Mbappe going to Madrid on a free could pave the way and free up wage funds for Pogba to go there on a free.
Reckon the best thing to happen is that Ronaldo has come. He can now play his game and not worry about being the "main man". When you've got Pogba, Ronaldo and Fernandez going forward - wow! Then Varane at the back. This is the year we will know if Ole is a manager or not!
I just hope a decision is made soon, even if it's bad news... This will he/wont he BS is tiresome.
i fear he will be demanding a lot of money, now that our wage structure has been ruined by ronaldo
comment by Thorgen Kloppinson (U1282)
posted 31 minutes ago
Mbappe going to Madrid on a free could pave the way and free up wage funds for Pogba to go there on a free.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By adding a £500k a week Mbappe to the squad, it will free up another £500k a week for Pogba?
I guess Pogba’s in no rush to decide, he’ll see how the season plays out and figure out what’s best for him for his career and financially. I just hope we don’t offer him silly money.
I never thought that refusing the contract this summer meant he was inevitably leaving. Doing so just increases his leverage: our power to keep him recedes; his power to maximise salary offers grows. I guess he'll end up where he wants, based on the offers that are made and where he fancies playing for the next few years. It could be at United, if we're desperate enough.
One thing is clear: we'll have to invest world class footballer sums to keep him. So it's worth pausing to consider whether we're better off with a world class Pogba who contributes to a tactical conundrum, or replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 4 minutes ago
I never thought that refusing the contract this summer meant he was inevitably leaving. Doing so just increases his leverage: our power to keep him recedes; his power to maximise salary offers grows. I guess he'll end up where he wants, based on the offers that are made and where he fancies playing for the next few years. It could be at United, if we're desperate enough.
One thing is clear: we'll have to invest world class footballer sums to keep him. So it's worth pausing to consider whether we're better off with a world class Pogba who contributes to a tactical conundrum, or replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As much as I like Pogba as a player and a talent, if we were to allow him to leave and replace him with someone like Frenkie De Jong I think we'd be much better off on the whole.
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
our last 5 midfielders bought (excl pogba):
van der beek
fred
matic
schneiderlin
schweinsteiger
transfer cost: c. £160m
number of world class players acquired: zero
so good luck to all of those who think that losing pogba for nothing will see us replace him with a world class player who better fits our system - whatever that system may be
TBF VDB was bought as back up, Fred seemed a bit of a desperate bid to stop City, Matic was the right idea but too old, Schneiderlin was relatively cheap and hoped he would develop while Schweinstiger was also cheap and bought to bring leadership and experience. Not to say we will but it's clear for everyone to see that we need to bring in a top quality DM more than any other position who isn't either past it or very young and needs time to grow. I'd be amazed if we don't at least try to bring in one next summer.
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 15 minutes ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
our last 5 midfielders bought (excl pogba):
van der beek
fred
matic
schneiderlin
schweinsteiger
transfer cost: c. £160m
number of world class players acquired: zero
so good luck to all of those who think that losing pogba for nothing will see us replace him with a world class player who better fits our system - whatever that system may be
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think there is a decent chance that VDB replaces him and we promote Gardner.
The tactical conundrum is due to deficiencies within our coaching staff, who have used this club as work experience.
Two hobbits in D.Silva and B.Silva were able to dominate most teams playing as two 8's. I refuse to believe Bruno and Pogba can't comfortably play in the same team.
Pogba finally has players around him who will finish and score goals. No surprise he has 7 assists in 4 games.
We have finally built an attack good enough for him to showcase his talents properly. Would be very surprised if he was to move now, RM need a rebuild, would say our squad is better than theirs.
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓ (U10161)
posted 29 seconds ago
Pogba finally has players around him who will finish and score goals. No surprise he has 7 assists in 4 games.
We have finally built an attack good enough for him to showcase his talents properly. Would be very surprised if he was to move now, RM need a rebuild, would say our squad is better than theirs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
Real and La Liga might not be what they once were but they will always be a huge pull for players. Maybe at 29 (by end of the season) he will seriously consider which club can give him the best opportunity to win the CL?
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 6 minutes ago
we need to bring in a top quality DM more than any other position who isn't either past it or very young and needs time to grow. I'd be amazed if we don't at least try to bring in one next summer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
sod's law says that we finally bring in a top quality cdm, and pogba then leaves, allowing us to field the dream team of new signing + fred.
Probably, United have f-cked with our heads over midfield for the past decade.
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
some absolutely outrageous stuff in there, i'd say our best passer is pogba with his right foot, and our second best is pogba with his left.
baffles me how some people can't just enjoy watching that.
