Should we consider selling Pogba?

I think that van der Beek's arrival was to eventually usher in a transition when he plays more and United will sell Pogba and begin relying on Bruno and him for midfield creativity.
 
lilcurt said:
In Bruno, VDB and Pogba I feel we have 3 amazing players but all of whom want to do the same job really. Meanwhile in other areas of midfield such as box to box and CDM our quality is bottom half of the table level.
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Yeah I think they need to play Pogba more forward with Bruno.. we already have pretty defensive fullbacks so get the offensive midfield players attacking more instead of our defensive fullbacks attacking more. Although I'm not really a professional coach or anything... just my thoughts
 
croadyman said:
Can't deny he has rarely justified that price tag in the last 4 years
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If his attitude and effort matched his natural ability he'd be a world beater. Sadly it doesn't.

His brain farts on the ball are becoming far too common too. Gives ball away in middle of pitch under little to no pressure. World class players don't do that often.

Think the hype and hysteria is starting to finally wash away. He's just a decent player. Never in a million years is he world class.
 
What’s the point of selling him? I can’t see how we get a good fee for him, and even if we do, for what purpose? So we fill the Glazers pockets even more?
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
If his attitude and effort matched his natural ability he'd be a world beater. Sadly it doesn't.

His brain farts on the ball are becoming far too common too. Gives ball away in middle of pitch under little to no pressure. World class players don't do that often.

Think the hype and hysteria is starting to finally wash away. He's just a decent player. Never in a million years is he world class.
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I would agree. I think in some games he can be brilliant or at least he does brilliant things. But the performances are erratic. We just dont know which Paul Pogba will turn up. I have seen on multiple times posters before matches saying: "If Pogba turns up we will win." But that is just it. We dont actually know which Pogba will turn up.

I think we should sell and maybe find someone like Herrera was, who maybe does not have the on the ball class of Pogba (when he is good) but can deliver 38 games a season.

I would not be surprized if Pogba ups it the next few games and will look brilliant. My argument is that he cannot sustain that level for 38 games a season.

I agree also, he is not world class. He is a 45/50 million pound player we bought for 90 million.
 
Kostov said:
What’s the point of selling him? I can’t see how we get a good fee for him, and even if we do, for what purpose? So we fill the Glazers pockets even more?
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Next year probably we will be forced due to contract situation. But you are right, Woody will use the majority of the money to pay dividends to Glazers.
 
Bought for too much and on too big a wage. He will run down his contract and kick in for his final 6 months to get a bumper deal at a new club.
He should not get a new contract with us given his poor play this last few years.
Sums up this current team really.
 
We won't even miss him if he does leave. We've sold and lost far better players than him in the past.

Wouldn't shock me if DVB ends up being a better player for us even if he might have less natural ability. You need more than ability to make it. Pogba seems more interested in Dancing, posing on Instagram and all the other nonsense he does.

City got KDB for £30m less. Criminal from Woodward paying £90m. He's been a poor signing
 
The title should have been "Should have we sold him by now?"
Or, "Why isn't he gone yet?"

Rotten apple. Can't see what people see in him or why anyone dreams about 100 mil. for him. I said take 30 or 40 mil. if we can get it and people laughed. The only club who could have paid any big money are PSG on account of him being French WC winner and them having lots of money, but even they are looking before buying these days.

In getting rid of Pogba we are already too late. In fear of losing on his "market value" we, as a club, are losing every day on keeping him.
This will end well if we don't have to pay for him to play on loan for someone else.

Ole should have been given the green light to get rid of him but that would mean a certain someone would have to admit he was a fool letting Mourinho throw that money at him in the first place. It's a huge mess all this Pogba situation, one of the things that makes me embarrassed about our club. We shouldn't have been a club to overspend on him but even worse, we shouldn't have been a club that puts up with a primadona that is he.
 
Every player has his strengths and weaknesses. I just think Pogba's strengths and weaknesses are a poor match for our squad.

If we could somehow buy some Pirlo and Marchisio clones, Pogba might still be able to work. But we've already got a another player in Bruno who's competing to be the main man in midfield.

So the real question is whether we build the squad to get the best out of Pogba or the best out of Bruno.

I think the answer is obvious. Bruno has shown he can do it in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Pogba's best came in Serie A and a handful of international matches at the World Cup.

