Sergej Milinkovic Savic

Well, I beg to differ on that.

SMS and Fred are very different players. Fred is pure energy. He's pacey, he's hardworking, he's a tough tackler (stats wise he had done more tackles then Matic), he's good dribbler and he's a decent passer of the ball. However don't expect him to score loads of goals because he won't. Think of him as an upgrade to Herrera.

SMS on the other hand is a big big upgrade on Fellaini. He's 6ft3 so he's got plenty of presence, he's got a great eye to goal, with a staggering 14 goals in 32 matches from CM while still retaining the composure and workrate Mou loves in a player. He's not among the fastest of players though and his passing rate is not that great (81.8%) but he still got a respectable 6 assists this season.

In my opinion both can play in the same team. HOWEVER, that would mean changing our system to a more narrow 4-3-2-1. Fred will drop deep helping Matic out and linking DM with CM. Pogba will be the more attacking option in a 3 men CM and drifting on the left to cover that area of pitch. Meanwhile SMS and Sanchez will play behind the striker with Sanchez drifting on the right if needed.

4-3-2-1

DM: Matic
regista/box to box: Fred
Mezzala: Pogba
AMRC: SMS
AMLC: Sanchez
STK: Lukaku

I agree with your post. This formation is the way forward for United with the players we have I think (i.e. no right winger).

Do you think Fekir would be a better (& cheaper) option for AMRC position though?
 
That's just false. Kroos plays in a far superior side than Pogba. In his Juventus days no one would be putting Kroos ahead of Pogba. Given an option, 90% of caf would pick Pogba to join us before he joined us. This is a classic case of not appreciating what you have.

Streets ahead of Pogba is probably only one midfielder in current football and that's Modric. But Modric is streets ahead of any midfielder in the world.

in 2015, City would prefer Pogba over KDB. KDB at 24 is not good as Pogba is over the season but KDB has gotten better later. I don't think Pogba is that bad, he's really talented but if he had consistency, he'd be ahead of KDB.
 
That's just false. Kroos plays in a far superior side than Pogba. In his Juventus days no one would be putting Kroos ahead of Pogba. Given an option, 90% of caf would pick Pogba to join us before he joined us. This is a classic case of not appreciating what you have.

Streets ahead of Pogba is probably only one midfielder in current football and that's Modric. But Modric is streets ahead of any midfielder in the world.

I do appreciate what we have, we have Pogba. Pogba can become world class with the right application, none of this rubbish about Jose's style, or what formation we play. Pogba has the ability to play ANY midfield role to an exceptional standard. But he isn't at that level yet.

I'd have taken Kroos ahead of Pogba in his Juve days, yes. Kroos is pure quality. Modric and Kroos are both world class, I'd still take Kroos over Modric though but I guess that's all about opinion.

I'd take the chap this thread is about as well, but not to replace Pogba. Midfield is a key area that we need quality depth in. I think the mega bucks price is insane though.

If we utilize Pereira and Mctominey, we have a good base with Herrera/matic/Pogba/Fred.

TFM can play DM if needed also.

Money needs to be spend on LB and RW more importantly than SMS
 
in 2015, City would prefer Pogba over KDB. KDB at 24 is not good as Pogba is over the season but KDB has gotten better later. I don't think Pogba is that bad, he's really talented but if he had consistency, he'd be ahead of KDB.

Slight dig at Jose here, but I think Pogba in a side that plays more adventurous football would look a completely different play.
I'd say that for quite a few of our players though.

Put KDB in our side and he wouldn't look the same. KDB is absolutely quality though
 
Slight dig at Jose here, but I think Pogba in a side that plays more adventurous football would look a completely different play.
I'd say that for quite a few of our players though.

Put KDB in our side and he wouldn't look the same. KDB is absolutely quality though

Let's wait for next season, he has Fred and Matic, another quality CM is likely to come. If Mckenna/Carrick had an impact on United's attacking and midfielder performance, I'd be interested in seeing what kind of Pogba can become. If not, I guess we'll have to wait for a new manager who will play more adventurous football like Guardiola. I'm fine with Pogba keeping good performance rest of the season, not necessary world-class performance
 
Really? Kroos/Verrati/Thiago/De Bruyne/Silva.

On form Pogba isn't even the best midfielder in this league, and he isn't the first name down in our midfield.

