Paul Pogba's mentality...

Should be subbed as soon as he loses his head. And if he has a bad game then be dropped from the squad like any other player. Right now he is a weak spot of the team. Looked a right fraud out there today. Guy needs the Mhki treatment as that was worse than Mhki vs City.
 
He cannot be considered world class with this type of display of poor finishing and decision-making in the box. Not once or twice, but several instances where anyone considered a top player should have scored or created a goal.

The last 5 minutes of today's match were absolutely inexcusable and disgraceful. Consistently did the wrong thing, in a game that will ultimately be vital to our Top 4 aspirations.
 
The only explanation is that he's still 23. Hopefully he'll get better dealing with pressure in the next couple of years. It's all in his head
 
Pog needs to be subbed when he is underperforming. Today was the case. Not sure he will justify his price tag. Hopefully, he will prove us all wrong. Is he Jose's holding mid? Not really sure he is suited to this role.
 
Freak said:
It's ok, we'll get to see him do a new dance video with Lingard and a new haircut within the week.
Click to expand...

Yeah Pogba stop being yourself, that's definitely going to make you a better football player. People really get annoyed at the strangest things.
 
Raoul said:
He isn't our talisman though, and expecting him to be just because of what we paid for him, will always lead to disappointment.
Click to expand...

This.

Great player when he wants to be but playing in a 3 with Vidal and Pirlo enabled him roam without the pressure of pulling the strings.

Has top 10 player in the world talent, but will always be Robin, not Batman.
 
He definitely has to improve mentally. Holding on the ball too much, being overly flashy for no reason, lacking composure in front of goal and struggling when the pressure is on/teams don't give him space, suggests he has some way to go before becoming the player we want him to become. Question is whether he can do it or if it will always a part of his game.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
He definitely has to improve mentally. Holding on the ball too much, being overly flashy for no reason, lacking composure in front of goal and struggling when the pressure is on/teams don't give him space, suggests he has some way to go before becoming the player we want him to become. Question is whether he can do it or if it will always a part of his game.
Click to expand...

I think it's just a case of him being comfortable with who he is as a player, well I hope so anyway.
 
He tends to keep the ball for far too long

Prefers to do the difficult fancy skills instead of a simple pass

Most of the time he jogs back when we lose possession instead of chasing runners

His marking is terrible
 
He needs a Keane or G Neville style personality next to him.
 
Garethw said:
He needs a Keane or G Neville style personality next to him.
Click to expand...
He needs Marchisio and Vidal next to him. If he's a luxury player, then he came to Utd at wrong time. Needs to step up his game big time.
 
He needs to do a lot better. However what I would say is I believe his time at Juventus has really hurt his development. Playing your first few professional years as a central midfielder with zero responsibility seems to have lead to a decline in him taking responsibility and getting the basics of being a midfielder right.

In the cup final he let players ghost past him which caused problems, throughout the whole season he's given the ball away in dangerous areas when a simple pass was the obvious choice and in the game. Thats fine with two industrious midfielders to mop up for you but not in our team. You add awful finishing to that equation and it's a problem.

I think Jose is trying to untrain quite a lot out of him. He could be the best box to box midfielder in the world as part of a midfield two, or he could just be a good part of a solid midfield three with little attacking ability. Jose has a system which involves 4 attacking players which is incompatible with playing a Carrick-Herrera-Pogba midfield (hence Griezmann). Therefore Pogba will have to learn to play the role better, but it will take time.

New Country, new role, new responsibilities at 23 years old. It will take time.
 
He just needs to focus on doing his job well, which he is very capable of doing. He allows himself to get frustrated far too easily, and will express that frustration outwardly which is bad for the mentality of the whole team. Mourinho needs to have a talk with him.
 
He's not a goalscorer. It's ok for Neville to criticise Pogba's decision making and technique in the box but he was never that player. We shouldn't be asking him to get us out of trouble like that.
He's not Neymar and he's not Ronaldo.
We created enough chances and pegged them back inside their own box, Pogba is the least of our concerns.
 
