Sure let's sell our best players whilst holding on to a bench that wouldn't look out of place in the Championship
Should we consider selling Pogba?
- Thread starter pocco
- Start date
This.
Strange timing for that thread by the way. Completely dominated the midfield in the second half and created lots of openings. Had a very good game.
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Strange time to post this off the back of a good game where we largely dominated Sevilla's midfield, to the point where they reverted to long balls midway through the second half.
No.
Obviously we should not sell Pogba, but we shouldn't give him a big raise. He isn't good enough to get 400-500k per week.
No
I’m no Pogba fan really, he’s a good player but not as great as some think. If he ends up signing a new contract we should be happy though, he is quality.
I think it helps when he’s not the star of the show and he can become less essential. It probably goes against what some want (him being the central focus of everything), but that seems to allow him to just get on with his game and I much prefer what we’re seeing now, good and steady no nonsense performances each week, some of his passing is awesome.
I think it helps when he’s not the star of the show and he can become less essential. It probably goes against what some want (him being the central focus of everything), but that seems to allow him to just get on with his game and I much prefer what we’re seeing now, good and steady no nonsense performances each week, some of his passing is awesome.
Pogba was sensational last night.
So feck no.
So feck no.
He's very far from being our best player. Bruno has done more in 5 months than he's done in 4 years. He is still technically one of our better players though I will give you that. However he's not got much competition in fairness. Other than Bruno, Martial, Greenwood and Rashford (pre back injury) there's not a great deal of quality at the club at all.
I'm not sure any club would splash the cash on him right now, we would want around £100 million for him I would think. His performance last night was a bit of a curate's egg, some good ball winning, some terrific passes, some great skills in beating an opponent, littered with trying to take on too many and losing the ball, some misplaced passes as well. Overall I thought he played quite well, but if an offer for £100 million came in, I would take it. It will be interesting to see what United do if he doesn't sign a new contract.
Sensational? Hahahahahaha
He was awful first half. Yes he played pretty well for 25 to 30 mins in second half but if you think that was sensational then you clearly never saw Scholes play.
Sensational is a bit strong really, I thought he had a good game, but he does lose the ball too often in dangerous positions.
I don't think so.
We probably wouldn't get good value for him and I wouldn't trust our board to adequately replace him.
We probably wouldn't get good value for him and I wouldn't trust our board to adequately replace him.
This is the problem
I love him as a player and I’ll be gutted to see him go, however, he’s clearly not going to fit into that deeper midfield role and Fernandes is more effective than him higher up the pitch. That leaves us in a situation where a lesser player could bring better balance to the team defensively and as long as they are decent on the ball we won’t lose as much as I initially thought. Pogba just doesn’t really fit this team at the moment, perhaps Ole can find a resolution!
There you can very well attribute to his game being more mature, his better risk/reward assessment.
We need to add quality. Not lose quality we have.
When you have an asset like Pogba, you should be looking for a way to utilize his skills in a best way possible, instead of looking to offload him. Players of his quality and ability are hard to replace.
Look at this situation where he plays as in a double DM pivot the same way we're looking at Greenwood playing on the right wing. Can he do the job playing in a double DM pivot? Yes he can, we've seen it with France, but it is not his natural position and outside of those Cup competitions he shouldn't be playing in that position for a prolonged period of time.
Same goes for Greenwood on the right wing. Can he chip in and do a job there? Yes. Can you see him playing in that position for an extended period of time knowing it's not his best position? Same goes for Martial on the left. He can do a decent job there, but in the longer run #9 is much more suitable for him.
We should be looking for a mobile, defensive minded DM that is used to playing as a solo DMF, but can pick a decent pass and run with the ball, someone like Casemiro for example. That would enable us to deploy Pogba in what historically has been his best position, playing on the left in a MF trio.
Ole's idea of molding MCT in a player of the similar ilk to what i mentioned is quite frankly, mind boggling. Other than the hassle, he isn't displaying any of the qualities necessary to play in that position successfully and he'll be 24 in a few months from now.
Think his red-glasses are affecting his judgement a bit too much and his persistence with some academy players in certain positions is more due to him wanting them to succeed there rather than then having the required quality to play there.
Look at this situation where he plays as in a double DM pivot the same way we're looking at Greenwood playing on the right wing. Can he do the job playing in a double DM pivot? Yes he can, we've seen it with France, but it is not his natural position and outside of those Cup competitions he shouldn't be playing in that position for a prolonged period of time.
Same goes for Greenwood on the right wing. Can he chip in and do a job there? Yes. Can you see him playing in that position for an extended period of time knowing it's not his best position? Same goes for Martial on the left. He can do a decent job there, but in the longer run #9 is much more suitable for him.
