Who should partner Pogba in our midfield trio?

VP89

Pogba's biggest fan
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Dec 6, 2015
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We've experimented a fair bit with Pogba, he's had chances to play alongside Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Herrera and Rooney.

Its fair to say the combinations thus far hasn't worked. We seem to be losing control and discipline in the middle of the park massively, so what is our working combination?

Today Fellaini proved for me that he should not be starting. The lack of attention for Watford's second goal and general lethargic play in a busy midfield was there for all to see.

Here is my choice for our trio:

Blind - Holding role, there to control the tempo of the games and have some much needed composure in what has proven to be an erratic midfield. Its a controversial choice but I don't think he was given much time in a midfield 3 (if at all) for us. I think he might well prove that he's grown a lot as a player and be a great anchor in a midfield trio for us.

Herrera - I called him a "Spanish Tom Cleverly" many times last season, but that was under LVG in a limited role. He now has the chance to showcase his talent and energy in a formation that suits. I feel a pivot between him and Pogba would work very well, particularly noting a natural hunger for him to play quick passes with his team mates. This is something we haven't been able to do at all with Rooney/Zlatan/Fellaini all playing at once.

Pogba - He's undroppable for the moment and I certainly think he'll prove his price tag in due course. Without trying to defend him all the way, it must be difficult to operate in such an erratic midfield with no composed player dictating the tempo, nor a mobile teammate ready to interchange quickly with. Pogba often has to turn to his winger colleagues in the hope of starting an attack because his midfield partners just haven't been up to it.
 
Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger or Hererra should be your holding players. 2 of them. Whichever depending on fitness and opposition. Pogba as a 10. Or a 4-3-3 with Pogba, Schneiderlin and Hererra. No room for Fellaini.
 
Has to be Herrera and Blind, dont know why Mourinho hasnt tried that yet.
 
DM - good defensive awarness and ability to control the game from deep - Carrick and Schweinsteiger
B2B - against better opposition we should use a defensive one in Fosu Mensah, against lesser ones we use technical one in Herrera
AM - offensive CM or b2b how ever you want to call it - Pogba, if he cant play then Mikhi or Herrera
 
Carrick - Herrera - Pogba is balanced and can control games.

Fellaini did well as a individual player but team's performance drops because of his limitations.
 
Against smaller teams who will park the bus at OT, my preferred midfield trio would be,
Carrick/Blind
Mkhi---Pogba​

Against better oppositions and comparatively tough away games, replace Mkhi with Herrera/Fellaini/Schneiderlin,
Carrick/Blind
Herrera/Fellaini/Schneiderlin---Pogba​

And if we want to go ultra defensive at 1 or 2 away fixtures then,
Pogba
Schneiderlin/Herrera---Fellaini​

I know this last one goes against what I've been banging on about since we're linked with Pogba, that he should play further up the field but here we're talking about 1 or 2 away fixtures where we want to be very, very defensive and out of all the players (except obviously Blind and Carrick), only Pogba is comfortable with the ball at his feet and can do most of the things that one would expect from a player occupying this vital position. His talents will be wasted there but that's just 1 or 2 very tough away fixtures where we want to be ultra defensive.
 
Probably agree with what you say really, it's possible Blind won't be physical enough to play the holding role in which case swap him with Schneiderlin, but hopefully a season at CB in a back-four in a league as physically demanding as the PL has toughened him up a bit.

And yeah, Pogba and Herrera ahead of him, Herrera's a little terrier and Pogba a phenomenal athlete so both should be capable of getting up and down the pitch in B2B roles, just have them communicate who's making the runs forward in any particular move.

I don't feel Carrick's necessarily needed, players like Pogba and Herrera should be mature enough to control the pace of the game when needed themselves and retain possession and they add an attacking threat and energy that Carrick doesn't.
 
Carrick/Blind(/Schweinsteiger) - Herrera/Schneiderlin(/Fellaini) - Pogba(/Mkhitaryan/Mata)

Any combination out of these options. The ones between brackets are less ideal, but could be given a go if the first options are unavailable for some reason. It's hard to say if any of these midfields would really work without seeing them in action for a couple of games, but they make sense on paper. A disciplined passer, an energetic runner and one who offers something in attack.
 
Carricks name creeping back into the fray again. He's finished people, he's proven that much.
 
I attest to this view that Blind should be overlooked because he isn't "physical enough". His composure is what we need in midfield. If anything we've learned not to have 3 physical yet erratic players all playing at once in games.
 
ivaldo said:
Carricks name creeping back into the fray again. He's finished people, he's proven that much.
Click to expand...
Still think he'd do far better than anything we've been served up so far especially against smaller teams at OT in a midfield 3. May be not for full 90 minutes but for about 60 minutes or so.
 
There's no working combination, there's not a single top class midfield trio that can be consisted of our current choices. Rooney is the elephant in the room and the lack of play making/connecting the lines abilities is more than evident. Mourinho will have to do the best with what he has in his hands (and things will look better once our main attacking options find any kind of form) .If Fabregas is available next summer, we should take full advantage of Conte's idiocy. With Rooney out of the picture, all that's needed is a proper DM alongside these two, we have choices in the team for that role.
 
In order of preference:

  1. Blind and Herrera
  2. Schweinsteiger and Herrera
  3. Blind and Schweinsteiger
  4. TFM and Herrera
  5. TFM and Blind
Carrick's legs are gone, everyone was saying it when he was starting a few games.
 