Treble_Winning said:
I will say this again - any criticism of Pogba based on his transfer fee is unfair. Pogba did not decide his own transfer fee. It's not his fault our board decided to pay that much for him. He is a 22 year old kid who has less than 5 seasons of experience at the top level. Give him a fecking break. If we expect him to play like Zidane every game, it is just going to saddle him with unrealistic expectations and hamper his development.

Why do people blame Pogba (and Zlatan) for every single bad game, yet say absolutely nothing about Martial and Rashford, both of whom have done far less than Pogba has this season?
Click to expand...
Pogba is taking home a world class player salary every week ... maybe he should agree to Herrera like money until he justifies his fee?
 
Last edited:
Water Melon said:
He needs Marchisio and Vidal next to him. If he's a luxury player, then he came to Utd at wrong time. Needs to step up his game big time.
Click to expand...

I was talking more along the lines of someone that will bark orders at him and give him a bollocking to re-focus him. He's not getting that with quiet little pussycats like Carrick and Herrera.
 
Garethw said:
I was talking more along the lines of someone that will bark orders at him and give him a bollocking to re-focus him. He's not getting that with quiet little pussycats like Carrick and Herrera.
Click to expand...
Do you think barking at Pog will help? We willthen have to field 15 players in each game, as we will always have several players who will need instructions. Pog is not a holding mid (at least does not look like one now), and I doubt he will ever be a top one. Playing a bit higher up the field would probably suit him better, I do not really get what Jose is trying to make out of him.
 
I hate these literal championship players. Pogba needs like four midfielders playing next to him to get the best out of him. He literally can't play in a 2 man midfield. 8 man midfield maybe. With some extra help. And a wall. Also, his hair dye is to blame for everything. Even Trump (more walls).

I wish he'd go back to Juve. I'd take 50p and Sami Kedhira. In the summer, when I was posting all those South Park 'room covered in ejaculate' memes, I was just trying to fit in. Coz really, I always thought he was shit. Oh, and that time I posted in the Pogba thread, a few weeks ago, about what a complete player he was? Didn't mean it. Had my fingers crossed.
 
kps88 said:
It's surprised me. Was he like this at Juventus as well or has the fee and expectation gone to his head? I expected a winner's mentality; someone to stand up when the pressure is on. He seems the opposite to me.
Click to expand...

I told you all back in the summer. His game in Juventus is not comparable to what was expected from him at United.

He played in midfield in a 3-5-2 setup in a one horse league. It's a completely different world.
 
sammsky1 said:
Pogba is taking home a world class player salary every week ... maybe he should agree to Herrera like money until he justifies his fee?
Click to expand...

Why do you care? Are you Herrera?

The club thinks he's well worth the salary given what he brings to the club.
 
Akash said:
Why do you care? Are you Herrera?

The club thinks he's well worth the salary given what he brings to the club.
Click to expand...

it is in response to a post stating we should't have expectations of Pogba based on his fee.

So what should I base my expectations of Pogba from?
 
Hemil said:
Pogba can never play well in a midfield 2. He needs 2 very good midfielders behind him. Before buying Pogba, maybe those 2 mids should have been bought.
Click to expand...
That's bullshit, he's played well in a 2 man midfield numerous times this season, why do people insist on forgetting everything after a few bad performances?
 
He is a kid. Has yet to develop his judgment on the pitch, decision making or resilience. People note how he's always looking to Ibra, I think that's his comfort blanket. He looks to the experienced players for a bail out when he's feeling pressure.

City, Liverpool, too many crunch games where he goes awol. Even the cup final last weekend, in which he lost all positional discipline and flapped at the cross for Gabbiadini's second.

He's a boy and we are expecting him to do a man's job. Maybe he'll turn it around at 26/27 but right now it seems Fergie wasn't entirely wrong about him.
 
gaucho_10 said:
I told you
all back in the summer. His game in Juventus is not comparable to what was expected from him at United.

He played in midfield in a 3-5-2 setup in a one horse league. It's a completely different world.
Click to expand...

That so called one horse league has as many teams in the final stages of European competition as has the premier league . Pogba was never worth 89 million and was never or will never be one of the top 6 midfield players in the world .He is more of a marketing purchase that a team asset .
 
He lost his head for the last 20 minutes. Looked desperate to make something happen and showed none of the patience / intelligence we needed.

