Paul Pogba's mentality...

I love Pogba, always have and I want him to become a truly great player for us and I believe he has the attributes needed. However, how clumsy and generally poor can he look sometimes? He wouldn't be out of place in a much lower league with some of the things he does on occasions, did this happen at Juve? Like another poster said previously, right now it always looks as if it's on the edge of either being something amazing or something that will make you laugh as he falls over or loses the ball.

Why can't we just make a signing that doesn't have problems or doubts attached to it? Very frustrating.
 
Snow said:
Butt in with my point? You whinged about your own unrealistic expectations and I told you your problems where your own. You added nothing to the conversation and I was calling you out on it.
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Are you drunk? Read again, this time with your head out of your arse.

I expect him to be a player who will win games for us with his individual brilliance. Anything less than that and he will be a disappointing signing for me
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Can you read the bold part? I would be disappointed. Nowhere did I mention your expectations of him.

All you may want is seeing a different hair color on him every weekend but that is your concern and I don't care about it. So what's your problem?
 
All I've seen of him since his return is moments of brilliance. His finishing is diabolical and should really have scored much more goals. I can see the potential but for £90m we should have had the finished article!
 
Will Singh said:
All I've seen of him since his return is moments of brilliance. His finishing is diabolical and should really have scored much more goals. I can see the potential but for £90m we should have had the finished article!
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The infuriating part is he has the potential but I feel the pressure gets to him.
 
NK86 said:
The infuriating part is he has the potential but I feel the pressure gets to him.
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I think because of his price tag he tries to do more then he has to when he has the ball. I think with time he will get more relaxed. He's a very confident guy so I'm suprised he feels pressure, when Bale went to Madrid I thought he will fold with that pressure with Ronaldo being there and the Real fans but he handled it.
 
kps88 said:
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.
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Well, after Tevez, Vidal and Pirlo left in 2015 Pogba asked for the number 10 shirt at Juventus to show that he is now one of the leaders and we had our worst start to a season in 70 years. Pogba was criticised for his poor performances which were not worthy of the shirt he had asked for. He responded by writing +5 next to the ten. Now it would be unfair to put all blame on him. We lost key several key players that summer and had several injuries. But he certainly did not show leadership then. Things went uphill fast when Khedira and Marchisio returned. They don't dab, they don't have their own Twitter emoticon and they don't know have a highlight reel of long range missile goals, but they get shit done and make the machine tick. So far, Pogba is a highlight reel player who can profit from a well oiled machine.
 
I think peoples expectations of him are too high, understandably because of the price tag. But he was only a forty million pound player. Now i still think he is very good. One of the top midfielders in the top six. But hes not a ninety million pounds player.

I remember years ago arguing with someone who was pissed we lost him to Juve. I said he was good but not as good as he was made out to be. I think a lot of fans inflated his ability because "Ferguson let him go." He was completely over hyped.

Hes still a good player and will be much better in the future. But i dont think he will ever be a 90 million pound player.
 
Happy to cut him some slack, he'll be great next season when another world record signing will take the pressure off.
 
People will defend his lifestyle. That's the thing. It's taking away from him talent. The enthusiasm is there but not the dedication. There is such a thing as trying too hard. That's what he is doing.

Based on talent, he is one of the most gifted I've seen, but he is not a football man yet. He is a pushing from the outside in, not from the inside out.
 
Jev said:
For me it's not so much about his lack of bottle.

It's about his lack of a football brain. We have 45 minutes at home against a lower-level side who are a man down. What do you do? Most would say that you move the ball and the opposition around, use the numerical advantage, tire your opponent and wait for an opening.

Not Paul Pogba. When Pogba gets the ball, he doesn't think, how can I help the team get one step closer to scoring a goal? He thinks, how can I get my name in the headlines? Time and time again in the second half he conceded possession with his silly Hollywood passes. It was so daft and so arrogant that I can't fathom why José didn't kick him out, let alone why his team-mates bother passing to him.

He's a very talented but even more infuriating footballer. He's playing with the maturity of a 10-year-old. To be honest I'm getting really fed up with him.
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Agree 100%

He's too thick to play in a midfield 2. He needs two intelligent and hard working midfielders next to him like he did at Juve.
 
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.
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At Juve he played with two of the best midfielders in the world in Pirlo and Vidal as well as Marchisio who was one of the best alternatives in the world himself, for us who do we play instead ? Rooney ? Fellaini ?

If Mhkitaryan, Shaw and Martial had/are having their mental strength questioned then the same should apply to Pogba as his capitulation in games is costing us and the excuse of the transfer fee weighing him down doesn't work for me in a home game against Bournemouth.
 
