are liking McTominay but his defensive work doesn't make up for his inability to distribute the ball for me.

Plus against West Brom we'll need the distribution more.

To be honest, I think Fred would be the only suitor if you'd play Pogba deep like that. His shaky moments today he always had someone closeby to pass to in at least – usually – Kante or Rabiot. At United the distances between players are generally far larger, I think Fred with his lung capacity and positioning choices is the only one who could provide him with at least something to fall back on. Donny could provide a short pass option, too, but when deployed as DM/CM at Ajax he usually stayed up front way too much, leaving the defense way too open.

You just have to think if you want to change the whole game to implement Pogba again, hoping things will turn out better/more consistent than all the times before. With this pretty much 4-2-4 (or 5-2-3) Ole uses, it's probably safest to keep Pogba as an option up front where players can stay closer to each other.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yeah but Fred is getting rave reviews for exactly what you described.

The “hard work” Pogba was getting praised for tonight isn’t even close to what Fred usually produces.

 

[acnumber9]

The “hard work” Pogba was getting praised for tonight isn’t even close to what Fred usually produces.

Can’t really comment on tonight’s game so I wouldn’t argue the point. But hard work and playing simple is supposedly what makes Fred the most underrated player in the league.

 

[The midfield general]

He:s average at best,what happened to the Pogba we expected head up running at people, controlling games feck me he:s built like a brute when was the last time he had a shot at goal,I just do not understand how he does not just go out there and boss the games he plays in.

 

[Idxomer]

Ran the midfield today, good for him.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

“Special” would have been scoring or assisting a goal. Failing that, creating a really good chance, for himself or others. Or even some passes that other, less talented CMs couldn’t pull off.

We didn’t pay 90 million quid for a central midfielder who brings nothing to the table but working hard and keeping it simple. And we all know he can’t be relied upon to do these two things consistently.

I'd have to disagree. We constantly mention price when it comes to Pogba and use goals and assists to judge his performances but we don't do that for other midfielders.

Funnily enough, Kante scored tonight but other than his goal tonight, when does Kante pop up with a goal or assist or create chances?

Tonight, Pogba didn't do anything special no, but I'd much prefer him to play like he played tonight throughout the season, then to score and assist and have terrible games in the midfield as he has done in the past.

Obviously, a bonus if he can do both but for a sitting midfielder, the job he did tonight is good enough. The exact type of performance he was putting in post lockdown.

 

[Borys]

Best game of the season for him. He did all the simple things right, nothing special. It says a lot that we're praising him for that kind of performance.

He was good but if that was McTominay, he would be criticized for not contributing offensively. But I'd consider giving him a chance in next game, looks fit enough.

I still don't trust him defensively but maybe he realized he needs to keep it simple in midfield most of the time.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'd have to disagree. We constantly mention price when it comes to Pogba and use goals and assists to judge his performances but we don't do that for other midfielders.

Funnily enough, Kante scored tonight but other than his goal tonight, when does Kante pop up with a goal or assist or create chances?

Tonight, Pogba didn't do anything special no, but I'd much prefer him to play like he played tonight throughout the season, then to score and assist and have terrible games in the midfield as he has done in the past.

Obviously, a bonus if he can do both but for a sitting midfielder, the job he did tonight is good enough. The exact type of performance he was putting in post lockdown.

More often than Pogba, arguably, whenever he’s been allowed a similar amount of freedom.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Can’t really comment on tonight’s game so I wouldn’t argue the point. But hard work and playing simple is supposedly what makes Fred the most underrated player in the league.

It's a different ball game when it comes to Pogba.

People struggle to forget about the price, which I get, but it means unless Pogba is scoring and assisting every game, he's shite.

Tonight, he and Kante bossed Portugal's midfield three.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

More often than Pogba, arguably, whenever he’s been allowed a similar amount of freedom.

We both know that's not true!

 

[The United]

Well, people are talking nothing new here about him.

The guy is not consistent enough to play simple or work hard or create goals.

But, some people praising him as world class or saying he plays well when he does some of those once every 5 games is getting boring though.

I mean he is not some 18 years old youth player with a lot of potential.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Can’t really comment on tonight’s game so I wouldn’t argue the point. But hard work and playing simple is supposedly what makes Fred the most underrated player in the league.

I don’t like the concept of underrated. Underrated by who? Fred often stands out as the hardest working player on the pitch. That’s the sort of hard work that gets rave reviews. Deservedly so. That’s most definitely not what we saw from Pogba tonight. It was only really noticeable because of the difference from his own typical level of effort.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Best game of the season for him. He did all the simple things right, nothing special. It says a lot that we're praising him for that kind of performance.

He was good but if that was McTominay, he would be criticized for not contributing offensively. But I'd consider giving him a chance in next game, looks fit enough.

I still don't trust him defensively but maybe he realized he needs to keep it simple in midfield most of the time.

Do we not praise the likes of Thiago, Verratti, De Jong and co. when they do similar things?

 

[DoomSlayer]

It's a different ball game when it comes to Pogba.

People struggle to forget about the price, which I get, but it means unless Pogba is scoring and assisting every game, he's shite.

Tonight, he and Kante bossed Portugal's midfield three.

Why is it only Pogba that gets excused when it comes to the expectations that an enormous transfer fee brings?

 

[acnumber9]

I don’t like the concept of underrated. Underrated by who? Fred often stands out as the hardest working player on the pitch. That’s the sort of hard work that gets rave reviews. Deservedly so. That’s most definitely not what we saw from Pogba tonight. It was only really noticeable because of the difference from his own typical level of effort.

Well Pogba will never be as much of a worker unfortunately. If he could get closer though then it would give him a platform to showcase what he can do.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Why is it only Pogba that gets excused when it comes to the expectations that an enormous transfer fee brings?

It's not just Pogba. People constantly mention price and I say the same thing. They didn't buy themselves. Their previous club value them at a certain price and if the club feel they're worth it, then they purchase them. It's that simple!

It's the same with Maguire.

 

[Bwuk]

Always plays great with Kante. Should of signed Kante years ago when we had the chance.

 

[DoomSlayer]

It's not just Pogba. People constantly mention price and I say the same thing. They didn't buy themselves. Their previous club value them at a certain price and if the club that wants them feel they're worth it, then they purchase them. It's that simple!

It's the same with Maguire.

I hope people who preach that for Pogba keep the same consistency with other players. Which means not judging any football player on the financial investment, i.e. transfer fee and wages.