BUT

Mourinho must take a significant share of the blame as well. Plenty of people talking about how he can't play in a midfield 2, or needs 2 midfields behind him. He spent the last 20 minutes almost as a one man midfield. It was ridiculous.
 
Untied said:
He lost his head for the last 20 minutes. Looked desperate to make something happen and showed none of the patience / intelligence we needed.

BUT

Mourinho must take a significant share of the blame as well. Plenty of people talking about how he can't play in a midfield 2, or needs 2 midfields behind him. He spent the last 20 minutes almost as a one man midfield. It was ridiculous.
Click to expand...


You're right, Mourinho should be blamed .... for not substituting his ass onto the bench.
 
He'll be 24 in like 10 days. It's not a guarantee that he will develop all these aspects of his game. He is supposed to enter his prime in approximately 2 years.

Perhaps he will prove all doubters wrong next season, but if he doesn't he may be inconsistent and a potential liability for the rest of his career.
 
#07 said:
He's a boy and we are expecting him to do a man's job.
Click to expand...

he is of course , it was seen from the 1st day.

But it's not our expectations, we were told he is a star , they paid so much and played him as a star.
 
#07 said:
He is a kid. Has yet to develop his judgment on the pitch, decision making or resilience. People note how he's always looking to Ibra, I think that's his comfort blanket. He looks to the experienced players for a bail out when he's feeling pressure.

City, Liverpool, too many crunch games where he goes awol. Even the cup final last weekend, in which he lost all positional discipline and flapped at the cross for Gabbiadini's second.

He's a boy and we are expecting him to do a man's job. Maybe he'll turn it around at 26/27 but right now it seems Fergie wasn't entirely wrong about him.
Click to expand...

No he isn't. Why do people keep on saying this as a way to defend him?! If he isn't a man by the age of 24, I don't expect much to change. We aren't talking about Rashford here, who is actually a teenager.
 
Garethw said:
I was talking more along the lines of someone that will bark orders at him and give him a bollocking to re-focus him. He's not getting that with quiet little pussycats like Carrick and Herrera.
Click to expand...
It's a shame if he needs that to be honest. He's an adult and should handle himself. Modric doesn't need anyone barking at him to focus. In fact I'd argue that he could do with a little more of the focus and lesser lelf indulgence that those two do have.
 
Shark said:
No he isn't. Why do people keep on saying this as a way to defend him?! If he isn't a man by the age of 24, I don't expect much to change. We aren't talking about Rashford here, who is actually a teenager.
Click to expand...

I am not defending him, I am saying what's obvious to my eyes. If we're expecting maturity from Pogba then we're projecting what we'd like onto what's visible to anyone: He simply is nowhere near being the finished article.
 
Salus Populi Suprema Lex said:
He certainly doesn't seem to have the midfield mental strength of a Robson, Keane, Scholes. He should be controlling games.
Click to expand...
While that is true for sure today Mourinho didn't help him. He isolated him and put bodies which neither Pogba and our fullbacks who had to create everything, nor our forwards who were isolated.
 
sammsky1 said:
it is in response to a post stating we should't have expectations of Pogba based on his fee.

So what should I base my expectations of Pogba from?
Click to expand...

Agree. Moved from a world class fee, a world class wage, markets himself as world class.

But we're not to expect world class performances.

I'm sure Pogba will get there but in the meantime he doesn't need excuses.
 
I like him and always have but like I said numerous times, he isn't world class and he doesn't make your team better by his sole presence.
 
I think he has quite good attributes as a player to help us winning games and titles, but I think that it will take some time, because he has to adapt his style of playing to our system, which isn't really focused on him. There is also a huge pressure on him because of the high fee, and we should not forget that he is still only 23 years old. Mou will help him and in this summer break he will have much time to work, because there is no Euro/WC and so I think that he will be better next season and start showing his full potential and class.
 
TheReligion said:
No he's not but he's still learning and developing as a player.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think he's got in in him to be great but people talk about as though he is a child. Someone today compared him to Ronaldo in his first season for Man United. Wasn't he 18? Pogba has done too much in the game already and is too old to given the "he's a kid" pass for poor and wildly inconsistent performances.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.