Ideally Schweiny and Herrera but it doesn't look like BFS will play for us again. So yes, Carrick/Blind and Herrera as an energetic all-rounder next to Pogba
 
Fellaini is playing well but the fact that Fellaini and Rooney are part of a midfield 3 is beyond a joke - I can't believe Mourinho can't see it
 
ReDDHDevilS said:
Still think he'd do far better than anything we've been served up so far especially against smaller teams at OT in a midfield 3. May be not for full 90 minutes but for about 60 minutes or so.
Click to expand...
The memory of him stinking out the place has faded for you then.
 
Carrick Herrera Pogba looks perfectly balanced
 
GloryHunter07 said:
Carrick & Herrera

Or

Blind & Herrera
Click to expand...
This, Herrera (or possible Schneiderlin if he rediscovers his Southampton form) should be in as a CM to help the defense and attack out while also breaking up play. While I think we need to replace Fellaini with either Carrick or Blind. Fellaini hasn't done too bad recently but I think we need a more comfortable passer for the defense midfield role to start more attacks from deep. This pairing would allow Pogba to settle into the team and do what he does best.
 
whats absolutely shocking is we have FOUR players who specialise in the holding roll or holding playmaker role.

blind
carrick
schweinsteiger
schneiderlin

yet we play bloody fellaini! if you want a destroyer then play fellaini and pogba next to one of these four to give us some balance!

my preference would be drop him but if he has to play, he cannot be the holding player next to pogba.

in any case rooney cannot be in the midfield.

my personal preference is
schneiderlin herrera pogba.
maximum mobility.
 
ivaldo said:
The memory of him stinking out the place has faded for you then.
Click to expand...
No, no I do remember Carrick had some really poor games last season where he made some mistakes so uncharacteristic of him. This is why during the summer I's of the opinion that Pogba wasn't our priority signing rather getting Carrick's successor was more important to me. Anyway that's a different discussion.

But the way I see it which you'd probably disagree is that we won't be playing him much unlike the previous seasons where we heavily relied on him. So against smaller clubs at OT where if we play like we should be playing, we'd be dominating possession so he wouldn't need to run a lot. We can give it a try at least and if it doesn't work then we can always replace him with Blind.
And not necessarily it's to be Carrick. We've Blind too. Just don't want to see Fellaini or even Schneiderlin playing there because they simply can't.
 
Herrera seemed to be the most promising. I'd prefer Blind as well but Schneiderlin would do.

Carrick's lack of mobility annoys me (and yes, I consider Blind to have much better mobility despite his size and pace).

Fellaini is fine but really don't do anything special, ever. So it's kind of hard to get excited with him in there.
 
Herrera has to start, he's one of those players who makes us play faster. Blind would be my choice in holding role, good on the ball, can pass and doesn't panick. Carrick shouldn't be considered as first choice but can do a job from the bench.

Don't know what Mourinho sees in Fellaini Pogba Rooney midfield.
 
Looking at the players at our disposal at the moment, there's only one answer, and that's that Daley Blind absolutely has to play at the base of the midfield in this team. Realistically, there's only two options for that position in the entire squad, one of which is the aforementioned Blind, and the other is Michael Carrick, who is definitely not a long-term option anymore, although he could step in from time to time.

Schneiderlin and Fellaini cannot defend space, they're players who go looking for the ball - "destroyers," if you like. And they also cannot pass the ball between the lines. Or dictate the tempo/flow of the game. Schweinsteiger is not an option because he's been frozen out and, even then, he's never been a sitter, he's more all-action like the other two and would be better suited playing next to Pogba.
 
Blind is needed at CB. None of them can pass the ball forward without him.

Carrick/Schweinsteiger at the base, with Pogba and Herrera/Mata ahead of them.
 
VP89 said:
We've experimented a fair bit with Pogba, he's had chances to play alongside Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Herrera and Rooney.

Its fair to say the combinations thus far hasn't worked. We seem to be losing control and discipline in the middle of the park massively, so what is our working combination?

Today Fellaini proved for me that he should not be starting. The lack of attention for Watford's second goal and general lethargic play in a busy midfield was there for all to see.

Here is my choice for our trio:

Blind - Holding role, there to control the tempo of the games and have some much needed composure in what has proven to be an erratic midfield. Its a controversial choice but I don't think he was given much time in a midfield 3 (if at all) for us. I think he might well prove that he's grown a lot as a player and be a great anchor in a midfield trio for us.

Herrera - I called him a "Spanish Tom Cleverly" many times last season, but that was under LVG in a limited role. He now has the chance to showcase his talent and energy in a formation that suits. I feel a pivot between him and Pogba would work very well, particularly noting a natural hunger for him to play quick passes with his team mates. This is something we haven't been able to do at all with Rooney/Zlatan/Fellaini all playing at once.

Pogba - He's undroppable for the moment and I certainly think he'll prove his price tag in due course. Without trying to defend him all the way, it must be difficult to operate in such an erratic midfield with no composed player dictating the tempo, nor a mobile teammate ready to interchange quickly with. Pogba often has to turn to his winger colleagues in the hope of starting an attack because his midfield partners just haven't been up to it.
Click to expand...

For the second watford goal was it not pogbas man (periera) who crossed the ball. Fellaini attempted to cover for him, but pretty sure at the time thinking it was pogba who had fecked up for their second goal.
 
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