Which midfielder should we buy to give Pogba more freedom

This will be our most important signing in the summer.

..........Matic
NEW CM ... Pogba

What player is able to contribute to attack, but more importantly pull his weight defensively?
We need someone in there that works hard but is able to contribute through balls and key passes. The main reason we need to upgrade Herrera is he is offering nothing in attack.
 
Mario Lemina as a dark horse alternative?
He's definitely not going to be the playmaker we're looking for, but if we bring in Jorginho I think that an all-action defensive midfielder like Fabinho or Lemina could be a good compliment for him and Pogba.
Scored a real thundercnut of a goal yesterday aswell. :drool:
He's on a long term contract with Juventus but he was loaned out so maybe they aren't that invested in him.
 
I wouldn't mind if we looked into signing Rabiot.

Not a big name that many would have heard of but a great energetic young midfielder who remains calm and composed under pressure while possessing fantastic skill and technique on the ball.
 
I would say Koke. He is an all round midfielder who can pick a pass, hold the ball, get from box to box, has a lot of stamina and defend well. He plays for Athletico Madrid under Simeone, a team which works hard and defends well, perfect for a Jose team. Oh and he is 26 years old.
 
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From the McTominay comments it sounds like Mourinho wants another Matic, someone to win the ball and make only simple passes. If thats the case it wont be any of the exciting players mentioned in this thread
 
The thread title could be ammended to "and to help Matic" as I think that's a part of the issue as well, some wanted us to use Ozil in a 3 or try Fekir, because City play with 2 AM's in front of a DM, but the difference is that City are a brilliantly trained poosession side and Fernandinho has the legs to play that DM role, Matic doesn't, I said when we bought him that Kante did a lot of his running for him at Chelsea, and we see the huge gaps when he plays with Pogba in a 2, he doesn't have the engine or legs to cover so much open grass.

With that said the CM we get has to be able to contribute going forwards as well, at least in terms of passing otherwise Pogba is still going to have to keep dropping too deep to get the ball, A prime Modric would pretty much be the blueprint of what we need. I've always wanted us to go 4-3-3 but in some ways with Matic's limitations we may end up being more like the way Bentiez set Liverpool up when he wanted to free Gerrard.
 
Joe Allen, Leon Britton or Gareth Barry. Keeps it simple and follows instructions.
 
Konimey said:
I would say Koke. He is an all round midfielder who can pick a pass, hold the ball, get from box to box, has a lot of stamina and defend well. He plays for Athletico Madrid under Simeone, a team which works hard and defends well, perfect for a Jose team. Oh and he is 26 years old.
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Yeah I think he'd be a great fit but he's on a long term contract with a 150 million euros release clause. Even if he wants to go and Madrid would be open to a sale it would take a huge chunk of our budget to make it happen.

The Alchemist said:
I wouldn't mind if we looked into signing Rabiot.

Not a big name that many would have heard of but a great energetic young midfielder who remains calm and composed under pressure while possessing fantastic skill and technique on the ball.
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He's become a regular for them this season, starting most games. I don't think there's any chance unless they want to balance their books, but I think he's more valuable to them being an academy product.
 
Ekeke said:
From the McTominay comments it sounds like Mourinho wants another Matic, someone to win the ball and make only simple passes. If thats the case it wont be any of the exciting players mentioned in this thread
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That's how the two defensive midfielders in a 4231 should be played. A holding midfielder - normally someone with great distribution (Alonso, Carrick) partnered with a ball winner (Kante, Herrera).

Jose did this at Madrid with Alonso (holding) and Khedira (ball winner).

Maybe Jose should try Pogba as a 10.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
That's how the two defensive midfielders in a 4231 should be played. A holding midfielder - normally someone with great distribution (Alonso, Carrick) partnered with a ball winner (Kante, Herrera).

Jose did this at Madrid with Alonso (holding) and Khedira (ball winner).

Maybe Jose should try Pogba as a 10.
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Sounds like total shit on a stick football.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
That's how the two defensive midfielders in a 4231 should be played. A holding midfielder - normally someone with great distribution (Alonso, Carrick) partnered with a ball winner (Kante, Herrera).

Jose did this at Madrid with Alonso (holding) and Khedira (ball winner).

Maybe Jose should try Pogba as a 10.
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Which I suppose would explain the Weigl links
 
What about Mousa Dembele from Tottenham? A real powerhouse of a player.
I wish we had signed him before Tottenham snapped him up from Fulham years ago, if I remember correctly SAF was interested in him?
 
The Alchemist said:
I wouldn't mind if we looked into signing Rabiot.
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I agree. He has always impressed me when I've seen him play. Think he would fit like a glove in this team too. Im not sure PSG would ever sell him tho
 
Nemanja Ferdinand said:
What about Mousa Dembele from Tottenham? A real powerhouse of a player.
I wish we had signed him before Tottenham snapped him up from Fulham years ago, if I remember correctly SAF was interested in him?
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Could be a good fit to help Matic while also bringing some control to our midfield. He's coming to the end of his contract with Tottenham next year, but he's probably worth more to them than what little any club would be ready to offer for him. He'll be 31 by the start of next season. Not to be an ageist but with Matic already a key componant we'd be looking to rejuvanate our midfield again in another couple of years.
 
