Right now he has to earn his place back into the team. I really hope Ole don't just put him right back in there. That is an insult to the player he benches, since that has to be either Matic, Fred or McTominay. They are doing very well atm, and so are the team as a whole.
Where does Pogba fit in?
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
- Start date
A few reserve games followed by FA Cup and Europa games to rest midfielders who have earned the first team spot. Otherwise, waiting on the bench for an opportunity to regain a first team place.
Sorry you were injured Paul, and that your agent criticised our manager (which you didn't sort out publicly). However, this is Manchester United and nobody is bigger than this club.
Sorry you were injured Paul, and that your agent criticised our manager (which you didn't sort out publicly). However, this is Manchester United and nobody is bigger than this club.
Ive never been one to care about what he does on social but I must admit that his post about 20 mins ago of him and his wife posing has really annoyed me! He can do whatever he wants of course but after such a big win for his team, a little solidarity wouldn’t go amiss would it? Even just a “well done boys” or something. I’m also surprised he still isn’t at games when he’s apparently back at Carrington.
Only way we fit Pogba and Fernandes together is to play a 442 diamond.
........Bruno.......
Pogba .......Fred
..........McT ........
And even then I don't know if the synergy is balanced. Anyway it sticks us to a certain formation and predictable. Any other formation would entail one of them on bench which isn't optimal.
I'd rather sell him and use the funds to strengthen the team in forwards.
Fred is awesome and McTominey is slowly becoming the heart of the team. His fight and drive are immense.
If there are no takers in the summer and he comes back ready to be part of THIS squad and show the same attributes as they are, that’s fine. He can have his chance to really impress.
But what we have now is finally starting to work and there was a very noticeable problem on the right hand side today (well, he stayed out there most of the time) If we had a Sancho providing those breaks, we could already have been 3-0 up by the time subs were made. Those decisions are what separate the truly great teams.
I think Pogba needs to go so we can spend the money where it’s really going to make the difference.
If there are no takers in the summer and he comes back ready to be part of THIS squad and show the same attributes as they are, that’s fine. He can have his chance to really impress.
But what we have now is finally starting to work and there was a very noticeable problem on the right hand side today (well, he stayed out there most of the time) If we had a Sancho providing those breaks, we could already have been 3-0 up by the time subs were made. Those decisions are what separate the truly great teams.
I think Pogba needs to go so we can spend the money where it’s really going to make the difference.
I think people saying putting him in straight away are missing the human element. The fact he and his agent have been running their mouths about leaving since last summer shouldn’t be lost. Use him where needed then flog him.
Haven’t seen or heard the bloke do anything positive for the club since being injured. Not even the simple ‘come on boys’
Haven’t seen or heard the bloke do anything positive for the club since being injured. Not even the simple ‘come on boys’
No player needs to play every game. Having five first choice midfielders is a must, rather than a problem. Rotation and variation is critical to success. Pogba will play tons of games because he is talented, and the situations will call for it. There's no need to shoe horn all our midfielders in, either through a diamond or some other formation. Just rotate them to account for form, fitness, tiredness, schedules, and opposition.
We have so many games to play that another pair of legs in midfield could prove invaluable!
We also have a lot of games left against teams that’ll park the bus- adding Pogba to Bruno and Mata should be able to unlock any defence
We also have a lot of games left against teams that’ll park the bus- adding Pogba to Bruno and Mata should be able to unlock any defence
This is sensible
His Instagram story is celebrating the win today.
I'm not thinking about after the season but the here and now. Nothing wrong with playing that diamond. Bearing in mind we're up against quite a few teams who will sit deep and we really should dominate, we can also play 433 with both of them in midfield and Martial, James and Greenwood up top.
For me, he comes on once we have a game sewn up 2 or 3 nil with 15/20 minutes to go...so the odd cameo. I wouldn’t trust him if holding on to a slender lead.
Yep. Undoubtedly the thought of him and Bruno in our midfield is an exciting one. Both greatly talented and could be absolute dynamite together if they struck up an understanding, which I fancy they would do quite quickly.
But......the guy is an outsider. Doesnt go to games. Doesnt congratulate the team when appropriate. Doesnt tell his agent to shut the fk up when he publicly criticises his employers. Doesnt commit his future to the club.
I'm totally done with him. We dont need him. He is displaying none of the commitment that we are demanding from this squad now. Commit to the club and you can play for us. Otherwise, dont let the door hit you on the way out.
