Nainggolan is your typical box-to-box with an enormous stamina and a great shot on him. He has decent passing skills for a player of his role but he is much further away from controlling the game than Pogba. Same applies for Kante, who covers a ridiculous amount of ground with his endless running but his actual passing skills are very limited, he wins the ball back and passes it short to someone more creative.
Don't get me wrong, I get your criticism about Pogba not being able to orchestrate the game, he is much closer to Gerrard than Scholes in that regard, but you picked awful examples (bar Verratti) to illustrate your point, imo
I guess we will have to disagree, Am pretty sure I remember seeing Naingolan control a game for Belgium and Roma. I believe Kanté can be deployed to the same effect and will be when he switches to a team that bosses the ball a bit more (because of his technique/capacity to give himself space to distribute in midfield).
But I've never seen Pogba control any game, nor do I see the type of movement that would allow him time and space to dominate the midfield. So I'm a bit baffled in your conviction that he is/will be better at controlling a game. Every time I see him play deep, I feel like he doesn't even want to be there orchestrating the play but rather running on to a pass into the final third to make things happen.
Curious to know what you thought of his recent tournament, I thought he was rather average to poor throughout with a few moments of creativity when allowed to play closer to the opposition area.
The review in L'Equipe (if you fancy yourself some french or handy with google translate), I believe is spot-on regarding his performance at the Euros where he was not deployed in his prefered position. (tip of the triangle or a free role between midfield and attack).
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Article/Les-notes-du-match-pogba-la-deception/705431
The phrase that summed it up for me, concerning UTD fans is the following :
"Le milieu de la Juventus vaut peut-être cent millions, comme le répète son agent, Mino Raiola, mais le club qui les alignera – Manchester United ? – n’aura, à ce jour, aucune garantie sportive de retour sur investissement." (I will deliberately not translate it, because I'm not looking to stir the pot, and believe that Mou will make good use of him should he return to UTD. But that statement hits home for me)
At Juve, Pirlo and Vidal did the controlling when they were at their best. And his attempt with the national team was rather disapointing. So latent talent aside, where have you seen him control a game?
