Paul Pogba

Status
Not open for further replies.
Barcelona's midfield and attack is so good that they would make any other midfield look silly. They are so good with ball retention and pressing, that it's hard for others to match. Pogba is a very, very good player already, but he is not coming back to United. He will end up at Barcelona, either in January or next summer.
 
Rightly or wrongly, this guy is considered the very top shelf of transfers targets.

As such, he will probably end up at on of the La Liga duopoly. Or maybe City if they splash mega wages.
 
It would feck me off no end if this fecker ended up and Citeh.
 
From Juventus perspective the Barcelona transfer makes sense.

1. They will pay top money.
2. They can't have him immediately so they might well let him stay for one more season.
 
I see him ending up at City. They are going to pay him massive wages and seem to have no FFP restrictions this year. If rumours are true, and they also add De Bruyne to the squad, it's one hell of a transfer window for them. Mind you, they still need reinforcements in the back...
 
it's sickening to watch a player we should have sitting in our midfield that we let go for nothing being touted around at such money.
He is a fantastic player and there should be so much more to come.
But I still think the asking price will be stupid £60+ million is silly money for his experience.
But then again it's nothing to Citeh and I guess any player is worth what a club will pay for him.
 
onemanarmy said:
I see him ending up at City. They are going to pay him massive wages and seem to have no FFP restrictions this year. If rumours are true, and they also add De Bruyne to the squad, it's one hell of a transfer window for them. Mind you, they still need reinforcements in the back...
Click to expand...


I think they are odds on to get Sterling too.
 
MoBeats said:
It would feck me off no end if this fecker ended up and Citeh.
Click to expand...

Me too. If we lose out to Barca/Madrid then it's understandable. But financially we should be able to match City so there's no excuse for letting him go there. (Unless LVG doesn't actually want him, of course).
 
devil in me said:
Me too. If we lose out to Barca/Madrid then it's understandable. But financially we should be able to match City so there's no excuse for letting him go there. (Unless LVG doesn't actually want him, of course).
Click to expand...
Or he does actually hold a grudge against the club for not giving him an opportunity before? - not that he has ever said he does but I know a coupld of his Juve team mates have said stuff implying he wouldn't want to go back to us?
 
I can see City getting him and Sterling this summer. The chairman's comments about making a splash suggest they will throw a lot of petrodollars around this windows.
 
I don't think he'll end up at Barca.

They'll wait a year and take Coutinho off of Liverpool.
 
Bring him and City on. Any good player in the league is welcome, cnut or not. Makes beating them harder but also sweeter.
I don't want him signing for us, he had his chance.
 
sun_tzu said:
Or he does actually hold a grudge against the club for not giving him an opportunity before? - not that he has ever said he does but I know a coupld of his Juve team mates have said stuff implying he wouldn't want to go back to us?
Click to expand...

He's said in the past that he still loves United. I just don't think he gets on with Fergie after what happened, but seeing as he's no longer with United in the same capacity then that's really no barrier.
 
I suspect news of a City bid isn't too far away.

I've not seen a £60m+ player when I've seen them, but he's obviously doing something right when I'm not watching.
 
Caveat: This is a general comment, it does not pertain to whether we should buy Pogba or not, whether LVG is right or wrong not to be – or to be – interested or not interested in buying him, nor to whether SAF was wrong or right to act as he did a few years back. Just a general comment.

I find it very interesting to read some of the comments in this thread. And I keep hearing similar things from people I know and talk football with too. They are skeptical of Pogba. Because he's, sort of, untamed. That's my take on it anyway. What I like most about him, viz. his penchant for suddenly involving himself heavily in the attack, whether it be with the ball at his feet or not (usually the former, I suppose – the latter is more acceptable as per the view I'm talking about here), they consider a weakness: An indication that he isn't disciplined enough, or even plain unintelligent as a footballer.

Now, needless to say, part of this criticism has to do with his perceived (and probably real enough) lack of defensive nous and prowess. But there's something else there. They don't like the fact that he breaks utterly with the pattern (again: my take on it). It's considered almost an anachronism of sorts (yet again: my take on it). Who does he think he is, bursting forward like that – or involving himself like that, considering that the end product, statistically regarded, is wholly unsatisfactory (how many goals from distance does he actually score?).

