Pogba

[Monts]

I'll admit now that I don't watch a lot of football apart from hibs, and so I've not seen an awful lot of Pogba, but when I have, I'm not sure why he cost so much money.

What am I missing?

[Hibernia&Alba]

He had a very poor game today, but that it isn't representative of his ability. He was superb in the last game against Hull. He's a terrific talent.

[Monts]

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He had a very poor game today, but that it isn't representative of his ability. He was superb in the last game against Hull. He's a terrific talent.

Is it his traveling with ball, passing, shooting, hold up play or something else? I'm not being cheeky, I'm genuinely asking.

[blackpoolhibs]

Obviously i dont see all his games, but the ones that are on the telly and match of the day ones are what i have to go on, and i'm missing it too.

He does flashes of brilliance but for that kind of money i'd be wanting a lot more from him

[Hibernia&Alba]

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Is it his traveling with ball, passing, shooting, hold up play or something else? I'm not being cheeky, I'm genuinely asking.

Excellent passing and is box to box. He can play defensive midfield or as number ten. He had a stinker today.

[jgl07]

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I'll admit now that I don't watch a lot of football apart from hibs, and so I've not seen an awful lot of Pogba, but when I have, I'm not sure why he cost so much money.

What am I missing?

He was so highly rated in his first spell at Old Trafford that he was allowed to run down his contract and leave for notional compensation. He was then resigned for £110 million or so including agents fees etc.

[HibernianJK]

I've watched most Utd games that have been on tele and haven't really been impressed either. When he first arrived he was poor for 9/10 games but then I think his form picked up recently. He was terrible today. Poor game tbh.

[ancient hibee]

The manager wants to turn him into Frank Lampard.

[Michael]

Yes, he doesn't look great to me either. At least they got Zlatan on a free.

[yonder1875]

For the sort of money that Man United paid for him you would expect him to be the real difference maker for them - similarly to Gareth Bale or Ronaldo (went for similar sums) for Real Madrid. He is far from that from what I've seen

[Thecat23]

Sorry but he's not worth anything near what he went for.

[Onceinawhile]

Proved why you shouldn't dab when headering a ball though.

[Monts]

Think he was unlucky with the penalty as he had lost the ball in the air.

Definite penalty but he will feel hard done by.

[Pretty Boy]

He's not really showed his full ability for Man Utd yet but he was absolutely sensational for a couple of seasons with Juventus. In the day of the astronomical transfer fee I can see why someone was tempted to spend the kind of money on him that United did. If they hadn't someone else would have.

People often don't allow players time to adjust to a different footballing environment. The game in England is frantic compared to Italy. Dennis Bergkamp is a good example, very poor at first for Arsenal but grew into a legend. More recently De Gea was written off, including by more than one person on this thread, and he's gone on to do ok.

[PeterboroHibee]

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Think he was unlucky with the penalty as he had lost the ball in the air.

Definite penalty but he will feel hard done by.

As pointed out by the pundits during the game, he was all over the place when defending corners - the handball was a result of that and I dont think it can be described as unlucky.

Despite how bad he was today (which was ironic with all the #pogba banners and emojis on the advertising boards all game), I do think Pogba is a really talented player. Part of the problem is he is playing in a Mourinho team, and he will also never be able to live up to the daft price tag they paid for him.

[Monts]

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As pointed out by the pundits during the game, he was all over the place when defending corners - the handball was a result of that and I dont think it can be described as unlucky.

Despite how bad he was today (which was ironic with all the #pogba banners and emojis on the advertising boards all game), I do think Pogba is a really talented player. Part of the problem is he is playing in a Mourinho team, and he will also never be able to live up to the daft price tag they paid for him.

I was watching in a pub that didn't have the sound on so missed the commentators comments.

[GreenNWhiteArmy]

The problem Pogba has (and any modern day player has that moves for a hefty transfer fee) is that certainly nowadays with social media outlets available to pretty much everybody is that instant success is demanded.

He was brought in on a 5 year deal - not a 6 month deal. He'll probably admit himself he'd like to have had a better impact but he's hit the woodwork something like 7 or 8 times this season. Had even half of them gone in I very much doubt he'd be getting some of the criticism he's getting.

Remember we brought Kris Commons in on a 28 day deal or whatever it was and fans wanted him sent back after 1 game. Look at the reaction to him now? Even bale at Madrid. His first season was spectacular but his 2nd was pretty disappointing and fans wanted him sent back to England. Now he's a hero again.

Personally I'll reserve judgement in terms of the fee and his overall contribution to utd till he's been playing in the team for 18 months or so. Because of the fee and club he plays for, a lot of people will have had the knifes out from day one. Similarities to our manager in that respect

[Salt N Sauzee]

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The problem Pogba has (and any modern day player has that moves for a hefty transfer fee) is that certainly nowadays with social media outlets available to pretty much everybody is that instant success is demanded.

He was brought in on a 5 year deal - not a 6 month deal. He'll probably admit himself he'd like to have had a better impact but he's hit the woodwork something like 7 or 8 times this season. Had even half of them gone in I very much doubt he'd be getting some of the criticism he's getting.

Remember we brought Kris Commons in on a 28 day deal or whatever it was and fans wanted him sent back after 1 game. Look at the reaction to him now? Even bale at Madrid. His first season was spectacular but his 2nd was pretty disappointing and fans wanted him sent back to England. Now he's a hero again.

