The Manchester United Thread

If someone asked me right now what our midfield lacks I'd say creativity and someone with a really good passing range, unfortunately we didn't go for Pjanic, he would of been my choice but going for Krychowiak you have a player who is capable of filling in different roles effectively. Even though you could use him more as a holding midfielder he can do the box to box as well. He got a strong all round game.

He was always going to join his old boss Emery at PSG. He would have picked the over United I think
 
Not really, It's what you make of the structure. It's the clubs who have to ability to use that, if players are being thrown in an out thats because of the club, not the structure.

So we can be enthused about it, because we make it work

I'd take complete issue with it not being down to the structure as it doesn't give competitive games to any significant degree regardless. And that was my initial point to TOD's post before I went off on the state of youth football in England. I personally don't know how he can be excited to watch those kind of games. We've some terrifically talented kids for their age group at L'pool. But watching them in U-18's/ U-21's games is, to me, a pointless exercise. Watching someone like Canos last year in a Brentford game to watching him against his peers in a half-hearted U-21 game is a Worlds of difference.
 
He was always going to join his old boss Emery at PSG. He would have picked the over United I think

I think he will do really well there, long term that midfield destroyer role will be his, with motta aging
 
Yes I do realise that, but I'd at least pick a player who gets remotely close to what he does, unlike you.

I mean he is not a line breaker like either Pogba or Matuidi, nor is he a goal scorer. He's pretty much identical to Schneiderlin, a defensive mid with an engine on him.

He's not going to bring either creativity or that running game

Matuidi has a good engine, but so does Schweinsteiger despite his age, Schneiderlin and Herrera. When they are on the ball is what counts, for me Matuidi would offer very little to what we would benefit from in that regard.

Meh I don't know, this Pogba story is getting boring quickly to be honest, he doesn't deserve to be highest transfer player and if there is any doubt of him wanting to come we should pull the plug. We can't afford to mess up a £100m transfer and have a player not perform.
 
Also this has hardly dragged on. He's just out of the Euros. Have a little patience people.
 
I think he will do really well there, long term that midfield destroyer role will be his, with motta aging

Related, it'll be interesting to see how Emery does without Monchi supplying him with the talent he has at Seville to fit exactly what Emry does

The French league he'll **** regardless as it's almost impossible not to given the gulf between PSG and the rest. But Europe will now be real interesting to watch.
 
Matuidi has a good engine, but so does Schweinsteiger despite his age, Schneiderlin and Herrera. When they are on the ball is what counts, for me Matuidi would offer very little to what we would benefit from in that regard.

Meh I don't know, this Pogba story is getting boring quickly to be honest, he doesn't deserve to be highest transfer player and if there is any doubt of him wanting to come we should pull the plug. We can't afford to mess up a £100m transfer and have a player not perform.

Matuidi, though he is no playmaker is excellent on the ball, the fact that you repeatedly dismiss that doesn't change that. He is

Just because you are bored of it, doesn't mean you pull the plug. It will be resolved one way or another soon enough
 
Related, it'll be interesting to see how Emery does without Monchi supplying him with the talent he has at Seville to fit exactly what Emry does

The French league he'll **** regardless as it's almost impossible not to given the gulf between PSG and the rest. But Europe will now be real interesting to watch.

In that transfer respect I dont think it will matter much. He doesn't need to find bargains the way he needed to at Sevilla, as he will always have money and they have a serious depth. This will be a pure test of Emery, and i think it will be intriguing to see in the CL, because Blanc underachieved for me.
 
Also this has hardly dragged on. He's just out of the Euros. Have a little patience people.

When an agent comes out and says 'he might sign a contract to stay at Juventus', it just sounds like we are getting used to be a part of a deal that suits them.
 
When an agent comes out and says 'he might sign a contract to stay at Juventus', it just sounds like we are getting used to be a part of a deal that suits them.

If Juve don't accept the bid then he can't move, which is what he said.

Juventus have had the same stance throughout, they are desperate to keep him. Throwing him money isn't an issue, and whatever they could offer, could not compete with United or Madrid anyway
 
When an agent comes out and says 'he might sign a contract to stay at Juventus', it just sounds like we are getting used to be a part of a deal that suits them.

or maybe he is saying that to get United to up their offer, works both ways mate
 
or maybe he is saying that to get United to up their offer, works both ways mate

Pogba and Juve will never get a better offer in this position again. Only way it would be bigger is if he was moving from United to Madrid
 
In that transfer respect I dont think it will matter much. He doesn't need to find bargains the way he needed to at Sevilla, as he will always have money and they have a serious depth. This will be a pure test of Emery, and i think it will be intriguing to see in the CL, because Blanc underachieved for me.

Absolutely. Blanc failed massively when his remit was to win the European Cup. The same way as I don't see how Pep's not coming into City as a failure his last job when that was what he was hired to do at a club similar to PSG that far ahead domestically you'd have to be a real moron to fail.

I'm more curious on transfers going forward to see the type of players who come into PSG. Yeah, they have all the resources going and he's now shopping in the big boy pool. But it's one thing having that and another having someone like Monchi who totally understands the type of player needed for what the coach does.

How much of it was Emry/ how much of it was down to what Monchi supplied him with?