History books (at least for Utd)
Bringing in Pogba would probably unbalance the team, but there are a couple of viable options I guess...
There is no doubting his talent... for me he is our most talented player. But he is a player that you have to build the team around to get the best out of him... and that means a 3 man midfield with him on the left of the three...
His unwillingness to track back means you are best off with a specialist DM behind him with fantastic positional awareness... we only have an ageing matic of that mould...
Plus someone with more positional awareness is needed to counter act him on the right of the 3 so we don’t get overrun.. which is not Bruno in my eyes... probably more a Mctominay/Fred role...
The best option where I could see him and Bruno working is with a Diamond as some have mentioned... but I’ve never been a huge fan of the formation, as it tends to make teams very narrow, and you need very good attacking FBs to provide your width... whereas our are better at defending than attacking in my eyes.
The other option would be 352 in certain games with a Bruno/Fred/Pogba midfield 3, with the 3 CBs compensating for the lack of a specialist DM....
So with a fully fit squad, the only two realistic options for me would be:
RB. CB. CB. LB
Matic
Fred. Pogba
Bruno
Martial. Rashford
or
CB. CB. CB
WB. WB
Fred
Bruno. Pogba
Martial. Rashford
There is no doubting his talent... for me he is our most talented player. But he is a player that you have to build the team around to get the best out of him... and that means a 3 man midfield with him on the left of the three...
His unwillingness to track back means you are best off with a specialist DM behind him with fantastic positional awareness... we only have an ageing matic of that mould...
Plus someone with more positional awareness is needed to counter act him on the right of the 3 so we don’t get overrun.. which is not Bruno in my eyes... probably more a Mctominay/Fred role...
The best option where I could see him and Bruno working is with a Diamond as some have mentioned... but I’ve never been a huge fan of the formation, as it tends to make teams very narrow, and you need very good attacking FBs to provide your width... whereas our are better at defending than attacking in my eyes.
The other option would be 352 in certain games with a Bruno/Fred/Pogba midfield 3, with the 3 CBs compensating for the lack of a specialist DM....
So with a fully fit squad, the only two realistic options for me would be:
RB. CB. CB. LB
Matic
Fred. Pogba
Bruno
Martial. Rashford
or
CB. CB. CB
WB. WB
Fred
Bruno. Pogba
Martial. Rashford
I'm convinced theres a good 5-10% of our fans who care more about Pogba than they do the club. Feck me boys. He's been here 4 years and not ripped up trees. It's always but what ifs with Pogba.
Simple truth is he's got bags of talent, a very questionable attitude at times and he makes very poor decisions on the pitch constantly. Gets disposed in terrible areas yet his fan boys pretend like he walks on water.
The hype around him is a joke. He's not in same league as KDB. Not even close.
Simple truth is he's got bags of talent, a very questionable attitude at times and he makes very poor decisions on the pitch constantly. Gets disposed in terrible areas yet his fan boys pretend like he walks on water.
The hype around him is a joke. He's not in same league as KDB. Not even close.
Despite the signing of Bruno, Pogba is above everyone in midfield, the quality gulf between him and Fred/Mctominay/Matic was huge.
Everyone seems to forget that Pogba was playing in deep-lying playmakers role in the early season before he gets injured, that's a role he plays for France during the world cup and was the best progressive midfielder in the competition
We signed Bruno to replace Andreas/Lingard in XI, not Pogba. Pogba will replace Matic when he is fully fit, he has more things to offer us than Matic and improve us offensively.
Let's see what Bruno can offer to Pogba, he can offer to cross that Pogba can make a powerful run to the box to attempt a header, he can play direct pass together with Pogba, he can offer set species/corner to Pogba, he can offer an off-ball movement like Mata to Pogba, he can offer to take burdon off Pogba's creativity so they cannot mark Pogba.
Bruno and Pogba are intelligent, they can contribute a lot of points for us, when they play great, we'll be far more dangerous.
Everyone seems to forget that Pogba was playing in deep-lying playmakers role in the early season before he gets injured, that's a role he plays for France during the world cup and was the best progressive midfielder in the competition
We signed Bruno to replace Andreas/Lingard in XI, not Pogba. Pogba will replace Matic when he is fully fit, he has more things to offer us than Matic and improve us offensively.
