In our title winning season he would have been miles behind Cleverley IMO. I actually think Moyes would have given him a chance but just like Januzaj he would be getting time in a team in disarray. Van Gaal could marginalize him the same way he has with Herrera because he isn't particularly disciplined.
Paul Pogba
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In our title winning season he would have been miles behind Cleverley IMO. I actually think Moyes would have given him a chance but just like Januzaj he would be getting time in a team in disarray. Van Gaal could marginalize him the same way he has with Herrera because he isn't particularly disciplined.
Pogba wanted guaranteed playing time on his contract. Looking back at it, who could blame him? It seemed like he wanted playing time and he lost trust in Fergie to give him that playing time to develop because of a load of crap players being picked over him to play. When Fergie wouldn't give in to his demands he knew he had to leave United for Juve. He made the right decision to leave for Juve because he played far more at Juve than I think he would have played at United without the playing time clause in his contract.
He's still one of my favorite players. Superb footwork, physicality, and amazing technique to pass and shoot. All of these attributes were evident in his time at United. Inconsistency doesn't matter. No youth cm at United has these attributes. Nobody can strike the ball like Pogba can from long distance. Nobody has that level of footwork. Nobody has his passing technique. And to top it off he's big and strong. This is just looking at it from a highlights perspective. Do the same for every other young midfielder at United and you won't see as many things that amaze you.
Have you seen any United cm show off this type of ability? I have seen great long distance goals, passing, etc... but not at Pogba's level. Pereira is currently our cm with the most ability, but he doesn't reach these highs either.
He's still one of my favorite players. Superb footwork, physicality, and amazing technique to pass and shoot. All of these attributes were evident in his time at United. Inconsistency doesn't matter. No youth cm at United has these attributes. Nobody can strike the ball like Pogba can from long distance. Nobody has that level of footwork. Nobody has his passing technique. And to top it off he's big and strong. This is just looking at it from a highlights perspective. Do the same for every other young midfielder at United and you won't see as many things that amaze you.
Have you seen any United cm show off this type of ability? I have seen great long distance goals, passing, etc... but not at Pogba's level. Pereira is currently our cm with the most ability, but he doesn't reach these highs either.
Another fantastic performance from him today, well on his way to being one of the best CM's in the world and a potential all time great midfielder. I don't care about the past, if we are going to drop £70-80M on a player, it should be on Pogba not Bale.
if taking him back is going to cost the club 60million, then we should prepare the cheque.
yes we got some good midfielders now thanks to our summer activities but we are still missing one truly world class player there. even strootman post injury wasn't regarded as one of the best and yet he still could cost us 30million, why not just save all the doubts about his fitness by going all out for the best young midfielder at this moment.
yes we got some good midfielders now thanks to our summer activities but we are still missing one truly world class player there. even strootman post injury wasn't regarded as one of the best and yet he still could cost us 30million, why not just save all the doubts about his fitness by going all out for the best young midfielder at this moment.
60m or 75m sounds ridiculous for a central midfielder. We shouldn't hesitate to get him if available for ~40m.
Turning into a terrific player and would be at Madrid before long. Can't think of a better candidate as the next "Galactico".
Turning into a terrific player and would be at Madrid before long. Can't think of a better candidate as the next "Galactico".
It's really fecking annoying how good he is. Every wonder goal he scores makes his departure harder to swallow, and I just know I'll be bitter about it for years.
I'd take him back in a heartbeat, and there are very few former players I want to see back at the club. The only other one would be Ronaldo.
I'd take him back in a heartbeat, and there are very few former players I want to see back at the club. The only other one would be Ronaldo.
It's not considering his age, his quality and the vital nature of the position he plays.
Having someone like him would solve a huge amount of issues balance wise and position wise and completely change the way we operate.
Listening to people at Juventus and Pogba's agent, I think it's fairly obvious he'll be leaving Juventus in the summer.
End of the day though how many clubs can cough up £60m? Probably only us and Real Madrid.
People keep going on about Real Madrid and how he will "be at Real Madrid before long" French players tend to be different, they don't all have dreams about playing for Real Madrid - Real Madrid dreaming players, tend to be South American or Latin origin.
Can't ever recall Real Madrid having the pick of the best German/French/Dutch/Italian players over the years. All the top French players through the 90's/00's played their prime years in the Premier League/Serie A.
Think there's only been Zidane and he was 29/30 when he moved to Madrid.
End of the day though how many clubs can cough up £60m? Probably only us and Real Madrid.
People keep going on about Real Madrid and how he will "be at Real Madrid before long" French players tend to be different, they don't all have dreams about playing for Real Madrid - Real Madrid dreaming players, tend to be South American or Latin origin.