El Jefe said:
Agree 100%

He's too thick to play in a midfield 2. He needs two intelligent and hard working midfielders next to him like he did at Juve.
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See I think that's ridiculous considering he's played well there on different occasions this season, and calling him thick is an insult
 
The problem is - as someone suggested above - that he needs to develop his game considerably if he is to become a top notch central midfielder in the system Mourinho seemingly prefers these days. Within that system he simply won’t get the sort of protection he had at Juventus, where he could operate more freely (with less responsibility, to put it like that).

If he does develop his game in the desired direction, however, he can become an absolute world beater. Decision making, positioning, using his physical attributes more effectively, etc. There’s nothing wrong with his talent or his technical ability, it’s “the other stuff” that remains the challenge for him.

Pretty sure Mourinho is well aware of this, though. And the only comments I’ve seen from him regarding Pogba’s “mentality” have been largely positive: Just the other day he said something along the lines of Pogba needing to learn, but that he’s willing to do that. 23/24 is no age for a midfielder. He won’t hit his prime for another couple of seasons - and “the other stuff” is precisely what usually takes time to develop.
 
The problem with him is not he hides when the pressure is on, but lose his head. It means he is a winner but doesn't know how to cope with losing yet. It's very similar to the young Ronaldo. Being CM exposed Pogba more since this role requires doing the simple thing consistently well to get the team game flow. Pogba when losing his head just overcomplicate thing. He's not hiding that's for sure.
 
I think his head goes, was having a very average game but that last 20/25 minutes everything started going wrong for him when we needed him to do it most. Even simple 5 yard passes he was fluffing and I won't even get into the missed chances. Dunno about bottler but he needs to sort his head out
 
Needs to switch off the screens in the summer and dedicate himself into the player he wants to be.

He's nowhere near world-class pedigree yet - and perhaps never will be.

But we've seen it from many 'foreign' players before; the first hard season in the Premier League just doesn't run like clockwork no matter what you do.

Next season, the synchroncity and timing might just smooth out.

But it's as bigger job for Jose as it is for PP.

His 'boy's' reputation will be on the line. He'll need to turn him into man. Or this United team will go nowhere fast.
 
When he chose to pass that ball instead of shooting it when he was in the box - it showed his mentality. Bottler
 
Is it me or does he look incredibly clumsy and out of sorts way more then you would expect, if he was playing for another team in the league and you'd seen him for the first time without all the hype, would you buy him? I don't think I would.
 
JON.B said:
Is it me or does he look incredibly clumsy and out of sorts way more then you would expect, if he was playing for another team in the league and you'd seen him for the first time without all the hype, would you buy him? I don't think I would.
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The thing is, Pogba in his best moments has extreme quality but he mixes this with strange passes or holding on to the ball for too long and letting the opponents surround him. He's simply not ready yet and shouldn't be compared with other top midfielders just because of his world record fee, but with a little patience he's going to be one of the best in the world. No doubt about it.

I still think that with a little better focus or call it luck, he would have scored at least 5 more goals and had at least 5 more assists. So his season so far is actually good.
 
DevilRed said:
He is still young and learning the game. He has all the qualities to be great. Just needs to put it together and with experience, the game will slow down for him. Those miskicks will turn into goals.

Was the same with Ronaldo. Pogba is on a similar level talent wise.

Poor from him today but he wasnt the only one who was fluffing his lines and missing shots.
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Ronaldo won FIFA's best player when he was 23
 
Let's not get on Pogba's back too much. Yes, he was pretty dire on Saturday and he has been sporadic at best this season. However, let's remember he's still very young and he will get better. He's got all of the tools to develop at United for the next couple of seasons which by then I think he'll be the best midfielder in the world. Yes, the transfer was barmy but he can't do anything about that can he? Don't lose patience just yet. He will come good and be a major, major player for United in the years to come. Remember, Ronny only kicked into gear 2-3 years after joining United. For some, it takes time.
 
MataFanatic said:
Let's not get on Pogba's back too much. Yes, he was pretty dire on Saturday and he has been sporadic at best this season. However, let's remember he's still very young and he will get better. He's got all of the tools to develop at United for the next couple of seasons which by then I think he'll be the best midfielder in the world. Yes, the transfer was barmy but he can't do anything about that can he? Don't lose patience just yet. He will come good and be a major, major player for United in the years to come. Remember, Ronny only kicked into gear 2-3 years after joining United. For some, it takes time.
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This type of thing blows my mind. Ronnie was a teenager when he joined United and yes it took him 2/3 years. Pogba was also a teenager when he first joined United but we have just resigned him as the most expensive player in the world. The constant excuses for this guy are just baffling.
 
Rory 7 said:
This type of thing blows my mind. Ronnie was a teenager when he joined United and yes it took him 2/3 years. Pogba was also a teenager when he first joined United but we have just resigned him as the most expensive player in the world. The constant excuses for this guy are just baffling.
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As I said, he can't do anything about the transfer fee. He's a top player. He'll come good.
 
I see the Pogba thing as similar to Di Maria.