Mechanical midfielders who can be relied on, and who focus mainly on keeping their passing accuracy around the 90% mark, seem to be more popular than the sort of players I once regarded as pretty great. That's my conclusion, I guess. Not saying that Pogba, who is still just a nipper, is a great player unappreciated by the new generation of dry-as-bone stat fanatics – but I've been thinking about this lately, and...yeah. There it is.

I like the lad as a player. I like watching him play. He's not predictable, unlike a whole host of present-day midfielders who don't seem to do much beyond operating as parts of a machinery. The Xavi role without Xavi's genius, which more often than not produced something you actually remembered after having watched the match. It's insanely dull.
 
Chester you have a mad but great posting style. I agree with what you are saying though. I think people look at Barkley the same way although he is obviously much leas proven anyway.
 
@Chesterlestreet,
Interesting points. I don't know if that's what it comes down to, in terms of people not seeing 'it'.

I know that for me it's that I actually can't see what his game is. I don't think it's a black-mark against him that he finds himself in advanced positions (sometimes as the furthest forward) but I just think he's a player who's just sort of there, and only appears to be doing more than he is because he's big and eye-catching.

I've literally seen a tiny bit of Odegaard and Olivier Torres, and I can already tell you what they're about, that they are already very good players, and that even if they simply just mature their respective games (not even improve significantly), they'll be in the top-tier of midfielders.

I just don't see that with Pogba. He's just an instinct player, by the looks of it. And I still think his biggest asset is simply being huge in size. I'm still not sure what else he really truly brings, to be honest. Maybe I'm always catching him on sloppy, underwhelming days.
 
Speak said:
@Chesterlestreet,
And I still think his biggest asset is simply being huge in size. I'm still not sure what else he really truly brings, to be honest. Maybe I'm always catching him on sloppy, underwhelming days.
Click to expand...

Heh! Maybe you are. Or maybe I'm seeing something in him that I want to see, so to speak.

But even though I'm a sentimental twat, I ain't completely out of it. And you don't impose yourself on a match in the way he does – at the level he plays at, both in Italy and in the CL * - just by being a big bastard. You can do that at youth level, but that's where it stops. And even at youth level Pogba stood out because he had something beyond being physically imposing. In fact, his game at youth level was surprisingly little – as I saw it back then - about pure physicality.

I take your point, though – and to a certain extent I agree. It's not easy to see precisely what sort of player he is, or will become – or precisely what he can bring to the table on a regular basis for a top club. Perhaps that's why I like him. He's not boring, whatever else he may be.

* People were ridiculously critical this season. He wasn't great, but for feck's sake. Even against Real, the second leg - when people went overboard with how horrible he was and how he had been "found out" - he actually contributed, and not insignificantly either. He assisted Juve's crucial goal, IIRC, precisely by involving himself in a somewhat unconventional manner.
 
It definitely looks like he's leaving this Summer, doesn't it? Juventus have already signed two new midfielders and only Pirlo looks set to leave, they've also made a big money signing that they will certainly be looking to offset with one of departures and this might be a good time to cash in on Pogba seeing as City look quite desperate to land him while Real Madrid and Barcelona are also lurking.
 
For the record, I don't really want us to buy him back. There's something stupid about that. Plus, I don't think Fergie was “wrong” back then. More like he didn't really have a choice. But I do think Pogba is a Fergie style player – well, partly, at least.

Just expressing my affinity for him, as a player. I hope he keeps on playing that sort of game, but improves further. In which case he will become a monster too big to downplay, as it were.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Central midfielders better than Fellaini? Believe me, I wish it was a shorter list than it probably is.
Click to expand...

He brings physicality, goals and great aerial play. We have good balance right now, but Pogba would improve our overall play while still having Fellaini's strenghts, that's why i think he is the perfect upgrade.
Of course there is better midfielders than Fellaini, but not necessarily ones that fits us.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
For the record, I don't really want us to buy him back. There's something stupid about that. Plus, I don't think Fergie was “wrong” back then. More like he didn't really have a choice. But I do think Pogba is a Fergie style player – well, partly, at least.

Just expressing my affinity for him, as a player. I hope he keeps on playing that sort of game, but improves further. In which case he will become a monster too big to downplay, as it were.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure he's quite the throw-back you imply. Could end up very like Toure when he was at his best for City. So formidable a presence it doesn't matter that he's not the most disciplined, yet still a very modern type of player.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I'm not sure he's quite the throw-back you imply. Could end up very like Toure when he was at his best for City. So formidable a presence it doesn't matter that he's not the most disciplined, yet still a very modern type of player.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's how I see him – ideally.

