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james-haughton
22nd November 2016

Where to play Paul Pogba?

Paul Pogba’s performances have been underwhelming so far — something needs to change to get the best out of him
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TLDR

Not everything has gone to plan for Paul Pogba. He was heralded as the missing piece of the puzzle for Manchester United after the club paid a world record £89m fee to Juventus to sign him. However, because of his and his new club’s stuttering start to the season, Pogba has become the subject of fierce scrutiny. His recent underwhelming performances do not, as some suggest, prove that he is overrated, but demonstrate once again that new signings, no matter how much they were bought for, will underperform for their new clubs if they are played in a position that does not utilise their abilities, the abilities that caused them to be worth so much in the first place.

When Pogba exploded onto the world scene while at Juventus, he often played in a three-man midfield. Playing alongside two other midfielders, including the likes of Arturo Vidal, enabled him to roam across the pitch, box-to-box, without worrying about protecting his defence. Pogba’s greatest attributes — the unique mixture of power, energy and touch, and an ability to dribble past opponents with ease — were thus unhindered.

At United, however, Pogba has regularly been placed in a midfield two, primarily in a 4-2-3-1 system. The Frenchman has, therefore, been forced to concentrate his efforts on tasks that he is not suited to, for example, protecting United’s defence and patrolling the midfield. Jose Mourinho’s decision in many games this season to not play a recognised holding midfielder, playing Marouane Fellaini or Ander Herrera in that position instead, has exacerbated the problems that have plagued United’s midfield.

Fellaini and Pogba have been unable to dominate the midfield together, with opposing sides bypassing them with ease for large swathes of matches. Herrera’s performances this season, meanwhile, indicate that he could potentially become a very good defensive midfielder, but he was bought by Manchester United as a creative central midfielder, and the club needs that creativity also. Herrera and Pogba could dovetail brilliantly alongside a third, defensively minded midfielder, free to run at the opposition and create chances.

United’s midfield woes have been a constant headache for a long while now. The fruitless attempts to sign Wesley Sneijder while Alex Ferguson was still manager show that, and so do the bafflingly frequent occasions when Wayne Rooney, a striker who does not possess the passing or technical ability, and now the speed or stamina, required to transition into being a midfielder, has played in central midfield.

Playing a three-man midfield to get the best out of Pogba would, however, expose some of the other deficiencies in United’s squad. During Pogba’s time in Turin, Juventus favoured a 3-5-2 formation, which placed a great onus on the wing-backs to provide width and enabled the Old Lady to play Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli, three world-class centre-backs, together.

However the Red Devils have a dearth of options in every defensive position, as Eric Bailly, a summer signing, is out through injury and a wealth of defenders have either fallen out of favour or been publicly castigated by Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager accused Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw of being unwilling to play through pain after United’s 3-1 defeat of Swansea, and Matteo Darmian and Marcos Rojo have barely featured this season. 

If United were to attempt to play a 4-3-3, on the other hand, it would expose the other gaping hole in the squad: a scarcity of in-favour wingers. Jesse Lingard has featured prominently this season, but Ashley Young and Memphis Depay have not. Instead the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata have been preferred out wide. They are not natural wingers and so drift inside, which, coupled with the aforementioned problems at full-back, makes it difficult to stretch opponents out wide.

In contrast to United’s travails, Liverpool’s summer signings have helped to propel their new club to the top of the league table. While many, including myself, scoffed at the prices paid for Saido Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum, Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool’s transfer committee have been vindicated. They are key components in this season’s most irresistible attacking force, bamboozling defences with their movement and swift counter-attacking threat.

Joel Matip, a free signing in the summer, has been an impressive addition at centre-back. Because of the players that were signed in the summer, Klopp has been able to mould, over a short period of time, a team in his image, bold and attacking, able to not just counter-attack, but to interchange quickly and break down stubborn defences, while improving a defence that has marred recent Liverpool teams.

For Manchester United to consistently challenge for the title again, and get the best out of Paul Pogba, they need to start signing players who will gel with the existing squad and have a role in the team that makes use of their best attributes.


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