Di Maria wasn't the main man at Real Madrid, there were other players which could hurt teams, and the opponents focussed on stopping Ronaldo or Modric instead, allowing ADM to be effective.

In our midfield, Pogba is the main focus, so teams put several men on him. If we're being brutally honest, Martial just isn't effective enough on the wing to pull focus, neither is Herrera creative enough the other side of Pogba. He needs to play with another very creative midfielder and a proper left winger to get the best out of him I think.
 
Gopher Brown said:
I see the Pogba thing as similar to Di Maria.

Di Maria wasn't the main man at Real Madrid, there were other players which could hurt teams, and the opponents focussed on stopping Ronaldo or Modric instead, allowing ADM to be effective.

In our midfield, Pogba is the main focus, so teams put several men on him. If we're being brutally honest, Martial just isn't effective enough on the wing to pull focus, neither is Herrera creative enough the other side of Pogba. He needs to play with another very creative midfielder and a proper left winger to get the best out of him I think.
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We need Mhki back in the side quick. He's dynamite when he's on-form and we look so much better with him
 
Watching the 2nd half, it seems that he's on a different wavelength with his teammates. He was turning the ball over too much with his little dummies and flicks and you could tell his teammates had no clue what he was doing. Hopefully with time he could link up better with other players and cut out some of his nani-esque decision making
 
Gopher Brown said:
I see the Pogba thing as similar to Di Maria.

Di Maria wasn't the main man at Real Madrid, there were other players which could hurt teams, and the opponents focussed on stopping Ronaldo or Modric instead, allowing ADM to be effective.

In our midfield, Pogba is the main focus, so teams put several men on him. If we're being brutally honest, Martial just isn't effective enough on the wing to pull focus, neither is Herrera creative enough the other side of Pogba. He needs to play with another very creative midfielder and a proper left winger to get the best out of him I think.
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Doesn't explain airshots in the box.

The kid's finding it tough to manage pressure. It happens. With time he should get over it. Let's not making excuses for bad performances though.
 
Pogba is the kind of player that needs a veteran leader alongside to calm him down and instill confidence in him. A Ferdinand or Evra type would do wonders for him. I don't see Ibra like that kind of player, he's always been a bit careless about leadership. Schweini could be that player but he doesn't play.
 
Paul is decent player with a lot of ability but he doesn't seem to know how best to use himself to the benefit of the team.
He's the same age as `keane was when we signed him for almost a 30th of the cost!
FOOTBALL HAS CHANGED.
 
He's got the winning mentality that much is plain to see. He's like Ronaldo was in that he still thinks he can/should do it all on his own. He needs to learn how to drive the team forward as a unit. Not worried about his mentality one bit.
 
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You start to see why SAF picked Park and Rafael in midfield ahead of him.

He's got all the talent in the world but he knows it and takes everything a bit too lightly because of it.

Needs a Roy Keane to give him a clip round the ear and shout in his face to start taking things seriously and I don't think we've got anyone in the squad capable of doing that to him. Zlatan in theory but from all we see of them they look like brothers messing around with each other.
 
Rory 7 said:
This type of thing blows my mind. Ronnie was a teenager when he joined United and yes it took him 2/3 years. Pogba was also a teenager when he first joined United but we have just resigned him as the most expensive player in the world. The constant excuses for this guy are just baffling.
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Wrong comparison he made there. The thing is CM for most part matures much later than attacker due to CM is more experience depended role. An attacker can rely purely on instinct & be able to make the passing grade in game. Not so much with CM.

Anyone notices that even in his bad game, Pogba seems to try get involved (even though it can just highlight his bad game)? That's his mentality: keep trying. It's what is comparable to young Ronaldo. That's what I think people trying to relate. Not age for age or talent for talent, which as I just said is difficult due to the difference in their position/ role in the team. So Pogba is inexperienced. There are certain type of players who can't achieve greatest no matter how much experience they have since they lack the character to improve/ take responsibility in tough game.

About the fee. Renato Sanchez & Martial of this time if they can fulfill their potential would cost up to over 2/3 (the former) or over half (the latter) of Pogba's fee. It's nothing to say about their ranking of their talent (world best, top x...). We bought Pogba knowing he's still distance from end product. We didn't look at buy the world best player aka Ronaldo to Real Madrid. The fee is not way to solely judge his performance (he already helped with the cause in tipping the commercial value in our favor), given that there would be more expensive players at the moment if they decide to move. He's just happened to be the only one in that category that moved. He's not the best in the league, but potential wise, he is & can spread his reputation further than just this league.
 
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ti vu said:
The problem with him is not he hides when the pressure is on, but lose his head. It means he is a winner but doesn't know how to cope with losing yet. It's very similar to the young Ronaldo. Being CM exposed Pogba more since this role requires doing the simple thing consistently well to get the team game flow. Pogba when losing his head just overcomplicate thing. He's not hiding that's for sure.
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Exactly
 
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