That’s why I put “was”, it’s been so sad to see such a talent spiral down and down. I know his bank balance has increased dramatically but professionally his move away from us has been a disaster
Judging by their peaks so far - Morgan quite comfortably. But of course part of the reason Pierre is so exciting is because he's only had something like 70 senior starts, Morgan had about 150 formative games in Div 1 & 2 and 20 in the Prem by the time Poch got his hands on him. And as others have said part of Pierre's allure is his 'X-Factor', especially in a period where we've lacked speed and aggression in our football, both physically and in style. So Pierre is as much of a saviour as Ralph is in that regard, and is absolutely pivotal in our style of play now... Just as Morgan was in our 4-2-3-1 playing as the pivot. But if you think from what we've seen so far that Pierre has shown better then you're looking at it from a skewed perspective, or simply forgetting how good Morgan was for us, I think.
But you also have to consider the fact that Morgan was surrounded by a hell of a team (Wanyama, Lovren, Fonte, Lallana, J-Rod etc), and had decent managers. Hojbjerg has had garbage managers and a rag-tag bunch of misfits around him.
PEH is only going to get better.......so eventually he will be a better player than Morgan was......not yet though.
Fact considered - but would still put Morgan comfortably ahead regardless! He was just refined class in all aspects. Pierre is bundles of talent and intelligence wrapped around a firecracker. But like I said I think the 'unfair' element of the comparison is that 23 year old Schneiderlin had a lot more competitive football under his belt than 23 year old PEH. Once he has about 40 more games under his belt, we'll see how they compare.
Morgan was more of an all-arounder, not that Hojbjerg is any great slouch in that regard. Hojbjerg doesn't quite have his long-range passing, but his playmaking instincts are better; if I wanted a player to thread a ball through to a striker, it would be Pierre making the pass.
Interesting comparison for me. Both players were probably the key “pressers” in a high pressing style. I can’t remember ever seeing somebody win as many 50/50s as PEH but Morgan edges the all round game, although PEH has a far better shot on him.
Pierre will be a high profile manager one day while Morgan will be sweating his bollocks off cooking steak haché with pommes frites for a pittance in some grubby little French Bistro in Strasbourg. Well that is what the very lovely Mrs Godders says but then she has never forgiven Morgan for leaving her, sorry I mean leaving us.
Morgan for me, was utter class in the last two seasons. I remember old Trafford away where he was the best player on the pitch by a mile. His range of passing, and the way he used to calmly control it out of the sky, back past defenders in dangerous areas was so valuable for us turning defence into attack. Love PEH though, could catch him if he continues to develop!
Much as I loved Morgan, and as much as I agree with everyone who chose him, I still picked Pierre, because of his potential. With the right manager, which he now has, he could become our very own Franz Beckenbauer.
Morgan and Ricky were my favourites when on the bus journey onto the EPL. Morgan was my avatar too from when l joined Not606 until he left us. Class act (seems lost sadly these days) - PEH is a different style of player. When Morgan joined Man Utd, l thought he would kick on and become even better. Shows what l know... I believe PEH currently has more potential and certainly more desire. He is a game changer and looks a good leader. Certainly wins that comparison over Morgan.
Oh you git. I'd almost forgotten Morgan. You remind me and I am feeling the loss all over again! I used to love watching Morgan command areas of the pitch. He and Wanyama were the playground bullies daring the opposition to have a go if they were hard enough. As others have said, I'm saddened to see his develpment halted. Pierre is a different sort of player for me. You are comparing a highly cultured player with one who is like a frisky puppy. But as others have said, Morgan was trained in the school of hard knocks down in L1 and the Championship. I really like Pierre, and I enjoyed his performance at the weekend. Like Morgan he is an intelligent player who is learning rapidly. In the next couple of years, if we can keep both him and the manager, he could develop into something really special. Then we'll sell him to one of the top six and he'll disappear!