Let's see what Bruno can offer to Pogba, he can offer to cross that Pogba can make a powerful run to the box to attempt a header, he can play direct pass together with Pogba, he can offer set species/corner to Pogba, he can offer an off-ball movement like Mata to Pogba, he can offer to take burdon off Pogba's creativity so they cannot mark Pogba.
Bruno and Pogba are intelligent, they can contribute a lot of points for us, when they play great, we'll be far more dangerous.
In a crappy European Pepsi advert.
He fits in on the bench as Bruno's back up and to give him rest. There's only a few games left in the season for him to play, so why disrupt the team?
If he wants to play, drop Riaola, sign a new contract and knuckle down and work hard. He shouldn't get in on talent alone as the midfield is well balanced without him in the starting 11.
If he wants to play, drop Riaola, sign a new contract and knuckle down and work hard. He shouldn't get in on talent alone as the midfield is well balanced without him in the starting 11.
Let me know how much you want Fred spazzing shots over the bar from forty yards when we are struggling to break West Ham or Southampton down before the end of the season.
I'm really not sure. Against lesser teams, can he play on the left with Fred or McTominay or Matic on the right sweeping shit up?
Back up to bruno. If bruno is injured pogba can play. Once he achieves his dream and leaves us we can hopefully replace him with some real quality that wants to play for the shirt
I was thinking the same today. 4231, give him some sort of role where he Bruno are just swapping positions As both seem to like that left hand channel. Seem to be finding both Fred and Bruno popping up in there in very advanced roles.
He doesn't.
He's a world class talent, but not player. I would much rather have a solid CM base for Bruno to work off and than get in a quality right winger.
Obviously we need squad options, but Pogba is paid far too much for that, nor would he want to be one...
He's a world class talent, but not player. I would much rather have a solid CM base for Bruno to work off and than get in a quality right winger.
Obviously we need squad options, but Pogba is paid far too much for that, nor would he want to be one...
Instagram story "Manchester is Red".
I'm hoping he will be convinced with the project here.
Pogba to stay and play beautiful football with Bruno.
I'm hoping he will be convinced with the project here.
Pogba to stay and play beautiful football with Bruno.
With pogba Rashford and someone like sancho we are a very good team again. Bruno was such a crucial signing. Pogba will stick about if we give him a massive deal and we promise to sign really good players. I don’t mind if he leaves because it’ll never be like ronaldo knowing you’re watching the best player in the world leave your club. Watching pogba leave twice wouldn’t bother me that much but if pogba really wants to stay and fight, man what a player we have. Add sancho or chiesa to that. That’s a sweet team.
Fire his agent first.
He doesn't, he should just feck off, proud that he's fecked Manchester United football club over twice.
We have a run of games against teams that will defend deep, having him and Bruno in the same team will be invaluable to unlock those defenses. As a formation, Bruno can play anywhere across the front 3 or 4 with a free role and Pogba as the creative force in CM.
He comes in for teams that set up defensively against us.
For teams where we're countering, he comes on as an impact sub.
For guaranteed starting eleven Pogba has to show that he works his arse off defensively, other wise he's benched
For teams where we're countering, he comes on as an impact sub.
For guaranteed starting eleven Pogba has to show that he works his arse off defensively, other wise he's benched
I think the first thing to say is changing our formation at a time when we look to be making this much progress would be incredibly risky.
Likewise it would be incredibly risky for team morale to replace either of Fred, McTominay, Matic or of course Bruno who're all doing really well.
However there are bound to be times that we're chasing a game and Pogba will be very useful. Against Everton for example the last 20 mins or so could have been different with Pogba on the pitch.
Essentially he shouldn't start, but will get numerous opportunities where we're struggling to break teams down. Naturally if he works much harder and performs much better than he historically has then he has a great chance of becoming a regular again (the level he was at for Solskjaer's first dozen games or so).
Likewise it would be incredibly risky for team morale to replace either of Fred, McTominay, Matic or of course Bruno who're all doing really well.
However there are bound to be times that we're chasing a game and Pogba will be very useful. Against Everton for example the last 20 mins or so could have been different with Pogba on the pitch.
Essentially he shouldn't start, but will get numerous opportunities where we're struggling to break teams down. Naturally if he works much harder and performs much better than he historically has then he has a great chance of becoming a regular again (the level he was at for Solskjaer's first dozen games or so).