DDD, I'm not necessarily advocating one position over another. For me it's a marginal call. Of course Pogba's talent is immense and we've seen plenty of games where it has made the difference, and of course losing him on a free would be galling. Set against that, we struggle to maintain midfield control with him in a double pivot and I think we've lost a few points over the years as a result of that weakness in midfield.
But the point of my above post was mainly that also on the financial side, while losing an asset that valuable with no transfer fee coming in would be bad, it's not as if retaining his services will be 'free': losing him on a free and replacing him with Frenkie De Jong (to use Berbaking's example) might not be more expensive than signing another contract of the magnitude Raiola has in mind.
As for the underwhelming list of midfielders bought, I kind of think 'so what?'. We've made some bad purchases - does that mean we give up trying to improve the squad through sheer lack of confidence in our ability to pick the right players? Also, I'm not sure any of the players in that list were considered world class by the club at the time of purchase: their fees were in some cases hefty, but not anywhere near 'top of the market' transfers. Schweinsteiger was an ageing player who LVG hoped could do a job on rapidly slowing legs. Schneiderlin was hopefully going to be a hard working cog in the midfield. Matic was Mourinho bringing in one of his trusted veterans. VDB wasn't really a central midfielder - back-up for Bruno and seemingly an opportunistic buy because he became available at the end of a disappointing window. Fred was overpriced. Overall, our transfers in the Solskjaer era seem to be the result of slightly more joined-up thinking on the part of the club (which I think is as much to do with Woodward belatedly seeing the errors of the short-termism of strategy in his first five years in charge as credit specifically to Solskjaer and his staff) and if we were to do some deep thinking into the perfect midfielder to fit into our system and treat it as a strategically important investment (of Maguire / Sancho magnitude), then I think there's a better chance he significantly improves the side than the guys in that list.
But as I say, I think it's marginal. Pogba is a great player, for all the tactical questions he poses us.
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓ (U10161)
posted 29 seconds ago
Pogba finally has players around him who will finish and score goals. No surprise he has 7 assists in 4 games.
We have finally built an attack good enough for him to showcase his talents properly. Would be very surprised if he was to move now, RM need a rebuild, would say our squad is better than theirs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Saw this the other week, the amount of easy missed chances are crazy. Pogba literally puts in on a plate most of the time. I hope he extends, next few years will be exciting if we get a CDM next summer.
Phil Jones' head is our best passer, especially along the ground.
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 1 minute ago
Phil Jones' head is our best passer, especially along the ground.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ah, how we've missed the old head nudge pass over the past few years
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 17 minutes ago
The tactical conundrum is due to deficiencies within our coaching staff, who have used this club as work experience.
Two hobbits in D.Silva and B.Silva were able to dominate most teams playing as two 8's. I refuse to believe Bruno and Pogba can't comfortably play in the same team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Xavi and Iniesta were also 'hobbits' but they ran relentlessly. It's not about being a physical beast; it's not necessarily about being good at tackling; it's about discipline in pressing and having a certain understanding of space. So far in his career Pogba (playing for France and Juventus as well as different United managers) has tended to excel when playing in a three-man midfield alongside a DM and a box-to-box or 'regista', and when playing in a double pivot has tended to be a player who gives you incredible creativity balanced against defensive vulnerability.
You could ask Bruno to play a box-to-box role so that Pogba is, in fact, in a three-man midfield. That's a reasonable suggestion but we should be honest about the trade-off, which is that Bruno won't have the free role that has made him so spectacularly productive as a number 10, and won't lead the press as he often does (and let's remember that Ronaldo is in the lowest percentile for pressing in European forwards, so that's not a job we can pass on to him). And while I'm sure he CAN drop back, I wonder whether Bruno is anywhere near as good a player as an 8 as he is as a 10.
I said the other day the same thing: maybe the Pogba conundrum is actually a Pogba + Fernandes problem. We have two players who are too good to drop; one of them excels in a 4-3-3, the other excels in a 4-2-3-1.
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 25 minutes ago
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
some absolutely outrageous stuff in there, i'd say our best passer is pogba with his right foot, and our second best is pogba with his left.
baffles me how some people can't just enjoy watching that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That’s pure genius, but some idiots among the fans and the British media are just determined not to see it.
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 17 minutes ago
The tactical conundrum is due to deficiencies within our coaching staff, who have used this club as work experience.