Very bold statement for a player who has constantly under performed since re-joining us.

Only think I agree with is Pogba will improve. He has too to be frank
I wouldn't trade Pogba for any of them either. He didn't have a great season, but it wasn't as bad as some has made out.

There isn't another player in world football that has the combined attributes of Pogba. His passing range and technique is as good as anyones, but he's also strong, quick, agile and powerful. He can win a header in his own box, take on a couple of players with a sublime bit of skill, hold off a centreback and hit a 40 yard pass on the half volley. Players like that deserve time.
 
First, it is Matic to release Pogba, now it's Fred to release Pogba in 3 midfield with the freedom and get best out of Pogba. If it's not working, then next would be proper left winger foot who like to keeps the width and run behind defenders to compliment Pogba on the left flank instead of a left winger like Sanchez occupying Pogba's space or Martial who want the ball to feet and try to dribble defenders.
Let's not change history here. Sure, there were some people saying that Matic is what we needed to 'release' Pogba. But there were also plenty of people saying then, and all the way back to the time where we were being seriously linked to Pogba, that the way to get the best out of him (and the team as a whole) would be a three man midfield with one of the other two to be a proper playmaker. Largely the same as the system that he was playing with in Juventus. That has been a consistent point that has been made from before we signed him, not just something that people have gravitated to as the latest thing to jump on after the last one didn't work.

Mourinho attempted to have Pogba play that main role himself. It was worth the try, as if he was able to do it then it may have been even better for the team and possibly himself individually. Ultimately he was able to play that role very well at times, but simply not with any consistency. And in that role, more than in any other except maybe central defence, consistency is absolute key. Mourinho seems to have acknowledged that towards the end of the season and started playing a three man midfield, but it was still half-arsed as we simply don't have another player in our squad capable of actually being a playmaker (other than maybe a Carrick on the verge of retirement). The big question we have now is whether Fred is the player for that spot. From what I've seen of him he seems like a definite improvement over what we have, but I'm not sure if he's good enough.

Back to the player the thread is based on: SMS obviously seems to be a very talented player, but he's not a playmaker who'll control the team around. Indeed he seems less like that than Pogba himself, so we'd likely see Pogba continue to be pushed into that role that he's so far struggled to do consistently. It's not to say the combination definitely wouldn't work, it might end up working very well. But I'd be worried as I'd feel the odds are against it. Unless Mourinho is thinking of playing with a diamond in midfield - in that case SMS could be perfect at the head of that.
 
in 2015, City would prefer Pogba over KDB. KDB at 24 is not good as Pogba is over the season but KDB has gotten better later. I don't think Pogba is that bad, he's really talented but if he had consistency, he'd be ahead of KDB.

I agree.

I think the problem with Pogba is that he struggles when he is expected to be the leader. That doesn't fit his natural tendency to be an entertainer, a show man, a crowd pleaser. At Juventus where he had so many leaders around him and not much expectations to be the star man, he seemed to thrive. Things changed drastically at United and he seemed to crack.
 
Let's not change history here. Sure, there were some people saying that Matic is what we needed to 'release' Pogba. But there were also plenty of people saying then, and all the way back to the time where we were being seriously linked to Pogba, that the way to get the best out of him (and the team as a whole) would be a three man midfield with one of the other two to be a proper playmaker. Largely the same as the system that he was playing with in Juventus. That has been a consistent point that has been made from before we signed him, not just something that people have gravitated to as the latest thing to jump on after the last one didn't work.

Mourinho attempted to have Pogba play that main role himself. It was worth the try, as if he was able to do it then it may have been even better for the team and possibly himself individually. Ultimately he was able to play that role very well at times, but simply not with any consistency. And in that role, more than in any other except maybe central defence, consistency is absolute key. Mourinho seems to have acknowledged that towards the end of the season and started playing a three man midfield, but it was still half-arsed as we simply don't have another player in our squad capable of actually being a playmaker (other than maybe a Carrick on the verge of retirement). The big question we have now is whether Fred is the player for that spot. From what I've seen of him he seems like a definite improvement over what we have, but I'm not sure if he's good enough.