There's an inherent risk in building around any single player. The fact we've been trying and failing with Pogba for 3 seasons means that I'm leaning towards making Bruno the fulcrum of the side. And because I don't think we can have both of them in the team at the same time, it makes sense from a financial point-of-view to cash in on the odd man out.
 
Dante said:
Every player has his strengths and weaknesses. I just think Pogba's strengths and weaknesses are a poor match for our squad.

If we could somehow buy some Pirlo and Marchisio clones, Pogba might still be able to work. But we've already got a another player in Bruno who's competing to be the main man in midfield.

So the real question is whether we build the squad to get the best out of Pogba or the best out of Bruno.

I think the answer is obvious. Bruno has shown he can do it in the Premier League. Pogba's best came in Serie A and a handful of international matches.

There's an inherent risk in building around any single player. The fact we've been trying and failing with Pogba for 3 seasons means that I'm leaning towards making Bruno the fulcrum of the side. But because I don't think we can have both of them in the team at the same time, it makes sense from a financial point-of-view to cash in on the odd man out.
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I understand your thinking. I would build the team around the front three assuming we get Sancho. Liverpool dont build the team around one player. They build it around their front three, especially Mane and Salah.

To build a team around one player you are talking prime Messi or Ronaldo. They are just so good that it makes it worth it. Pogba is not even a striker let alone world class.

Personally i would sign Sancho this summer and maybe a left back. Let Pogba leave in January and then sign a MF that will complement the front three, as in work for them.
 
Until we are managed or coached to play in a cohesive system, I'd give most of our players benefit of the doubt apart from Lindelof. So yes, I'd include Lingard, James etc.

In Pogba's case, of course we should be keeping him. His quality and class is off the charts if we can find a system to actually play in. Whytf are we expecting him to be a glorified ball recycler and enforcer?

If you're going to play McT then drop James and play Pogba on the lef/further upfield. Why is Ole so limited with his tactics, formation and variation?

He was really bad yesterday and deserving of criticism but the loss is on Ole the most. It's almost 2 years. How we start in games and against opposition that press us or let us have the ball is a reflection on him. It's a completely separate issue from recruitment etc. If we can't get a team playing well together with our current squad, how is bringing in £200m of talent going to help going forward because in a year's time, we'll be saying the same again.
 
TheLord said:
I think the ship sailed last season when we could have sold him for over £100m - like the transfer-fee for Eden Hazard. Who's going to pay more than £70m for him in this climate? The problem is his inconsistency. He has a few good games, and then a few matches where he looks lost and disinterested, and then a little injury...and then the same cycle continues.

I don't think there's any value in selling him now. I don't think there will be much value next year either when he'll be nearly 29 years old. The economic fallout of the pandemic will force clubs to spend big only on very young players who have a good resale value.

Pogba is 27.5 years old and should be at the peak of his career for the next 2 years or so. Most midfielders start declining from the age of 30. We should try and get the best out of this talented but inconsistent midfielder at the peak of his career. He better perform - his value will drop by around 15m every year just because of his age.
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Yes, It is INSANE that we did not cash in an sell him for 100m when we had the chance, that boat has now sailed thanks to the wu-virus and he looks happy to run out his contract and walk out on a free because that would earn his leach agent a bigger commission when he signs on to a new club...

He is too inconsistent for a so called world class player, also the insane money he is on destabilizes the wage stucture which causes friction in the dressing room especially since he 'phones in' his performances most of the time when we need his WC winning leadership the most..

imo he is giving the minimum work rate , running down his contract before going to psg and 'magically' he becomes world class.

Why does woodward and the rest of the useless board allow players who do not give a feck about the club to drain finances giving the minimum performance running down their over inflated contract destabilizing the wage structure and team morale? Is it fair that Pogba earns 7x more a week than Greenwood?
 
lilcurt said:
Do I think we should sell Pobga, no!

Do I think you could sell Pogba and get a better suited midfielder for our squad, probably!

Pogba is a Rolls Royce of a player, I feel in a team of absolute quality he would be immense, but when you look to him to lead and rely on his engine you are in trouble. He doesn't have the engine and isn't doged enough.

I wouldn't sell him, as I just don't just the board to reinvest the money any better.

