Pogba

comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - Ole's joy Manticore (U2958)
posted 1 minute ago
and yea, if we can just add Sancho to that mix!

His hatrick the other day will have added another £100m though if we are buying
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DDG

Back 4

Diamond with McT or Fred at the base, the other one right CM, Pogba left CM, Bruno AM and pushing up in between the front 2 when they split wide.

Rashford Martial

That’s if we don’t get Sancho of course.

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Another season without any real quality wingers or attacking full-backs.

It's criminal that we've gone without a genuine wide threat for this long.

comment by Mike (U1170)
posted 44 minutes ago
DDG

Back 4

Diamond with McT or Fred at the base, the other one right CM, Pogba left CM, Bruno AM and pushing up in between the front 2 when they split wide.

Rashford Martial

That’s if we don’t get Sancho of course.
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If Pogba stays and Ole is intent on playing him, this is what I’m hoping for.

Pogba is stealing his wages, you`ll be stuck with him for a long time yet, nobody is going to offer him a better contract elsewhere, so he will just sit on his fat contract.

I always find the idea that Pogba can't play as part of a central midfield two (can we please stop using terms like 'pivot' and 'double pivot'?) way too simplistic.

Like virtually every other player on earth, he's not 100% perfect. He can overplay in poor areas and can switch off from time to time. But Fred switches off too. And he gives the ball away cheaply. McTominay is prone to a poor pass or being caught in possession when under pressure because he doesn't have the technical skill and picture of what he's going to do with the ball before it arrives to evade certain pressure situations.

But we tend not to talk about other players' weaknesses in a way that concludes they aren't cut out for a certain role.

Pogba plays in a two for France, with Matuidi sometimes on the left performing the 'Park/Hargreaves/Welbeck' role in balancing out the more attacking side of the pitch (Mbappe/Ronaldo for us). We can use Dan James similarly. Also for France the number 10/second striker is Griezmann, who offers less defensively and in midfield than Bruno Fernandes (who works very hard and pops up all over the place).

Where having Pogba in a two would become more complicated is if we signed Sancho. It would mean we'd have two excellent attackers on both flanks but without a counter balancing 'defensive' minded grafter to offer more balance as whole.

And all of that is before we actually discuss the myth of the "two". A 4-2-3-1 is a system that has *three* central midfield players, with one obviously given license to get into advanced positions and link with the striker. But it's still a midfielder, and someone like Bruno is ideal in that they have the energy, tenacity and natural inclination to come back and seek the ball (because they are a midfielder who is deployed further forward, rather than a striker who is playing more withdrawn who would be more inclined to stay higher and wait for the ball). 4-2-3-1 becomes 4-4-1-1 when out of possession with the '1' in the hole usually stationed on or around the opposition's deepest midfielder. So we need to stop discussing the two as if it's some isolated part of the pitch in which both players have to be perfect defensively. It just doesn't work like that.

comment by ● Billy The Yidd ● (U3924)
posted 2 hours, 6 minutes ago
Pogba is stealing his wages, you`ll be stuck with him for a long time yet, nobody is going to offer him a better contract elsewhere, so he will just sit on his fat contract.
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"you`ll be stuck with him for a long time yet"

God willing

comment by ● Billy The Yidd ● (U3924)
posted 2 hours, 8 minutes ago
Pogba is stealing his wages, you`ll be stuck with him for a long time yet, nobody is going to offer him a better contract elsewhere, so he will just sit on his fat contract.
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That contract was given when for some mad reason we broke a world record fee on him, so expect it to be big. And you are right, no one will be willing to match that, as we’ve seen when he tried to get out, but had no suitors. It would be a massive mistake to offer him an a vastly improved one, but you know we are stupid enough too.

I expect Pogba to turn up as his contract is winding down, put the effort in for a few games and get another 3+ years.

comment by RJC (U17308)
posted 2 hours, 6 minutes ago
I expect Pogba to turn up as his contract is winding down, put the effort in for a few games and get another 3+ years.
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Is he staying for a new contract or does he want to leave? Media, Mino and fans can't decide.

Put him in a good side and he will excel