Back to the player the thread is based on: SMS obviously seems to be a very talented player, but he's not a playmaker who'll control the team around. Indeed he seems less like that than Pogba himself, so we'd likely see Pogba continue to be pushed into that role that he's so far struggled to do consistently. It's not to say the combination definitely wouldn't work, it might end up working very well. But I'd be worried as I'd feel the odds are against it. Unless Mourinho is thinking of playing with a diamond in midfield - in that case SMS could be perfect at the head of that.

Nice quality post, I'm just being sarcastic but my point is that Pogba has to play well even no matter how we need to compliment him to get best out of him, if he's not playing well, we just can't make excuse like, oh he needs DM, we brought Matic for it then oh he can't work in 2 midfield, we brought Fred for him, then what would be next? Oh, Sanchez occupying Pogba's space on left space, we should bring left winger that provide width. I want it to stop. It becomes a tread for how to get best out of our most expensive players Pogba. Only the issues Pogba has right now is consistency, not the players around him that need to get best out of him.
 
You’re both crazy. I’d drive Pogba anywhere in Europe myself if it meant Kroos signed for us in return.

Well, if they were the same age, happily so. Kroos is one of the best players in the world and he literally controls every game, how he wants to. But he’s like 28-29 and Pogba is much younger. So no, no deal.
 
Really? Kroos/Verrati/Thiago/De Bruyne/Silva.

On form Pogba isn't even the best midfielder in this league, and he isn't the first name down in our midfield.

Very bold statement for a player who has constantly under performed since re-joining us.

Only think I agree with is Pogba will improve. He has too to be frank

We/You are grossly exaggerating how ‘bad’ Pogba’s season was for us. It seems Souness has polluted the minds of many. In many, many games Paul Pogba was far and away our best player. When he plays well, we go up at least one level. And this isn’t just some hypothetical, his actually happened on more occasions than it didn’t last season, and I imagine if you hop over to the forum next door - it would show that he’s won MOTM on here more often than he’s had poor games.

What do you do when you sign a next 23/24 year old midfielder for £100m who has bad games sometimes? Any idea of selling Paul Pogba is ridiculous. He’s one of probably no more than 3 players in our entire squad that we should not entertain selling if we want to get back to being one of the best teams in world football.
 
Let's not change history here. Sure, there were some people saying that Matic is what we needed to 'release' Pogba. But there were also plenty of people saying then, and all the way back to the time where we were being seriously linked to Pogba, that the way to get the best out of him (and the team as a whole) would be a three man midfield with one of the other two to be a proper playmaker. Largely the same as the system that he was playing with in Juventus. That has been a consistent point that has been made from before we signed him, not just something that people have gravitated to as the latest thing to jump on after the last one didn't work.

Mourinho attempted to have Pogba play that main role himself. It was worth the try, as if he was able to do it then it may have been even better for the team and possibly himself individually. Ultimately he was able to play that role very well at times, but simply not with any consistency. And in that role, more than in any other except maybe central defence, consistency is absolute key. Mourinho seems to have acknowledged that towards the end of the season and started playing a three man midfield, but it was still half-arsed as we simply don't have another player in our squad capable of actually being a playmaker (other than maybe a Carrick on the verge of retirement). The big question we have now is whether Fred is the player for that spot. From what I've seen of him he seems like a definite improvement over what we have, but I'm not sure if he's good enough.

Back to the player the thread is based on: SMS obviously seems to be a very talented player, but he's not a playmaker who'll control the team around. Indeed he seems less like that than Pogba himself, so we'd likely see Pogba continue to be pushed into that role that he's so far struggled to do consistently. It's not to say the combination definitely wouldn't work, it might end up working very well. But I'd be worried as I'd feel the odds are against it. Unless Mourinho is thinking of playing with a diamond in midfield - in that case SMS could be perfect at the head of that.

Sensible post.
 
So this is going to be the Thiago/Vidal/Pogba-saga of this summer. Think i better unfollow it, or it'll do my head in :)
All it took for it to get going again, was that he liked a pic on instagram :lol:


DM: Matic
regista/box to box: Fred
Mezzala: Pogba
AMRC: SMS
AMLC: Sanchez
STK: Lukaku

Don't think i can describe how much i dislike these new "i'm a football expert" words for positions we already have perfectly good words for.
 