In Bruno, VDB and Pogba I feel we have 3 amazing players but all of whom want to do the same job really. Meanwhile in other areas of midfield such as box to box and CDM our quality is bottom half of the table level.
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This is the key bit really. Our recruitment is so bad that we have 3 top players for the same position and severely lacking strength in other areas. We now have to shoehorn into our side and pretend we have a good team. Watching how perfect the Liverpool system is just makes me laugh at what we are trying to do. Sure we can sit deep in big games and try and hit on the counter (can Rashford still run?) or look good against teams that dont press us to death.

Its very very worrying at the moment that small clubs are exposing us so badly tactically and with their style if play.
 
He's just recovered from Coronavirus and didn't have a proper pre-season.

He will improve a lot and will play an important role still. But yes he's shown in 4 seasons that he doesn't have the focus, consistency and desire to blend in properly here.

I could never understand why we didn't take the money and run when Barca offered 100 million.
 
Champagne Football said:
He's just recovered from Coronavirus and didn't have a proper pre-season.

He will improve a lot and will play an important role still. But yes he's shown in 4 seasons that he doesn't have the focus, consistency and desire to blend in properly here.

I could never understand why we didn't take the money and run when Barca offered 100 million.
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Because we would have been left with a big hole in our squad at the time and management would have had no strategy to replace or strengthen the team in general.
 
Icemav said:
This is the key bit really. Our recruitment is so bad that we have 3 top players for the same position and severely lacking strength in other areas. We now have to shoehorn into our side and pretend we have a good team. Watching how perfect the Liverpool system is just makes me laugh at what we are trying to do. Sure we can sit deep in big games and try and hit in the counter (can Rashford still run?) or look good against teams that dont press us to death.

Its very very worrying at the moment that small clubs are exposing us so badly tactically and with their style if play.
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That's not true at all. Everyone was crying towards the end of last season that we had no quality on the bench to come in to replace Bruno and Pogba for when they need a rest. Now we bought that player and it's still doom and gloom.

Ed will sign one or two more before the window shuts, but won't spend crazy money. He's waiting till deadline day to try and get better deals and trying to flog smalling, lingsrd etc now

Alex Telles and Peresic on loan will probably be our 2 final summer signings.
 
lilcurt said:
Do I think we should sell Pobga, no!

Do I think you could sell Pogba and get a better suited midfielder for our squad, probably!

Pogba is a Rolls Royce of a player
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I was writing a reply and just a few sentences in and was agreeing with this sentiment until i realised after those few sentences, that the players we have are really not THAT bad. What we lack is squad depth in terms of player personel. What we really really lack though is coaching. You gotta ask yourself the question, is this team greater than the sum of its part or is it about as good as its parts or worse than its parts. Stepping back and looking at it, yeh we have weaknesses in defence but its not losing 1-3 at home to crystal palace weak. The entire midfield and attackers looked devoid of any creativity which suggests to me they have no direction of how to play. That all stems back to the coaching staff. We need a proper manager, some on here would like to show they are top reds and call such managers as "Hipster Manager." However what we need is a coach that drills a system into the players and they know/they have the intention of playing a certain way. Because right now, they do not posses this and its quite obvious.
 
FahadiHossein said:
I think that van der Beek's arrival was to eventually usher in a transition when he plays more and United will sell Pogba and begin relying on Bruno and him for midfield creativity.
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Agree.

I understand some of the hate he gets. I don't think he was ready to play and should have come on as a sub but clearly Ole feels like Pogba recovering from COVID and a few days of training was a better choice than Fred.

I could see him not renewing and getting sold next summer for 50-60 mil if his form doesn't pick up or we don't bring in some reinforcements and I don't blame him if he leaves. VdB or Bruno would fill that hole but no depth again.

On his day he is such a joy to watch, great long passer and has a flair about him but is so inconsistent and frustrating because you feel there is so much more in the tank. With all of that said I hope he turns it around, stays healthy and renews.
 
lilcurt said:
Do I think we should sell Pobga, no!

Do I think you could sell Pogba and get a better suited midfielder for our squad, probably!

Pogba is a Rolls Royce of a player, I feel in a team of absolute quality he would be immense, but when you look to him to lead and rely on his engine you are in trouble. He doesn't have the engine and isn't doged enough.