————————De Gea———————
-AWB——-Maguire—Bailly——Shaw
————————Matic————————
———-McTominay——-Fred————
——————Bruno—————-Pogba—
—————————-Martial—————-
-AWB——-Maguire—Bailly——Shaw
————————Matic————————
———-McTominay——-Fred————
——————Bruno—————-Pogba—
—————————-Martial—————-
4-2-2-2 With Pogba and Bruno behind Martial and another forward.
It is simple to me, as he has to fight his way back into contention for a starting place. We cannot slip into a habit of playing him just for his name alone. We have a balanced midfield right now and to change that without cause would be wrong in my eyes. We have plenty of games and I would ease him back in in EL and FA Cup to give others a rest and judge his performances from there. If he shows the level of desire needed to start then he will get in the team. If not he stays on the bench.
I would be suprised if he didn’t spend rest of the season on bench and as long as we are playing like we do then we are not in hurry getting him back. He should earn his place in team. Not be given.
Problem is not quality. Problem is mentality. And have always been.
Problem is not quality. Problem is mentality. And have always been.
Pretty much this. Our midfield has made great strides in his absence and in its current form has shown it is more than a match for most, if not all, midfields. Matić, Fred, McT and Bruno deserve to all keep their places. They have settled together and have formed a good understanding on the pitch.
Who would give way for him? We’d miss Matić’s defensive work, we’d miss Fred’s disruptive play and energy and if Ole replaces Bruno with Pogba then he’s truly insane.
Pogba, fantastic player as he can be, does not deserve to simply walk back into the team, especially with all the nonsense surrounding him and his agent.
Pogba must earn his place back at the very least. For me though, what would be the point of Ole disrupting our current players form and moral for a player who by all accounts won’t even be here in the summer.
He should stick with the current set up until Pogba either proves his worth in training and / or maybe makes moves to stay beyond summer.
For ages we've harked on about how Pogba was the sole creative outlet and how our team could be shut down by shutting him down. Now we have another in Bruno and people want rid of Pogba.
This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but Bruno will at some point lose the element of being unknown and the oppo will have a better game plan against him. That doesn't mean he'll turn shit, but it might mean he'll have to work harder to be as effective.
If we have 2 very creative players (hopefully 3 if we get Sancho) we can have too much threat to double up on. There won't be enough opposition players to mark our creative players out of the game.
Pogba needs to earn his place. If we play 4231 He can play as a 10 (if we rest Bruno), or he can play as one of the two central midfielders - if he is willing to put a shift in.
If we play 433 he can play on the left of the 3 CMs with Bruno on the right and someone else sitting as CDM.
If we play 3412, he doesn't fit unless he proves he'll do the dirty work at 1 of the CM 2.
So what? Why does he have to fit every scenario? It's great that we finally have competition for places in midfield and if we sign Sancho we'll definitely have enough creativity to not miss him if he's on the bench.
This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but Bruno will at some point lose the element of being unknown and the oppo will have a better game plan against him. That doesn't mean he'll turn shit, but it might mean he'll have to work harder to be as effective.
If we have 2 very creative players (hopefully 3 if we get Sancho) we can have too much threat to double up on. There won't be enough opposition players to mark our creative players out of the game.
Pogba needs to earn his place. If we play 4231 He can play as a 10 (if we rest Bruno), or he can play as one of the two central midfielders - if he is willing to put a shift in.
If we play 433 he can play on the left of the 3 CMs with Bruno on the right and someone else sitting as CDM.
If we play 3412, he doesn't fit unless he proves he'll do the dirty work at 1 of the CM 2.
So what? Why does he have to fit every scenario? It's great that we finally have competition for places in midfield and if we sign Sancho we'll definitely have enough creativity to not miss him if he's on the bench.
If I could like a post a thousand times this would be it
And let`s not get into how Pogba sometimes lacks the consistency and application. One moment he puts in a 10/10 performance then a 3/10 for the next one or two games. Then there is the issue of whether he`s disciplined enough to play in a pivot where Fred has offered a lot of grit and intensity. And he may have joined us recently but Bruno is already showing a level of consistency and leadership we are yet to REALLY see in Pogba who`s been here for 4 years now. Simply put he cannot depend on his name anymore to bail him out time for him to put his money where his mouth is and either earn his place in the team or be benched. Rashford is the only absentee who should go straight back into the team when fit.
This. At least we should try it against lesser sides. Problem is when Rashford is fit he would have to take Martials place.
Pogs playing towards the left is where he supposed to prefer playing, a la Juve.
To think we didn't have a single decent midfielder not too long ago and now we want to fit all five in.