So this is going to be the Thiago/Vidal/Pogba-saga of this summer. Think i better unfollow it, or it'll do my head in :)
All it took for it to get going again, was that he liked a pic on instagram :lol:




Don't think i can describe how much i dislike these new "i'm a football expert" words for positions we already have perfectly good words for.
It's almost like different languages have different words for them.
 
Nice quality post, I'm just being sarcastic but my point is that Pogba has to play well even no matter how we need to compliment him to get best out of him, if he's not playing well, we just can't make excuse like, oh he needs DM, we brought Matic for it then oh he can't work in 2 midfield, we brought Fred for him, then what would be next? Oh, Sanchez occupying Pogba's space on left space, we should bring left winger that provide width. I want it to stop. It becomes a tread for how to get best out of our most expensive players Pogba. Only the issues Pogba has right now is consistency, not the players around him that need to get best out of him.
Don't get me wrong, Pogba has to take responsibility. There are definitely aspects where he should be doing better. But if he's being played in a position that doesn't really suit him, he's being set up to fail to some extent.

As an example - Pogba has always had the occasional comparison to Zidane. And the only time I know of where Zidane was used in as deep a role as what we've used Pogba through most of his time here (when Zidane first moved to Juventus) he was actually quite poor. It wasn't until he was given a more offensive role that he exploded. In saying that I don't think Pogba is suitable for the out-and-out attacking role that Zidane sometimes played, but the midground of just the more attacking of the three midfielders should in theory be perfect for him, especially considering that's the exact role he was playing at Juventus where he was performing as expected.
 
So this is going to be the Thiago/Vidal/Pogba-saga of this summer. Think i better unfollow it, or it'll do my head in :)
All it took for it to get going again, was that he liked a pic on instagram :lol:




Don't think i can describe how much i dislike these new "i'm a football expert" words for positions we already have perfectly good words for.
I know what you mean, total bollocks isn’t it, back in my day a regista was something teachers called out to see if you weren’t bunking off and mezzala sung that shit song.
 
So this is going to be the Thiago/Vidal/Pogba-saga of this summer. Think i better unfollow it, or it'll do my head in :)
All it took for it to get going again, was that he liked a pic on instagram :lol:




Don't think i can describe how much i dislike these new "i'm a football expert" words for positions we already have perfectly good words for.

It grinds my bones too. I sit next to an utter cnut at work that thinks he’s some hipster football expert. He calls Mahrez a BMW-Ball Minded Winger. I just tell him to shut the feck up.
 
It grinds my bones too. I sit next to an utter cnut at work that thinks he’s some hipster football expert. He calls Mahrez a BMW-Ball Minded Winger. I just tell him to shut the feck up.

Does he have an example of a non-ball-minded winger?
 
Don't get me wrong, Pogba has to take responsibility. There are definitely aspects where he should be doing better. But if he's being played in a position that doesn't really suit him, he's being set up to fail to some extent.

Pogba has to take responsibility, I think it affects him as he was overwhelming with being the leader of the team, a lot of pressure on him. I felt he would thrive in a system that doesn't occupy his space and more balanced team with all players in their natural position but only the reason he is not playing so well because many of our players prefer playing centrally like Sanchez, Lingard, Martial, Rashford, Mata, Fellaini, we have full of all right-footed players in the team with the exception of Lukaku, it made team too unbalanced.


If we bring Bale left-footed in right-wing, Sandro left-footed in left-back, Lenglet left footed on CB, form partnership with Bailly or Toby right footed on CB, that would be more very balanced team.
 
Well, I beg to differ on that.

SMS and Fred are very different players. Fred is pure energy. He's pacey, he's hardworking, he's a tough tackler (stats wise he had done more tackles then Matic), he's good dribbler and he's a decent passer of the ball. However don't expect him to score loads of goals because he won't. Think of him as an upgrade to Herrera.

SMS on the other hand is a big big upgrade on Fellaini. He's 6ft3 so he's got plenty of presence, he's got a great eye to goal, with a staggering 14 goals in 32 matches from CM while still retaining the composure and workrate Mou loves in a player. He's not among the fastest of players though and his passing rate is not that great (81.8%) but he still got a respectable 6 assists this season.