Personally I'll reserve judgement in terms of the fee and his overall contribution to utd till he's been playing in the team for 18 months or so. Because of the fee and club he plays for, a lot of people will have had the knifes out from day one. Similarities to our manager in that respect

Doesnt matter how much you try to sugar coat it, if you spend £89 million on a player you expect them to be an instant hit or at least show up in the big games. I highly doubt Mourinho bought him because he thought he might turn out good a year and a half down the line!

Man United have literally chucked money at players over the past year or so and are still no further ahead than what they were under Moyes and that is very, very pleasing.

[Holmesdale Hibs]

He's a good player and will get better with age. Totally inflated transfer fee but the market seems to get more and more silly every window so he's not the only one. I watched him at Selhurst earlier this year and he played very well and had an assist and a goal (despite being offside and the ball coming to him via Zlatan's hand).

[GreenNWhiteArmy]

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Doesnt matter how much you try to sugar coat it, if you spend £89 million on a player you expect them to be an instant hit or at least show up in the big games. I highly doubt Mourinho bought him because he thought he might turn out good a year and a half down the line!

Man United have literally chucked money at players over the past year or so and are still no further ahead than what they were under Moyes and that is very, very pleasing.

It all depends on the angle you're coming from I guess. Whilst not being an instant success I've personally saw enough that shows he's a class act and will get better and better the more he adapts to the league.

Neymar scored about 4 goals in his first 20 games at Barcelona after going for about 80m 3/4 years ago.

Even look at the Liverpool team that played today. Guys like Henderson, Firmino, Lovren all went for relatively high fees but it took well over a year to see them becoming what they are today - key players in a team challenging for the title.

8 goals (could be double figures as per his woodwork stats) a similar amount of assists imo isn't that bad a return after 6 months. To "justify" his transfer fee he'd no doubt need to score 30+ goals and similar number of assist which I'm English football is unlikely to happen.

I disagree with the transfer fee btw nobody should be moving for that kind of money but it's the modern market.

[johnbc70]

Have seen him play live twice, both massive games. Once in the Champions League Final in 2015, and then again in the Euro 2016 final, both times he was anonymous.

[ekhibee]

Well it's not like he'd never played in England or for Man Utd before, so I don't really accept the thing about change of environment. I watched him in the Euro's and in a couple of games he was really good. In others he was just alright, nothing special at all. He's a talented player, and they're never cheap, but I can't help thinking Manchester United/Mourinho were trying to make a rather exaggerated point about how big they are and what money they're prepared to pay. A statement of intent. But they're not going to win the Premiership and they're going to struggle to get a Champions League place, which makes the money they've spent on Pogba all the more daft. That's just my opinion though.

[Pretty Boy]

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Well it's not like he'd never played in England or for Man Utd before, so I don't really accept the thing about change of environment. I watched him in the Euro's and in a couple of games he was really good. In others he was just alright, nothing special at all. He's a talented player, and they're never cheap, but I can't help thinking Manchester United/Mourinho were trying to make a rather exaggerated point about how big they are and what money they're prepared to pay. A statement of intent. But they're not going to win the Premiership and they're going to struggle to get a Champions League place, which makes the money they've spent on Pogba all the more daft. That's just my opinion though.

He played 7 1st team games for Man Utd in his 1st spell. 3 of them in the league. Hardly a wealth of experience in the EPL.

[Tyler Durden]

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Well it's not like he'd never played in England or for Man Utd before, so I don't really accept the thing about change of environment. I watched him in the Euro's and in a couple of games he was really good. In others he was just alright, nothing special at all. He's a talented player, and they're never cheap, but I can't help thinking Manchester United/Mourinho were trying to make a rather exaggerated point about how big they are and what money they're prepared to pay. A statement of intent. But they're not going to win the Premiership and they're going to struggle to get a Champions League place, which makes the money they've spent on Pogba all the more daft. That's just my opinion though.

Some would say the money isn't necessarily all that daft in today's market though

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37045474

[jacomo]

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He's not really showed his full ability for Man Utd yet but he was absolutely sensational for a couple of seasons with Juventus. In the day of the astronomical transfer fee I can see why someone was tempted to spend the kind of money on him that United did. If they hadn't someone else would have.

People often don't allow players time to adjust to a different footballing environment. The game in England is frantic compared to Italy. Dennis Bergkamp is a good example, very poor at first for Arsenal but grew into a legend. More recently De Gea was written off, including by more than one person on this thread, and he's gone on to do ok.

Fair enough. But he's not done much for France either.

[essexhibee]

Ok I'll be the first to say it then....he's no John McGinn

[Scouse Hibee]

Having now watched the game to say he had a poor game today is taking away the credit from the Liverpool midfield who didn't allow him any time or space. He was closed down,harried and hassled to great effect. There was obviously a plan to keep him quiet and it worked.

[Haymaker]

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Ok I'll be the first to say it then....he's no John McGinn

No one is.

[Haymaker]

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Having now watched the game to say he had a poor game today is taking away the credit from the Liverpool midfield who didn't allow him any time or space. He was closed down,harried and hassled to great effect. There was obviously a plan to keep him quiet and it worked.

Very true however whenever he did find time and space he did nothing with it.

And how many times did he lose louvren? Unacceptable.

[Pete]

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Very true however whenever he did find time and space he did nothing with it.

And how many times did he lose louvren? Unacceptable.

It's easy to criticise Manchester United players for underperforming. However, it must be hard when even people that stay hundreds of miles away from Manchester and apparently have no leanings towards the club have acceptable standards regarding your performance.