We should be looking for a mobile, defensive minded DM that is used to playing as a solo DMF, but can pick a decent pass and run with the ball, someone like Casemiro for example. That would enable us to deploy Pogba in what historically has been his best position, playing on the left in a MF trio.
Ole's idea of molding MCT in a player of the similar ilk to what i mentioned is quite frankly, mind boggling. Other than the hassle, he isn't displaying any of the qualities necessary to play in that position successfully and he'll be 24 in a few months from now.
Think his red-glasses are affecting his judgement a bit too much and his persistence with some academy players in certain positions is more due to him wanting them to succeed there rather than then having the required quality to play there.
No.
Ridiculous thread. You're better than that Pocco.
Clearly he is an integral piece to the puzzle. What we need is an elite Matic 2.0 player. Someone who can play between the lines and allow Pogba to move forward more. That's plain as day to me.
Clearly he is an integral piece to the puzzle. What we need is an elite Matic 2.0 player. Someone who can play between the lines and allow Pogba to move forward more. That's plain as day to me.
Over a year ago? Standards are in the gutter these days.
We do have 3 midfielders on the pitch, you are right. But I want a discussion on the balance and the roles of players, in particular Pogba. I'm scratching beneath the surface because, from what I can see, our midfield hasn't got the right balance. In particular, I feel that Pogba isn't suited to the role he's playing and that is evident by the tendency of teams to target our right hand side now.
Thanks for understanding what I'm saying as opposed to the some of the other replies. I admit that if we changed the system and brought in a DM that could cover huge areas, then we may just get away with Pogba & Bruno in midfield. Finding that player will be hard, though.
If you were to build our midfield from scratch with Bruno at the top, you'd never choose Pogba in that midfield behind him. Ideally you want somebody that can do the nitty gritty stuff alongside a DM, but can also play football to a high level. Somebody like Modric, for example. Pogba just doesn't have the workrate or defensive nous to be tasked with covering gaps around him, he should be the player in Bruno's position but Bruno has completely smashed it there and produced more than Pogba ever has for us in that position.
Pogba is the epitome of a square peg in a round hole for us right now.
Why can't we play a 4 1 2 3 formation?
Playing either one of Matic or Fred as the 1 while Pogba plays from the left of our midfield and Bruno plays from the right.. this would allow us to have a three man wide flat midfield when defending but would still have both Pogba and Bruno as Attacking midfielders when we are playing on the front foot!!
Playing either one of Matic or Fred as the 1 while Pogba plays from the left of our midfield and Bruno plays from the right.. this would allow us to have a three man wide flat midfield when defending but would still have both Pogba and Bruno as Attacking midfielders when we are playing on the front foot!!
Thought Pogba was brilliant yesterday, both going forwards and defending.
Shame it didn't end with a win but very good performance.
Whether we need to add another midfielder next to him and Bruno is a different matter though.
Shame it didn't end with a win but very good performance.
Whether we need to add another midfielder next to him and Bruno is a different matter though.
Thanks, I guess !
In hindsight I should have took a different angle instead of such an inflammatory title, but the discussion I want is still the same.But I really believe this will be widely recognised soon, which it clearly isn't now. The way we are playing with our wide players not defending, two midfielders absolutely have to cover the wide areas. Teams have spotted this and are exploiting it, we should be able to see it too. Bruno won't be one to defend because he plays so high up, so it will ultimately be down to Pogba and another to assist our fullbacks. I don't think there is a single midfielder that we can sign to replace Matic, that can cover the width of the pitch and allow Pogba the freedom he wants. Especially now teams use fullbacks to provide width and outnumber isolated fullbacks.
Good thing is, that solution is there, the question is whether Old and his team can identify the right way to to about it.
In a MF 3, we'll have a dedicated defensive specialist whom will also be helped by Pogba and Bruno's defensive contribution. Don't think Pogba was ever going to be a workhorse type of MF player, he simply isn't built for that.
Too many fans have no clue about the nuances of the game and only understand players who leg it around all game and 'put a shift in'.
Typical mentality of many fans of english football. And why technically gift players often get criminally undervalued in english football.
There's a lot of subtly going on in Pogba's game and he's bloody brilliant.
Typical mentality of many fans of english football. And why technically gift players often get criminally undervalued in english football.
There's a lot of subtly going on in Pogba's game and he's bloody brilliant.
I really don't see why anyone has any faith we're ever going to get more out of Pogba than we have so far. He's been here ages now and we're still having the same discussions.
Personally, if a club came in with big money for him I'd be happy to see him go.
That said, the timing of this thread is weird as he played well last night.
Personally, if a club came in with big money for him I'd be happy to see him go.
That said, the timing of this thread is weird as he played well last night.