Two hobbits in D.Silva and B.Silva were able to dominate most teams playing as two 8's. I refuse to believe Bruno and Pogba can't comfortably play in the same team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Xavi and Iniesta were also 'hobbits' but they ran relentlessly. It's not about being a physical beast; it's not necessarily about being good at tackling; it's about discipline in pressing and having a certain understanding of space. So far in his career Pogba (playing for France and Juventus as well as different United managers) has tended to excel when playing in a three-man midfield alongside a DM and a box-to-box or 'regista', and when playing in a double pivot has tended to be a player who gives you incredible creativity balanced against defensive vulnerability.
You could ask Bruno to play a box-to-box role so that Pogba is, in fact, in a three-man midfield. That's a reasonable suggestion but we should be honest about the trade-off, which is that Bruno won't have the free role that has made him so spectacularly productive as a number 10, and won't lead the press as he often does (and let's remember that Ronaldo is in the lowest percentile for pressing in European forwards, so that's not a job we can pass on to him). And while I'm sure he CAN drop back, I wonder whether Bruno is anywhere near as good a player as an 8 as he is as a 10.
I said the other day the same thing: maybe the Pogba conundrum is actually a Pogba + Fernandes problem. We have two players who are too good to drop; one of them excels in a 4-3-3, the other excels in a 4-2-3-1.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Th hobbit remark was more aimed at the way we set up with McFred. Physicality plays a big part in their selection.
As productive as Bruno is, it would (in my opinion) benefit the team more having him in a more controlled role. The free role has given him the license to lose the ball at will, which for me isn't sustainable over 38 games, if we want to win the prem. The entire team needs to improve in possession, including Bruno.
The burden of scoring goals can now be spread out amongst the wealth of attacking talent we have acquired, so his goals won't be missed as much.
For me two things need to happen.
1) We sign a player in the mould of Bissouma to anchor our midfield. A player who can do the dirty work but who is also good with his feet.
2) We bring in a new first team coach to work under Ole.
Ole came in as a novice and employed two novices (Carrick and McKenna) to drill his team. As long as that continues, we'll always have frailties. (Phelan doesn't partake in the coaching sessions)
Sign in if you want to comment
Pogba
Page 1 of 3
posted on 13/9/21
Mbappe going to Madrid on a free could pave the way and free up wage funds for Pogba to go there on a free.
posted on 13/9/21
Reckon the best thing to happen is that Ronaldo has come. He can now play his game and not worry about being the "main man". When you've got Pogba, Ronaldo and Fernandez going forward - wow! Then Varane at the back. This is the year we will know if Ole is a manager or not!
posted on 13/9/21
I just hope a decision is made soon, even if it's bad news... This will he/wont he BS is tiresome.
posted on 13/9/21
i fear he will be demanding a lot of money, now that our wage structure has been ruined by ronaldo
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Thorgen Kloppinson (U1282)
posted 31 minutes ago
Mbappe going to Madrid on a free could pave the way and free up wage funds for Pogba to go there on a free.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By adding a £500k a week Mbappe to the squad, it will free up another £500k a week for Pogba?
posted on 13/9/21
I guess Pogba’s in no rush to decide, he’ll see how the season plays out and figure out what’s best for him for his career and financially. I just hope we don’t offer him silly money.
posted on 13/9/21
I never thought that refusing the contract this summer meant he was inevitably leaving. Doing so just increases his leverage: our power to keep him recedes; his power to maximise salary offers grows. I guess he'll end up where he wants, based on the offers that are made and where he fancies playing for the next few years. It could be at United, if we're desperate enough.
One thing is clear: we'll have to invest world class footballer sums to keep him. So it's worth pausing to consider whether we're better off with a world class Pogba who contributes to a tactical conundrum, or replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 4 minutes ago
I never thought that refusing the contract this summer meant he was inevitably leaving. Doing so just increases his leverage: our power to keep him recedes; his power to maximise salary offers grows. I guess he'll end up where he wants, based on the offers that are made and where he fancies playing for the next few years. It could be at United, if we're desperate enough.
One thing is clear: we'll have to invest world class footballer sums to keep him. So it's worth pausing to consider whether we're better off with a world class Pogba who contributes to a tactical conundrum, or replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
As much as I like Pogba as a player and a talent, if we were to allow him to leave and replace him with someone like Frenkie De Jong I think we'd be much better off on the whole.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
our last 5 midfielders bought (excl pogba):
van der beek
fred
matic
schneiderlin
schweinsteiger
transfer cost: c. £160m
number of world class players acquired: zero
so good luck to all of those who think that losing pogba for nothing will see us replace him with a world class player who better fits our system - whatever that system may be
posted on 13/9/21
TBF VDB was bought as back up, Fred seemed a bit of a desperate bid to stop City, Matic was the right idea but too old, Schneiderlin was relatively cheap and hoped he would develop while Schweinstiger was also cheap and bought to bring leadership and experience. Not to say we will but it's clear for everyone to see that we need to bring in a top quality DM more than any other position who isn't either past it or very young and needs time to grow. I'd be amazed if we don't at least try to bring in one next summer.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 15 minutes ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
replacing him with a world class player who fits our system more comfortably.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
our last 5 midfielders bought (excl pogba):
van der beek
fred
matic
schneiderlin
schweinsteiger
transfer cost: c. £160m
number of world class players acquired: zero
so good luck to all of those who think that losing pogba for nothing will see us replace him with a world class player who better fits our system - whatever that system may be
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think there is a decent chance that VDB replaces him and we promote Gardner.