Many people don't care for Yaya either, though – and for much the same reasons I suggested above. He isn't disciplined enough, not – dare I say – mechanically reliable enough.

It's not really a modern versus throwback thing, though – so that part can be ignored, I'll concede. It's more a question of preferences, we could say. And a preference for reliability and passing accuracy (statistically speaking more than anything, it would seem) in a midfielder is a modern sort of preference, even though it's not (happily) shared by all modern fans.
 
With respect, if he chooses City over Madrid/Barca/United...then it would say a lot about his character. Heck, just leaving Juve for City is a massive step down, never mind ignoring some of Europe's elite to make that move.
 
Sam said:
With respect, if he chooses City over Madrid/Barca/United...then it would say a lot about his character. Heck, just leaving Juve for City is a massive step down, never mind ignoring some of Europe's elite to make that move.
Click to expand...

Contrary to popular belief, mercenaries with questionable character still win teams titles and have enviable careers.
 
Sam said:
With respect, if he chooses City over Madrid/Barca/United...then it would say a lot about his character. Heck, just leaving Juve for City is a massive step down, never mind ignoring some of Europe's elite to make that move.
Click to expand...

Why? If he feels City is the best move for his career, then why does him going there say anything about his character?
 
Pexbo said:
Contrary to popular belief, mercenaries with questionable character still win teams titles and have enviable careers.
Click to expand...

They do indeed, but to choose City over Madrid/Barca/United?...That would be mental.
 
Sam said:
They do indeed, but to choose City over Madrid/Barca/United?...That would be mental.
Click to expand...

Meh. I don't think players care so much about what clubs have done in the past, more about what they can do for the duration of their career with them. If the FFP have indeed been relaxed, then City could once again been a hell of a force with a bunch of cash spent over the next few years. That could suit Pogba's situation over the next 3-5 years.

Fans think too much about prestige of clubs, players just want to know what they will earn and what they might win.
 
Pexbo said:
Meh. I don't think players care so much about what clubs have done in the past, more about what they can do for the duration of their career with them. If the FFP have indeed been relaxed, then City could once again been a hell of a force with a bunch of cash spent over the next few years. That could suit Pogba's situation over the next 3-5 years.

Fans think too much about prestige of clubs, players just want to know what they will earn and what they might win.
Click to expand...
I think this is true for the most part but not always. I don't think Ronaldo would have left us for Chelsea or PSG even if they offered more wages than Real Madrid. Also can't count out the influence of uncle Zidane. If Real Madrid come calling with 20 percent less wages than City but with uncle Zidane bringing the envelope that could influence his decision.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
Yes, that's how I see him – ideally.

Many people don't care for Yaya either, though – and for much the same reasons I suggested above. He isn't disciplined enough, not – dare I say – mechanically reliable enough.

It's not really a modern versus throwback thing, though – so that part can be ignored, I'll concede. It's more a question of preferences, we could say. And a preference for reliability and passing accuracy (statistically speaking more than anything, it would seem) in a midfielder is a modern sort of preference, even though it's not (happily) shared by all modern fans.
Click to expand...
I really like Toure's style, but haven't really taken to Pogba's style. But then, as much as Toure receives flack, he's still a very accurate, reliable passer - especially in league games. He's the hub of City's passing game along with Silva. I think he made second highest number of passes in the league, and also received the most passes during the league the 2011/12 season, when City's passing game was at its best.

So while even Toure is not specialised enough for many people's tastes, he's still been key in the passing department.
I think Pogba would do well to get to Toure's peak level in the future. And maybe Toure provides a good template for what he should aim for, in terms of building and styling his game.
 
It's gonna be between Real and Barca to sign him. City has no chance, he is going to be among the most expensive players in the world when he leaves Juve and City can't compete for this caliber of player. Hell we can't even compete if Barca and Real are interested in a player even though we are thanks to FFP the more potent club financially.
 
NoLogo said:
It's gonna be between Real and Barca to sign him. City has no chance, he is going to be among the most expensive players in the world when he leaves Juve and City can't compete for this caliber of player. Hell we can't even compete if Barca and Real are interested in a player even though we are thanks to FFP the more potent club financially.
Click to expand...
FFP has been relaxed, city can spend whatever they want on him
 
Status
Not open for further replies.