Can't ever recall Real Madrid having the pick of the best German/French/Dutch/Italian players over the years. All the top French players through the 90's/00's played their prime years in the Premier League/Serie A.
Think there's only been Zidane and he was 29/30 when he moved to Madrid.
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Benzema.
Yeah you wouldn't really call Benzema a top TOP player though, Ribery is regarded as the best French player recent years and he's never played for Madrid, I'm talking the 1998 World Cup winning squad mainly though, the likes of Henry/Vierra/Lizarazu/Djorkaeff/Deschamps/Desailly/Pires/Thuram/Lebouf/Blanc - Cantona/Papin/Platini before them.
Got it all. City will come in hard to replace Yaya eventually.
Zidane has a lot of influence over young players. A lot of players idolized him. Their galacticos policy also means that they have had so many superstars that some players feel they need to join madrid to be seen in the same light as the greats. Players like to be surrounded with the best talent to feed their ego. That's how I see it.
He would certainly be a type of player we could do with. But this alone won't get us to where we need to be. We need pace and some trickery in the team someone like Bale if available would be a better signing imho.
That 98 generation mostly played in Italy because Serie A was the glamour league at that time. Those who failed there or became surplus to requirements due to age then came to the English league, which was becoming increasingly rich and had a high profile French manager. I think now the likes of Desailly, Blanc and Thuram would gravitate to the big two in Spain with the premier league taking the leftovers. Ribery works against that theory admittedly but, in more ways than one, he's a bit of a one-off.
He'll probably be the best player by the time that mantel has gone from Ronaldo/Messi... imagine the meltdown then.
Personally, I'm long over it.
Personally, I'm long over it.
All this grizzling about we shouldn't have let him go, we'll be the laughing stock if we drop £60M on a player we had for nothing, he'll be off to RM in a few years etc.
Say, we did buy him for £60M, get 4 or 5 good years out of him and sold him to RM for £100M+, that would be good business. If he develops with us and helps us to, say, another CL and RM by that time might be on the wane with Ronaldo close to retirement, we might actually be the more attractive option and he might stay anyway.
Say, we did buy him for £60M, get 4 or 5 good years out of him and sold him to RM for £100M+, that would be good business. If he develops with us and helps us to, say, another CL and RM by that time might be on the wane with Ronaldo close to retirement, we might actually be the more attractive option and he might stay anyway.
Real Madrid it is then.
I know a lot want to buy him for insane money, then are not bothered if we then sell him on for insane money to Real, but to me we will be in the same position we were with Ronaldo. For all the money we got for him we have never replaced with anyone of even close to his calibre. I want a midfielder who is going to stay with us for years, not someone who is going to flutter his eyelashes at Real or PSG in a couple of years.
Ronaldo stayed with us for years tbh and I don't think there is a player who could give the fans and the clubs the assurance that he'll stay for 7-8-9 years. Every player signed is a gamble, for whatever reason he could try to leave a lot sooner, we just have to accept the game's rules.
Nobody knows but my guess would be no. Not as much as he has in Juve.
I think it's a pointless discusion though. To me he's currently nothing more than a fantastic young player that plays for another club. I enjoy watching him and, admittedly, I also enjoy envisioning him in United in the future and imagining our team with him. Just like I do and have done with many other good players, playing for other clubs. I do not see him as "the one we lost" but as "the one I'd like us to get". No drama and bitterness, just a bit of proper muppetry.
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Definitely would have as he always had the talent.
People constantly ignore how much players at that age can grow in even 6 months let alone 2/3 years.
People constantly ignore how much players at that age can grow in even 6 months let alone 2/3 years.
Not sure he would have in that dimension tbh
I think a world record fee is way too much for him. Such prices should only be reserved for the ballon d'or caliber players, not someone who's just world class. He's a special player but just doesn't dominate matches which should be the case if we're thinking of dumping world record caliber fee's for him. We have overspent on Di Maria the same way Madrid did on Bale, lets not continue this madness.
Even if we struggle to replace him, we'll still have a world class midfielder during a transitional period for us. That is worth a lot to me IMO.
You don't watch Pogba do you? He dominates a lot of matches, or at least influences them, and has the potential to be a Ballon D'or winner. I mean at the age of 21 he was in the 50 man shortlist! IMO that deserves a world record fee or close to it.
don't forget we can sign TC23 for a lot lower fee and he's on the short list of the best 50 midf playing in the prem. it could happen!
It's because of his age and current ability ..
Gah. Those gifs. I wonder how long it will be before watching him/reading about him stops causing a dull ache in the balls?
I'm going with the day he retires...
I'm going with the day he retires...
