There isn't any (maybe Fred). But to me, that tells me more about our team and recruitment than it does about Pogba. He is a fine footballer, that is for sure. But the teams he has excelled in, are not too numerous either. And it wouldn't be wrong to say that both these teams would have been great teams without him as well as they were crowded with fine players. What is for sure though is, that Juve and France compensated Pogba one way or the other. I would have been happy to see us do that as well, we never did. Because we had and have so many issues.
He isn't. But there are big indicators that he is some sort of luxury item these days. A player who can bring the spark to an already well functioning team. But he isn't a player who excels under pressure. Pressure like building a team around him or needing him to perform to a good level week in week out. Granted, his injuries were also a factor, but that just speaks as much for him as it does against him.
I am sure we could. But a) he is the one player where a big decision is imminent which is probably a reason, why there is so much focus on his contributions now and b) for me (and seemingly many more) it seems like a very inefficient decision. The reason our midfields don't work aren't just the players in midfield. It is also the the missing support from the front players and issues on the flanks. I know there is a notion, that a player like Rice would enable us to play Bruno and Pogba next to each other - I am sure that this is not going to work. Because neither of them is really interested in defensive workrate. Sometimes they do the bare minimum but they aren't like Marchisio, Vidal, Matuidi or Rabiot. It won't be enough. We will start looking better against deep blocks but teams will start to have a go at us. Swarming the room behind.
He would for sure. I am not against the notion that we need more than one upgrade in midfield. But to me it is clear that there isn't just one player who will take care of defense on his own. It won't happen. Defense and Offense these days are team efforts. And while great teams are able to carry one or two great players, it asks a lot of the other players. And I don't think, apart from Fred there is one player who even has the capabilities workrate wise to do parts of the job of somebody else.
I understand that point as well. But to be honest, I've not been around too many posts indicating that per se. McTom is for many only a squad player. Look at his weekly salary, we would be mad to let him go. Bruno has this great period of good form in his CV, people won't turn too quickly on him, even if I find his performances problematic for over a year. Pogba has been here for a long time now. He came with big expectations and many feel let down. I am sure, the extent varies and some of it is down to wrong expectations and misorganisation of the club more than the player itself. But thats all just the road leading to the place we are right now. And now, the club that has been criticized for making bad decisions has to make a difficult decision again. We know our salary structure is fecked up, giving Pogba 400k will preserve that state. For that alone, it should be avoided at all costs. But even without this huge factor, we are looking at a seemingly injury prone soon 29 year old, one that we have scouted as good as it gets as he is in the club since 2016. So has he shown performance wise that he should be given a record salary? Do we think that we will get somebody who will do what he does for less?