In my opinion both can play in the same team. HOWEVER, that would mean changing our system to a more narrow 4-3-2-1. Fred will drop deep helping Matic out and linking DM with CM. Pogba will be the more attacking option in a 3 men CM and drifting on the left to cover that area of pitch. Meanwhile SMS and Sanchez will play behind the striker with Sanchez drifting on the right if needed.

4-3-2-1

DM: Matic
regista/box to box: Fred
Mezzala: Pogba
AMRC: SMS
AMLC: Sanchez
STK: Lukaku
I didn't mean to suggest they were similar. Just that, both of them would have been the other signing to accompany the Carrick replacement. Also, why not just sign an actual forward, if you'd basically play him in the forward line? I don't think he's that much of a goalscorer that he could replace the goals someone like Bale, Mahrez, etc. could get if they were on the right. It would also mean our only attacker with real pace would be Lukaku, which isn't ideal.
 
Unless Pogba goes we arent getting SMS, we might as well stick with the Pog for now.
 
I agree with your post. This formation is the way forward for United with the players we have I think (i.e. no right winger).

Do you think Fekir would be a better (& cheaper) option for AMRC position though?

I don't know much about Fekir but it seems that Mou wants presence upfront. SMS can give him that, Fekir can't
 
We are so quick to push people under the bus. Yes Pogba has been below par this season, this also being probably due to his price tag and the expectations we had from him. But his performance does not warrant that we should be selling him off for someone like Savic who is no doubt a very talented lad, but yet unproven.
Savic may or may not turn out the player we need and if he too fails then again we would we throwing him under the bus.
Remember Belotti who had a brilliant season an year ago, but an average one the next.

I would be more than happy if we sign Savic, but at the expense of Pogba, definitely no.
 
Don't think i can describe how much i dislike these new "i'm a football expert" words for positions we already have perfectly good words for.

I grew up watching the Serie A and that was long before I could watch the EPL on a week in week out basis. Terms like regista, trequartista and mezzala come more natural to me then terms left half or hug touchlines
 
I didn't mean to suggest they were similar. Just that, both of them would have been the other signing to accompany the Carrick replacement. Also, why not just sign an actual forward, if you'd basically play him in the forward line? I don't think he's that much of a goalscorer that he could replace the goals someone like Bale, Mahrez, etc. could get if they were on the right. It would also mean our only attacker with real pace would be Lukaku, which isn't ideal.

I don't think Mourinho want two forward lines upfront. What I think he would be interested in is a powerful presence who can play behind the striker, score goals but can still drop deep in midfield and work hard if needed. Basically SMS would be an upgrade of Fellaini.
 
Dont see this happening nor do I see the big deal with players liking other players' Instagram news.
They're all fellow sportsmen in the same sport. Of course they keep tabs on each others movements and say 'good for you' on occasion. I've just been on Facebook liking this girls' post about being in Jordan backpacking. I met her once, for about 12hours, about 3yrs ago. It doesn't mean I'm going to Jordan next week.
 
Dont see this happening nor do I see the big deal with players liking other players' Instagram news.
They're all fellow sportsmen in the same sport. Of course they keep tabs on each others movements and say 'good for you' on occasion. I've just been on Facebook liking this girls' post about being in Jordan backpacking. I met her once, for about 12hours, about 3yrs ago. It doesn't mean I'm going to Jordan next week.
Guess it depends on what happened in those 12 hours ;)
 
It is more that a little eyebrow raising that a Serbian playing in Italy would have any kind of opinion on a Brazilian playing in Ukraine signing for an English club
 
Dont see this happening nor do I see the big deal with players liking other players' Instagram news.
They're all fellow sportsmen in the same sport. Of course they keep tabs on each others movements and say 'good for you' on occasion. I've just been on Facebook liking this girls' post about being in Jordan backpacking. I met her once, for about 12hours, about 3yrs ago. It doesn't mean I'm going to Jordan next week.

I get what you’re saying but your profile isn’t in the media spotlight.

Your probably right, mind. But these elite sportsmen know that liking posts will cause some sort of stir. If it was a purely a congratulations he could have messaged him directly.

Savic knows he has been linked with us heavily, liking our new signings is a bit trolling (I can’t be arsed to find out how many other united singings he has like in the last 3/4 years, mainly because I don’t have Twitter. I don’t know how many other professional top flights players have liked it).

I also don’t even know if it’s his own profile or not.

I just want this signing to happen.