A pure test of him in a much bigger spotlight indeed.
 
or maybe he is saying that to get United to up their offer, works both ways mate

That can't be true because it's already absurd as it is.. if he wants more I'd tell him to jog on. As we've seen, Pogba is good but he's not the elite bracket like the other players who have cost huge money.
 
That can't be true because it's already absurd as it is.. if he wants more I'd tell him to jog on. As we've seen, Pogba is good but he's not the elite bracket like the other players who have cost huge money.

I dont think he does want more tbh. He's simply waiting for Juve to react to any bid we make. We'll have have to wait and this week
 
I dont think he does want more tbh. He's simply waiting for Juve to react to any bid we make. We'll have have to wait and this week
Exactly or maybe we have had an offer or been given a price and Juve are trying to get replacements in first. All ifs and buts. We won't know till someone official or well sourced says. People need to stop believing all that is posted. Especially by agents and Riola. Remember the things he was saying about Zlatan and Mkytarian before they signed!
 
  • Another one out
    Joe Rothwell is the latest United youngster to leave Old Trafford today after he signed a two-year deal at Oxford. The 21-year-old was on the bench once last season but never made a first team appearance.

    GettyImages-520464844.jpg




  • 32 minutes ago
 
[h=1]Jose Mourinho must land Paul Pogba to revitalise Manchester United[/h]
play

11:42 AM BST
  • Musa Okwonga
Pep Guardiola, of all people, previously had the approach that Jose Mourinho is seemingly taking in this season's transfer market.
When looking to sign one of the world's most gifted young midfielders in 2013, Guardiola famously gave his paymasters at Bayern Munich one simple instruction: "Thiago oder nichts," (Thiago or nothing).
Of course, Guardiola secured the Spain international's signature despite the attentions of David Moyes and Manchester United, and Thiago has gone on to become one of Bayern's most influential players. Mourinho has now fixed his sights upon Pogba with the same single-mindedness that Guardiola pursued Thiago, and United supporters must hope for the same result.
Many watchers of football, experienced and otherwise, will come away from Euro 2016 with the conclusion that Pogba is desperately overrated. They will draw this view from the fact that he failed to impose himself regularly upon games, relying only upon flashes of genius, upon moments of inspiration.
Incidentally, one of those moments was the decisive one in France's 2-0 win over Germany in the semifinals, perhaps the game of the tournament, as he stole the ball from the toes of Joshua Kimmich, bewildered Shkodran Mustafi, and then crossed for Antoine Griezmann to put the result beyond doubt. This is the charge most often and powerfully levelled against Pogba -- that he is merely a player best suited to producing highlight film, not one who can consistently dominate games.
While these critiques may antagonise Pogba, they are excellent news for Mourinho, who is a master at turning players' grievances to his advantage. The quintessential Mourinho team was very possibly the Inter Milan side with whom he won the treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League in 2010. That side featured a core of players who were either considered to be overhyped or past their best -- characters such as Samuel Eto'o, Wesley Sneijder, Lucio, Julio Cesar and Walter Samuel. Their march to victory that year, during which they steamrollered a groggy Barcelona, often seemed to be a season-long settling of scores.
Should Pogba arrive at Old Trafford, he may well be harbouring the mother of all grudges. His relationship with the French media during Euro 2016 was notably fraught, apparently highlighted by a gesture he made towards them early in the tournament. This criticism will only have intensified given the player's substandard performance in the final, for which Didier Deschamps' tactical misadventures have, with a few exceptions, largely escaped scrutiny.
Pogba is often characterised as a box-to-box player, but he only truly thrives when he is given freedom. He can fulfil a disciplined tactical brief -- no player can survive long in a Juventus shirt if that is not the case -- but is at his best at the tip of a midfield three.
The clamour over Pogba's acquisition is there simply because he is one of very few players who, if correctly deployed, have the ability to define a generation. It is very rarely that such footballers become available, or that they are affordable, even to a club of United's means.

The last to be so, Neymar, was fought over by Barcelona and Real Madrid, precisely because both clubs knew that whoever he signed for would instantly become more dangerous. It would be difficult to find too many discerning Barcelona fans who will argue that Neymar was not worth the trouble. Neymar, it must also be remembered, was untested in Europe at the time, and regarded by many as a frail dilettante who would fail to impose himself against smarter, tougher defences. Times have indeed changed.


It is interesting that Real have seemingly balked at the fee of £100 million for Pogba, given that they were prepared to part with a similar figure for Gareth Bale -- even though Bale had, at the time of his move to Madrid, achieved far less at club level. Pogba therefore finds himself in the curious position of having reached a Champions League and European Championship final, having been a key figure in four consecutive Serie A title triumphs, yet having his worth seriously questioned.
His range of gifts is probably unparalleled in the modern game. Mourinho, too, has ample experience of getting the very best from versatile midfielders, having worked to superb effect with Michael Essien and Frank Lampard.
The attraction of Pogba to Old Trafford is unlikely to be a sentimental one, given that the player has not so far shown such a streak in his short career. Instead, in the absence of a similarly eye-watering bid from Madrid, Pogba will have the chance to work under a manager who will provide both a sanctuary and a finishing school for his elite talent.
For that reason, to paraphrase Guardiola before him, Mourinho's current attitude should be: "Pogba oder nichts."
 
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