Think United did an ok job of pressing us high and targeting Cahill (who had a bit of a mare in that first half to be fair) but everyone could see we were the more likely to score and then United's game plan would have gone to **** anyway. Before the sending off De Gea had made 2 really good saves and we had other openings as well. Courtois could have nipped off for a toilet break in comparison. The sending off was a convenient excuse for Jose and United to go into their shell and hope not to get battered. Frankly embarrassing and limp way to go out of the cup as holders. - sending off or no sending off. I remember City and PSG both having players sent off against us and giving us a torrid time still. United did nothing. Absolutely nothing barring the Rashford chance which came from an error.
We know how Jose had set his team out, because its the same tactic we had seen at Chelsea many times before, ironically, typically when we used to play Man United. Suffocate play, slow down the tempo of the game so the opposition cannot play their plassing game. Kick lumps out of their playmaker (we used to do it to Ronaldo, they did it to Hazard) and antagonise their centre forward by having him man marked and heckled (We used to do it to Rooney, they did it to Costa). We had a degree of success/luck with this tactic, and it may have paid off on another day. We had the lions share of the chances even before the sending off, as United used to with us. But they could have nicked it. We'll never know. The red card ****ed it all up for United, but the ref did warn the players to tone down their aggression toward Hazard, and Herrera was just unlucky that he fouled him immediately after the ref had scolded the United players. Its not a pretty tactic, but one Jose utilises when facing technically superior opposition away from home.
[QUOTE="pieguts, post: 10335803, member: 1010958"]Sorry Matth, but in today's game it's a foul. It irritates me intensely where the slightest touch, a player goes down, but that's the way it is. Soft, but foul nevertheless.[/QUOTE] Not for me, It's not.
Not for me, It's not.[/QUOTE] Sorry without meaning to be rude, your opinion (or mine) is irrelevant. It was a foul, it was a card and it was a sending off as far as the ref was concerned and he runs the show!
Sorry without meaning to be rude, your opinion (or mine) is irrelevant. It was a foul, it was a card and it was a sending off as far as the ref was concerned and he runs the show![/QUOTE] But it was a United player so he has a point......
please give us some insight into this statement. what did he do that impressed you so much during this game? So far, at least to me, he's disappeared every time you've played a big side, last night he showed a complete lack of urgency, like he just couldn't be arsed.
Pogba stats in that match Dribbles: 0 Key passes: 0 Tackles: 2 Fouls: 2 Assists: 0 Goals: 0 FFS Matth
He has slightly more goals than Lampard, and a lot more goals than Gerrard had at this stage of their careers, aged 23. He has been shocking lately though, JM is wrong, he was nowhere to be found against Chelsea and that's happening too often in the bigger games.
You may be right but then Lampard and Gerrard were true box to box midfielder not attacking mids. Pogba is basically a number 10 at United and does far less off the ball than either of those 2.
I'm not attempting to compare their overall game, you mentioned he should score more goals, and I just highlighted that at this stage in his career, he's outscored the two most prolific goal scoring midfielders this league has seen. And won more. I'm not gonna put him in a Cuadrado/Torres sort of box though, I've seen enough to think he'll be a big player for us, but I completely agree that he's been pretty much pathetic recently, on and off the ball, although I'm reluctant to blame just him, when there are many other factors.
We will have to see I guess. I'm of the school who thinks you don't pay 90 million for potential and he should be running and winning games for that money and with nearly a season under his belt. The price tag isn't his fault granted but he could apply himself a lot more to football than the nonsense that comes with the celebrity side of him. Torres is an interesting comparison, because he was poor for us but the lad did try - it was just he was shot for confidence, had injuries and then in and out of the team. Pogba comes across as over confident if anything! I find him frustrating and he doesn't even play for my team!
Yeah he probably does suffer from too much confidence, but I think a lot of it has to do with being asked to do different roles. We don't utilise him the way Juve did, and we either have to adapt our system to suit him, or he has to be more flexible, like you say. Costa and Hazard were both equally as guilty of under performing for JM, last season and their reputation and class got them off the hook with the fans, and we have to afford that same respect to Pogba. We only get frustrated with him because we know he's good, if he was ****, it'd be Mourinho who I'd be frustrated with, for picking him.