Devil may care said:
The thread title could be ammended to "and to help Matic" as I think that's a part of the issue as well, some wanted us to use Ozil in a 3 or try Fekir, because City play with 2 AM's in front of a DM, but the difference is that City are a brilliantly trained poosession side and Fernandinho has the legs to play that DM role, Matic doesn't, I said when we bought him that Kante did a lot of his running for him at Chelsea, and we see the huge gaps when he plays with Pogba in a 2, he doesn't have the engine or legs to cover so much open grass.

With that said the CM we get has to be able to contribute going forwards as well, at least in terms of passing otherwise Pogba is still going to have to keep dropping too deep to get the ball, A prime Modric would pretty much be the blueprint of what we need. I've always wanted us to go 4-3-3 but in some ways with Matic's limitations we may end up being more like the way Bentiez set Liverpool up when he wanted to free Gerrard.
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This..

Someone mobile who can cover ground quickly with good passing ability is what we need. We've struggled in big games for awhile now, especially away from home and imo that is down to our deeper midfielders not having the physical requirements in relation to our rivals in this regard over the years.
 
We are close. Need a MF alright and maybe a right full back to replace an ageing Valenica. Not sure what Jose's plans are for the RW position though.
 
Fabinho offers a bit of everything - CM, DMC.. Can play in a midfield 2, play the holding role and even as a right back. Would be nice to see Pogba in a more creative role.

Sign him up if he's anything as good as last year :drool:
 
Adnan said:
This..

Someone mobile who can cover ground quickly with good passing ability is what we need. We've struggled in big games for awhile now, especially away from home and imo that is down to our deeper midfielders not having the physical requirements in relation to our rivals in this regard over the years.
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Not an easy type of player to find for sure, but we have lacked it I agree, it was so evident against Spurs the other night in particular. Kovacic might be closest to fitting the bill, someone also mentioned Koke but he seems glued to Atleti for life.
 
Devil may care said:
Not an easy type of player to find for sure, but we have lacked it I agree, it was so evident against Spurs the other night in particular. Kovacic might be closest to fitting the bill, someone also mentioned Koke but he seems glued to Atleti for life.
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Kovacic would be a interesting signing and I know @Rozay would be overjoyed by seeing him at United.:D

If Madrid do decide to pay us the money for De Gea, then I hope we ask for Kovacic to be included in the deal.
 
Adnan said:
Kovacic would be a interesting signing and I know @Rozay would be overjoyed by seeing him at United.:D

If Madrid do decide to pay us the money for De Gea, then I hope we ask for Kovacic to be included in the deal.
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I’d be an extremely happy man!
 
You only need to look at the names being mentioned in this thread to realise why this isn't really a viable idea.

We'd end up paying about £80m for an average player, marginalise one or more of our attacking players in the process, all to experiment playing Pogba in a slightly different position in the hope this magically makes him work harder and play like a grown up.

If we were so committed to doing this we have players to do it for now without signing anyone.
 
noodlehair said:
You only need to look at the names being mentioned in this thread to realise why this isn't really a viable idea.

We'd end up paying about £80m for an average player, marginalise one or more of our attacking players in the process, all to experiment playing Pogba in a slightly different position in the hope this magically makes him work harder and play like a grown up.

If we were so committed to doing this we have players to do it for now without signing anyone.
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The thing is that Pogba has very good work rate; and he has shown a high level going box-to-box at Juventus and United.

Sometimes he just turns into a nothing player; like he gets lost in the game.
 
breakout67 said:
The thing is that Pogba has very good work rate; and he has shown a high level going box-to-box at Juventus and United.

Sometimes he just turns into a nothing player; like he gets lost in the game.
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Signing someone else wont solve that. It wont solve when Pogba has team mates in good positions and ignores them to take on two people on his own or shoot from 35 yards.

I woudn't say Pogba is lazy but he isn't very smart with how he works in a game. His decision making positionally and with the ball just isn't very good for someone of his ability. I get the logic of signing someone to take away the positonal responsibility in a midfield two, but then you either have to drop Pogba or play him in a different role...and whatever role that is will come with positional responsibility, and if it's a more advanced role, will make his decision making on the ball MORE important. It wont magically make it get better. Pogba in an advanced role ignoring team mates to try impossible slalom runs and 30 yard shots is not something that will suddenly make him a world beater. We will be left waiting for him to learn he needs too stop doing these things, but at the same time by changing the whole team to suit him, effectively telling him he has a licence not to.

...and if we end up signing an average or ony decent player to do this, I'm not sure how it helps the team. If we wanted to do it, we have the players to do it now. It would mean dropping one of our forwards. Probably Martial. Either that or playing him or Sanchez in a role they are not at all suited to, which is supposedly the problem we are trying to solve.
 