I wouldn't sell him, as I just don't just the board to reinvest the money any better.

In Bruno, VDB and Pogba I feel we have 3 amazing players but all of whom want to do the same job really. Meanwhile in other areas of midfield such as box to box and CDM our quality is bottom half of the table level.
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So basically you're saying he doesn't fit us and you don't want us to sell him.
 
Now we have Bruno and Donny, selling Pogba to help fund Sancho and a quality LB and CB would have been brilliant squad and financial management.

But that is beyond Woodward’s capability.
 
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Dante said:
Every player has his strengths and weaknesses. I just think Pogba's strengths and weaknesses are a poor match for our squad.

If we could somehow buy some Pirlo and Marchisio clones, Pogba might still be able to work. But we've already got a another player in Bruno who's competing to be the main man in midfield.

So the real question is whether we build the squad to get the best out of Pogba or the best out of Bruno.

I think the answer is obvious. Bruno has shown he can do it in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Pogba's best came in Serie A and a handful of international matches at the World Cup.

There's an inherent risk in building around any single player. The fact we've been trying and failing with Pogba for 3 seasons means that I'm leaning towards making Bruno the fulcrum of the side. And because I don't think we can have both of them in the team at the same time, it makes sense from a financial point-of-view to cash in on the odd man out.
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The Premier League is just a different beast. He fits our club, he fits the squad but he doesn't fit what the league is. I don't think it gets said enough, the English domestic league figures you out and asks you "Okay what can you do to be better than me" and I don't think he ever made that leap and worked out that equation to go on to the next level which leads to consistency and trophies. You have to adapt and evolve and work harder than everyone to be the best and for fans to see you as the best. It is probably one of the rawest leagues in Europe.

The worst thing that happened to him really was Bruno coming in and it being painfully obvious that "OH! Bruno in the attacking third works way better than Pogba". If Pogba isn't playing close to goal with no defensive responsibility I have no idea what the point of persisting with him is. We can get cheaper players to do the donkey work. I still don't understand the strategy of signing more 8/10 style in between midfielders. The best and most workhorse DM who can cover the ground of two players and tackle is an absolute must if we're going to keep on with Pogba in a midfield role that isn't that of a glorified no defensive role second striker.

In defence of all of this, it is just another player in another important combination of players in a cog of the team that don't work. The money thing makes all of this insanely difficult to work out, Ed doesn't make tough decisions and that has been obvious.
 
Assuming we don't get Sancho, I would sell Pogba to Real Madrid for Odegaard in a straight swap. Ditto!
There are plenty of central midfielders who can replace Pogba and do a better job at it at this role.
 
We need a Xavi/scholes/Modric/Thiago type controlling midfielder. Pogba can be that but he doesn't have that type of mentality. Holds on to the ball a lot or goes driving with the ball. I thought he tried a lot last season but I don't see him able to. Also don't like his defensive work, so often teams just play around him.
 
Champagne Football said:
That's not true at all. Everyone was crying towards the end of last season that we had no quality on the bench to come in to replace Bruno and Pogba for when they need a rest. Now we bought that player and it's still doom and gloom.

Ed will sign one or two more before the window shuts, but won't spend crazy money. He's waiting till deadline day to try and get better deals and trying to flog smalling, lingsrd etc now

Alex Telles and Peresic on loan will probably be our 2 final summer signings.
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It is true because essentially Pogba has been shoehorned into a dlp position. He is doing an ok job but its not his natural habitat. Bruno really should have been cover or replacement for Pogba. The ideal combo is 2 fantastic holding mids behind which is why people have been harking on about a Matic replacement. Realistically Bruno, Pogba and DVB all want to occupy the same position.

We are making do for now but the truth is that our squad is horribly unbalanced with no defined style of play. Strategy and personnel are a bit all over the place. We have inside forwards playing wing (and one of them can't run at the moment, James is not good enough, Greenwood doing well considering but limited in the role) and fullbacks who can't play the long ball, b2b mids playing the DM role, CB's who are only ok 1on1.

Things click occasionally but thats it. So it might seem sort of ok but our deep rooted problems continue.

Fun season ahead.
 
sammsky1 said:
Now we have Bruno and Donny, selling Pogba to help fund Sancho and a quality LB and CB would have been brilliant squad and financial management.