We don't even need to pay for one of the brightest talents in England!I watch him every weekend unlike a lot on here who seem to always be gobsmacked by his moments of outrageous skill. He doesn't dominate matches, he has great moments in matches and the rest if the time he picks the simple pass or makes the simple play. He has crazy ability but he's not some sort of midfield master who runs games or the sort. I don't see him as a future ballon d'or winner.
we would he;s on a bosie
I think most people on here are just upset (rather than bitter) that we had a player of his talent at the club and let him slip through our fingers. He is going to be the best midfielder in the world pretty soon.
I'm bitter. I find his face really annoying, and his hair.
Give him a new contract before it runs out?
Now I may not watch him every week, but I have to disagree with you. Now his little moments of ball control are always nice, but it's not like he only pulls off the occasional piece of skill. He also does the simple things very well. He does these simple things when needed, but also drives forward and gives the Juve midfield a little spark of life when needed. And IMO, that's what a Ballon D'Or winner has to do; inspire the team and make things happen. He does all that, while still doing the simple things right.
Your post makes him sounds like a slightly better Tom Cleverely I have to say
There's nothing embarassing about signing one of the best midfielders in the world. What will be more embarassing is if we keep being egoistic idiots and not go for him, then watch as City sign him. I can't remember Barca being embarassed when they signed Fabregas, Chelsea aren't embarassed having Matic now. We have money, and we need a top midfielder like him, we should be doing everything to bring him here. That's my take.
Indeed. And it's also possible to be seriously pissed off about what happened without looking for anyone to blame. Pogba can say what he wants about his motivation for leaving (and hindsight makes it look like a great decision) but we'll never know if Fergie could have done anything to prevent this eventuality, any more than the club we pinched him from in the first place (Le Havre?) could have stopped him coming to United.
Easy to say that picking him for that Blackburn game, or offering more money would mean he'd still be at United but that's all completely hypothetical. He's bound to say it's someone else's fault that he left but it's possible he just didn't fancy it at United. Which is his perogative.
He's what you'd call a continuation player not some dominant force some make him out to be. Please mate, lets keep clevs out of this. These moments of genius are generally in every match so i wouldn't say its occasional. I'd say his game is more similar to prime Seedorf rather than a Zidane is what i'm actually getting at. Zidane could run the Juve system and dominate matches while someone like Seedorf despite being as great a player as he was was never someone who could do that. Paying a world record fee would suggest that we would believe that Pogba could turn into something he's and while that's possible its far from a sure case.Give him a new contract before it runs out?
Now I may not watch him every week, but I have to disagree with you. Now his little moments of ball control are always nice, but it's not like he only pulls off the occasional piece of skill. He also does the simple things very well. He does these simple things when needed, but also drives forward and gives the Juve midfield a little spark of life when needed. And IMO, that's what a Ballon D'Or winner has to do; inspire the team and make things happen. He does all that, while still doing the simple things right.
Your post makes him sounds like a slightly better Tom Cleverely I have to say
Except that's not true, most of that team actually played in France/Italy or the Premier League (not "mostly Italy") and some of the best players in that team played in the Premier League in their younger years and in their prime, so not sure where you get "Those who failed there or became surplus to requirements due to age then came to the English league".
I also disagree with your theory that the likes of Desailly/Blanc and Thuram would all play for Barcelona or Madrid today. France still produce exciting talent - Evra/Nasri/Lloris/Pogba(so far)/Ribery and all have never bothered with Spain. As said France along with Germany/England/Holland/Italy are not latin/Spainish speaking counties, players from these countries don't dream about Real Madrid, I'm not saying the best won't go to Madrid or Barcelona from these countries, it's just different, for the most part Barcelona and Madrid have their pick of the best South American talents (Argentine/Brazil and the likes of Sanchez/Surarez), but not all Europe.
However he's as close as you can get at this current point time to a world class midfielder who has the potential to become the best. I believe he will reach the top, you think different. I'm totally fine with that. However IMO, Pogba, while he doesn't dominate every single match, still has the talent to dominate while still being dynamic enough to pull off pieces of skill.
As for the first part, three quarters of their great defence played in Italy at their peak, as did their captain, star player and Djourkeff. Viera and Henry didn't succeed in Italy when young before Wenger transformed them. That leaves only Lizarazu and Petit as far as I can recall (no one was stupid enough to sign Barthez except us and their strikers were too average to worry about). So a definite Serie A trend (Treziguet as well if you extend it to the 2000 team).
As for your second part, yes I agree that Spain doesn't have quite the same pull for French players as those from Iberia and Latin America. There is also more money in France now and many French seem to have an affinity with London. But none of that will help us if it comes down to Man Utd v RM/Barca.
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