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How many shots has he taken in the last couple months? Feels like every time there's an opening for a shot he instead holds and tries to pass
He’s not that type of player though. However, he can be a top top player in his own regards, question is how can he do that more consistently
Even Zidane surely has realized by now that Pogba is done.
In fact, Deschamps should start working on a France NT rebuild; players like Lloris, Umtiti, Varane, Pogba, Giroud, Griezmann are yesterday's news.
In fact, Deschamps should start working on a France NT rebuild; players like Lloris, Umtiti, Varane, Pogba, Giroud, Griezmann are yesterday's news.
No.
Its a joke what some of the comments on here are.
Pogba is brilliant, he was fantastic yesterday in the midfield, goes about his work without notice. Fans want him to do what? Score, assist, defend all at once?
It’s a difficult one. I go full circle on Pogba on a regular basis. Clearly has some real qualities but I’m not sure his good points outweigh his bad points at times...
In general, I don’t think our shape is great with Pogba and Fernandes together in a 3-man midfield. Part of me thinks a more functional player next to Fred/Matic with Sancho/Martial/Mason/Rashford in a front-three is the way to go
Ideally we would keep Pogba and rotate with Bruno in big games/play them together in games we are likely to dominate - but are we in a position of such luxury right now? Arguably not.
In general, I don’t think our shape is great with Pogba and Fernandes together in a 3-man midfield. Part of me thinks a more functional player next to Fred/Matic with Sancho/Martial/Mason/Rashford in a front-three is the way to go
Ideally we would keep Pogba and rotate with Bruno in big games/play them together in games we are likely to dominate - but are we in a position of such luxury right now? Arguably not.
No.
Are we really doing this again?
There's some serious hypocrisy going on here now.
Are we really doing this again?
There's some serious hypocrisy going on here now.
I grew up watching him play so you can keep that to yourself.
He worked hard defensively, got around the press, kept the ball in tight situations while constantly feeding the ball forward to Bruno or setting the widemen away even after yhe front 4 lost their legs after our great spell.
Paul never slowed down.
Our front players didnt magically get the ball in dangerous positions from the grace of God you know.
But keep agenda posting away. Live life to the fullest hahahahahaha
If he wants to go and we get a decent money, yes. On paper he looks like a perfect central midfielder with his attributes (passing, strength, height) but seems half arsed to be in that role.
He is not essential to our play and I don't think he'll ever be, every game seems the same: couple of misplaced passes, two great passes, dispossessed a couple of times in dangerous area, then a nice dribbling. He's dangerous on both ends of the pitch, some people remember only the good moves, while other will remember the bad ones.
That said, clearly he shouldn't be playing that deep so either we move him to the left and higher up, or we replace him with a better fit to midfield two.
He is not essential to our play and I don't think he'll ever be, every game seems the same: couple of misplaced passes, two great passes, dispossessed a couple of times in dangerous area, then a nice dribbling. He's dangerous on both ends of the pitch, some people remember only the good moves, while other will remember the bad ones.
That said, clearly he shouldn't be playing that deep so either we move him to the left and higher up, or we replace him with a better fit to midfield two.
That's it, we either accept what he is and adjust the team setup somehow, or we should let him go and replace with a better fit to whatever is Ole idea.
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Idiotic thread again, I must reaffirm.
We don't have anybody in midfield that can play the ball forward apart from him. So you want Scott and Fred to continue their linear passes right?
I know your concerns but most of it is coaching and organization. We basically need Bruno to play slightly deeper and share the burden of build up play, attack and defense with Paul.
He could easily get Bruno's goals without the penalties and a more assured passer of the ball.
We were not dominated in midfield yesterday and should have won easily. We made Seville looked ordinary, they aren't a bad side you know.
So it had be stupid to sell him now.
We don't have anybody in midfield that can play the ball forward apart from him. So you want Scott and Fred to continue their linear passes right?
I know your concerns but most of it is coaching and organization. We basically need Bruno to play slightly deeper and share the burden of build up play, attack and defense with Paul.
He could easily get Bruno's goals without the penalties and a more assured passer of the ball.
We were not dominated in midfield yesterday and should have won easily. We made Seville looked ordinary, they aren't a bad side you know.
So it had be stupid to sell him now.
I don't know what to say.
One of the finest midfielders in the world, whether holding or undertaking a more dynamic role. We should definitely sell him, have more money to piss up the wall, and get back to only having one good creative midfielder, because we couldn't possibly get our brains around having two.
If you come to this forum after a defeat the blame is always pointed to the same people.
Ole, Pogba, Lindelof, Maguire.
Pogba was brilliant yesterday, I thought he did everything well controlled the midfield. Our midfield was not the problem yesterday.