posted on 13/9/21
The tactical conundrum is due to deficiencies within our coaching staff, who have used this club as work experience.
Two hobbits in D.Silva and B.Silva were able to dominate most teams playing as two 8's. I refuse to believe Bruno and Pogba can't comfortably play in the same team.
posted on 13/9/21
Pogba finally has players around him who will finish and score goals. No surprise he has 7 assists in 4 games.
We have finally built an attack good enough for him to showcase his talents properly. Would be very surprised if he was to move now, RM need a rebuild, would say our squad is better than theirs.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓ (U10161)
posted 29 seconds ago
Pogba finally has players around him who will finish and score goals. No surprise he has 7 assists in 4 games.
We have finally built an attack good enough for him to showcase his talents properly. Would be very surprised if he was to move now, RM need a rebuild, would say our squad is better than theirs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
posted on 13/9/21
Real and La Liga might not be what they once were but they will always be a huge pull for players. Maybe at 29 (by end of the season) he will seriously consider which club can give him the best opportunity to win the CL?
posted on 13/9/21
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 6 minutes ago
we need to bring in a top quality DM more than any other position who isn't either past it or very young and needs time to grow. I'd be amazed if we don't at least try to bring in one next summer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
sod's law says that we finally bring in a top quality cdm, and pogba then leaves, allowing us to field the dream team of new signing + fred.
posted on 13/9/21
Probably, United have f-cked with our heads over midfield for the past decade.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
some absolutely outrageous stuff in there, i'd say our best passer is pogba with his right foot, and our second best is pogba with his left.
baffles me how some people can't just enjoy watching that.
posted on 13/9/21
DDD, I'm not necessarily advocating one position over another. For me it's a marginal call. Of course Pogba's talent is immense and we've seen plenty of games where it has made the difference, and of course losing him on a free would be galling. Set against that, we struggle to maintain midfield control with him in a double pivot and I think we've lost a few points over the years as a result of that weakness in midfield.
But the point of my above post was mainly that also on the financial side, while losing an asset that valuable with no transfer fee coming in would be bad, it's not as if retaining his services will be 'free': losing him on a free and replacing him with Frenkie De Jong (to use Berbaking's example) might not be more expensive than signing another contract of the magnitude Raiola has in mind.
As for the underwhelming list of midfielders bought, I kind of think 'so what?'. We've made some bad purchases - does that mean we give up trying to improve the squad through sheer lack of confidence in our ability to pick the right players? Also, I'm not sure any of the players in that list were considered world class by the club at the time of purchase: their fees were in some cases hefty, but not anywhere near 'top of the market' transfers. Schweinsteiger was an ageing player who LVG hoped could do a job on rapidly slowing legs. Schneiderlin was hopefully going to be a hard working cog in the midfield. Matic was Mourinho bringing in one of his trusted veterans. VDB wasn't really a central midfielder - back-up for Bruno and seemingly an opportunistic buy because he became available at the end of a disappointing window. Fred was overpriced. Overall, our transfers in the Solskjaer era seem to be the result of slightly more joined-up thinking on the part of the club (which I think is as much to do with Woodward belatedly seeing the errors of the short-termism of strategy in his first five years in charge as credit specifically to Solskjaer and his staff) and if we were to do some deep thinking into the perfect midfielder to fit into our system and treat it as a strategically important investment (of Maguire / Sancho magnitude), then I think there's a better chance he significantly improves the side than the guys in that list.
But as I say, I think it's marginal. Pogba is a great player, for all the tactical questions he poses us.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓ (U10161)
posted 29 seconds ago
Pogba finally has players around him who will finish and score goals. No surprise he has 7 assists in 4 games.