Adnan said:
Kovacic would be a interesting signing and I know @Rozay would be overjoyed by seeing him at United.:D

If Madrid do decide to pay us the money for De Gea, then I hope we ask for Kovacic to be included in the deal.
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I can see Real coming back in for De Gea this summer and if he wants to go we'll probably do business this time, but we definitely need to get a player in the deal, the money alone isn't worth it to us.

noodlehair said:
...and if we end up signing an average or ony decent player to do this, I'm not sure how it helps the team. If we wanted to do it, we have the players to do it now. It would mean dropping one of our forwards. Probably Martial. Either that or playing him or Sanchez in a role they are not at all suited to, which is supposedly the problem we are trying to solve.
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Did you watch Pogba play for Juve? He was brilliant when given the freedom he had with Pirlo and Vidal, we don't have the CM's to offer that balance right now, clearly Herrera has been out of sorts and out of favour all season, and Fellaini is nowhere near good enough or mobile enough for the role, and he's been injured a decent chunk of the time anyway. If we get in a player like Kovacic or Pjanic or Koke in the summer, you'll see the benefit to Pogba, and yes it will mean that Lingard or Martial spend more time on the bench.
 
Devil may care said:
I can see Real coming back in for De Gea this summer and if he wants to go we'll probably do business this time, but we definitely need to get a player in the deal, the money alone isn't worth it to us.
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When we sold Ronaldo to them we missed a big opportunity with Robben. Mourinho is a type of manager who has form with swap deals of that nature so I'm hopeful if De Gea sadly does leave then we at least ask for Kovacic in return.
 
Adnan said:
When we sold Ronaldo to them we missed a big opportunity with Robben. Mourinho is a type of manager who has form with swap deals of that nature so I'm hopeful if De Gea sadly does leave then we at least ask for Kovacic in return.
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Yeah, just off the top of my head there's our recent Sanchez/Mkhi swap, the Eto'o/Ibra deal and Gallas in the Cole deal. I would rather De Gea said he wanted to stay here and signed a new deal, but if it comes down to it I'm banking on Jose to bleed Madrid and get a player in the deal.
 
Devil may care said:
Yeah, just off the top of my head there's our recent Sanchez/Mkhi swap, the Eto'o/Ibra deal and Gallas in the Cole deal. I would rather De Gea said he wanted to stay here and signed a new deal, but if it comes down to it I'm banking on Jose to bleed Madrid and get a player in the deal.
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I think if it comes to the worst and we have to sell De Gea then I'm pretty confident Jose will want a player in return. I think Madrid want De Gea more than we would want Kovacic and that could work in our favour when it comes to the negotiations.
 
I think that signing a primarily defense minded midfielder and thus allowing Pogba even more reins to run the show would be a bit of a mistake. He's an excellent player but not the midfielder who should be dictating the game. I think we need a controlling metronomic midfielder who we can rely on to control the game and has the speed of thought in split seconds to be press resistant and playmake effectively in deep areas - someone like a Kroos or Modric.

Pogba is an excellent player but he's not your engine. He's a lot more turbo boost than engine, really. And I think giving him the responsibility of being the engine will only lead to disappointment. Let him do his auxiliary midfielder/attacker hybrid thing and affect the game in either area but he can't be the foundation.
 
Adnan said:
I think if it comes to the worst and we have to sell De Gea then I'm pretty confident Jose will want a player in return. I think Madrid want De Gea more than we would want Kovacic and that could work in our favour when it comes to the negotiations.
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We'd definitely be in the box seat this time around, and Jose wont take their flappy keeper the way LvG was going to.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I think that signing a primarily defense minded midfielder and thus allowing Pogba even more reins to run the show would be a bit of a mistake. He's an excellent player but not the midfielder who should be dictating the game. I think we need a controlling metronomic midfielder who we can rely on to control the game and has the speed of thought in split seconds to be press resistant and playmake effectively in deep areas - someone like a Kroos or Modric.

Pogba is an excellent player but he's not your engine. He's a lot more turbo boost than engine, really. And I think giving him the responsibility of being the engine will only lead to disappointment. Let him do his auxiliary midfielder/attacker hybrid thing and affect the game in either area but he can't be the foundation.
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Spot on, Pogba was at his best when Pirlo controlled the tempo of the team and he was essentially there to make the difference in the final 3rd with his vision and creativity.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I think that signing a primarily defense minded midfielder and thus allowing Pogba even more reins to run the show would be a bit of a mistake. He's an excellent player but not the midfielder who should be dictating the game. I think we need a controlling metronomic midfielder who we can rely on to control the game and has the speed of thought in split seconds to be press resistant and playmake effectively in deep areas - someone like a Kroos or Modric.

Pogba is an excellent player but he's not your engine. He's a lot more turbo boost than engine, really. And I think giving him the responsibility of being the engine will only lead to disappointment. Let him do his auxiliary midfielder/attacker hybrid thing and affect the game in either area but he can't be the foundation.
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I agree. We have the playmaker and the anchor, what we're missing now is someone to control the game. I think Weigl could do the job, Jorginho too (although I haven't watched as much of him). Kroos would be ideal, but I don't see any chance of that happening.
 
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