But that is beyond Woodward’s capability.
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Yes exactly.

Way way beyond. We actually need strengthening in several areas and keeping Pogba is no longer a priority.
 
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elmo said:
So basically you're saying he doesn't fit us and you don't want us to sell him.
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Basically yes, it's not so much he doesn't fit but we have alternatives in the same position that work best for how we play.

But no I would sell him as I wouldn't trust Ed and/or Ole to use those funds on what we do need.
 
Before selling Pogba we need to hire a manager who the board will trust 200%. Otherwise, we are likely to end up in a situation where a merry-go-round never stops. It is okay to replace 2-3 players every season while building on what you have, however, selling Pogba is a very important decision both tactically and commercially. Thus, if we do move him on we need to be absolutely clear about what we want to do with that money and how selling Paul will help move us up, not down or sideways.
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
If his attitude and effort matched his natural ability he'd be a world beater. Sadly it doesn't.

His brain farts on the ball are becoming far too common too. Gives ball away in middle of pitch under little to no pressure. World class players don't do that often.

Think the hype and hysteria is starting to finally wash away. He's just a decent player. Never in a million years is he world class.
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Pogba is an interesting one. I believe his vision for the game is world class. He is able to spot gaps and passages of play very few players can identify. His value however is predicated on having players around him who are entrepreneurial and as adaptive - a feature we sorely lack.
 
DRJosh said:
Pogba is an interesting one. I believe his vision for the game is world class. He is able to spot gaps and passages of play very few players can identify. His value however is predicated on having players around him who are entrepreneurial and as adaptive - a feature we sorely lack.
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That almost sounds like you're making an excuse for him there. Lots of that going on here on the caf with Pogba. Some people had him in their best 5 players in the league list the other day. Nearly fell off my chair laughing.

Maybe people need to come to terms with the fact he's just not that great. 5th season with us he's just entered. Will it be any different to his inconsistent 4 that came before it? Nope!
 
Im really disappointed in how this transfer has turned out as I had really high hopes for him, even when he was out for 3/4 of the season last year. His first game back against spurs renewed my optimism. However, looking at it objectively, I have to admit I am struggling to see what exactly he offers. Hardly scores any goals, or makes any assists. The less said about his defensive work the better. So I think the best option would be to sell him and reinvest the money elsewhere in the squad. But, as others have already pointed out, do we trust this incompetent board to do that???
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
That almost sounds like you're making an excuse for him there. Lots of that going on here on the caf with Pogba. Some people had him in their best 5 players in the league list the other day. Nearly fell off my chair laughing.

Maybe people need to come to terms with the fact he's just not that great. 5th season with us he's just entered. Will it be any different to his inconsistent 4 that came before it? Nope!
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You definitely have a point.

But I mean we’ve seen moments of sheer brilliance from Pogba. Maybe not game-changing but he has produced moments that are certainly effective as they are eye-catching. On his day, his style epitomises the United of old.

I guess from a fans perspective, I’m clinging on the believe that he will develop a rhythm to his performances once we start clicking as unit (if that ever happens).

I believe Pogba serves as an essential drawcard for players wanting to come to United. I don’t envisage many that dream of playing under Ole but I do believe many young and upcoming players would dream of playing alongside Pogba despite his wildly inconsistent form.
 
He was dog shit the other night, I've never seen such shite from a supposedly world class player, it's nowt to do with having decent players around him when he loses the ball constantly and can't pass round a player 6 yards away from him.
 
DRM said:
Im really disappointed in how this transfer has turned out as I had really high hopes for him, even when he was out for 3/4 of the season last year. His first game back against spurs renewed my optimism. However, looking at it objectively, I have to admit I am struggling to see what exactly he offers. Hardly scores any goals, or makes any assists. The less said about his defensive work the better. So I think the best option would be to sell him and reinvest the money elsewhere in the squad. But, as others have already pointed out, do we trust this incompetent board to do that???
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They will probably give him 500k a week 5 year contract knowing our clueless board. It's a real shame Juve or Madrid came to their senses.

The Pogba hype train is in danger of totally de-railing. It's all well and good having the ability. Even his biggest detractor, Souness, says he's got ability. Its the rest of the things he lacks. You can't be a world class player when you 'phone it in' as much as Pogba does. World class players consistently turn up. He never has.
 
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