We have finally built an attack good enough for him to showcase his talents properly. Would be very surprised if he was to move now, RM need a rebuild, would say our squad is better than theirs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Saw this the other week, the amount of easy missed chances are crazy. Pogba literally puts in on a plate most of the time. I hope he extends, next few years will be exciting if we get a CDM next summer.
posted on 13/9/21
Phil Jones' head is our best passer, especially along the ground.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 1 minute ago
Phil Jones' head is our best passer, especially along the ground.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ah, how we've missed the old head nudge pass over the past few years
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 17 minutes ago
The tactical conundrum is due to deficiencies within our coaching staff, who have used this club as work experience.
Two hobbits in D.Silva and B.Silva were able to dominate most teams playing as two 8's. I refuse to believe Bruno and Pogba can't comfortably play in the same team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Xavi and Iniesta were also 'hobbits' but they ran relentlessly. It's not about being a physical beast; it's not necessarily about being good at tackling; it's about discipline in pressing and having a certain understanding of space. So far in his career Pogba (playing for France and Juventus as well as different United managers) has tended to excel when playing in a three-man midfield alongside a DM and a box-to-box or 'regista', and when playing in a double pivot has tended to be a player who gives you incredible creativity balanced against defensive vulnerability.
You could ask Bruno to play a box-to-box role so that Pogba is, in fact, in a three-man midfield. That's a reasonable suggestion but we should be honest about the trade-off, which is that Bruno won't have the free role that has made him so spectacularly productive as a number 10, and won't lead the press as he often does (and let's remember that Ronaldo is in the lowest percentile for pressing in European forwards, so that's not a job we can pass on to him). And while I'm sure he CAN drop back, I wonder whether Bruno is anywhere near as good a player as an 8 as he is as a 10.
I said the other day the same thing: maybe the Pogba conundrum is actually a Pogba + Fernandes problem. We have two players who are too good to drop; one of them excels in a 4-3-3, the other excels in a 4-2-3-1.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 25 minutes ago
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by #TopLad || Sir Alex Ferguson ||✓
----------------------------------------------------------------------
https://twitter.com/JMNDComps/status/1436724704023392261?s=20
A catalogue off missed chances during his "inconsistent" days.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
some absolutely outrageous stuff in there, i'd say our best passer is pogba with his right foot, and our second best is pogba with his left.
baffles me how some people can't just enjoy watching that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That’s pure genius, but some idiots among the fans and the British media are just determined not to see it.
posted on 13/9/21
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Kung Fu Cantona 🙏🏼 🇵🇸 (U18082)
posted 17 minutes ago
The tactical conundrum is due to deficiencies within our coaching staff, who have used this club as work experience.
Two hobbits in D.Silva and B.Silva were able to dominate most teams playing as two 8's. I refuse to believe Bruno and Pogba can't comfortably play in the same team.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Xavi and Iniesta were also 'hobbits' but they ran relentlessly. It's not about being a physical beast; it's not necessarily about being good at tackling; it's about discipline in pressing and having a certain understanding of space. So far in his career Pogba (playing for France and Juventus as well as different United managers) has tended to excel when playing in a three-man midfield alongside a DM and a box-to-box or 'regista', and when playing in a double pivot has tended to be a player who gives you incredible creativity balanced against defensive vulnerability.
You could ask Bruno to play a box-to-box role so that Pogba is, in fact, in a three-man midfield. That's a reasonable suggestion but we should be honest about the trade-off, which is that Bruno won't have the free role that has made him so spectacularly productive as a number 10, and won't lead the press as he often does (and let's remember that Ronaldo is in the lowest percentile for pressing in European forwards, so that's not a job we can pass on to him). And while I'm sure he CAN drop back, I wonder whether Bruno is anywhere near as good a player as an 8 as he is as a 10.
I said the other day the same thing: maybe the Pogba conundrum is actually a Pogba + Fernandes problem. We have two players who are too good to drop; one of them excels in a 4-3-3, the other excels in a 4-2-3-1.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Th hobbit remark was more aimed at the way we set up with McFred. Physicality plays a big part in their selection.
As productive as Bruno is, it would (in my opinion) benefit the team more having him in a more controlled role. The free role has given him the license to lose the ball at will, which for me isn't sustainable over 38 games, if we want to win the prem. The entire team needs to improve in possession, including Bruno.
The burden of scoring goals can now be spread out amongst the wealth of attacking talent we have acquired, so his goals won't be missed as much.
For me two things need to happen.
1) We sign a player in the mould of Bissouma to anchor our midfield. A player who can do the dirty work but who is also good with his feet.
2) We bring in a new first team coach to work under Ole.
Ole came in as a novice and employed two novices (Carrick and McKenna) to drill his team. As long as that continues, we'll always have frailties. (Phelan doesn't partake in the coaching sessions)
Page 1 of 3