Mails: Where does Paul Pogba actually play?

Mails: Where does Paul Pogba actually play?

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

Would 3-4-3 work for United?
The 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1) formation has worked wonderfully well for Conte’s Chelsea. Would it work for other teams in the PL? man united line up as:

Baily Blind Smalling
Valencia Herrera Pogba Shaw
Rashford Zlatan Martial
Vinay
(I hope Jose reads the mailbox).

What is Paul Pogba?
I’ve heard a lot about how Pogba is being played out of position as a number 10 and an awful lot about how he can’t play as part of a 2 in central midfield. Seems to me what United have essentially done then is paid £90million squillion for a central midfield player who can’t play in central any central midfield position.
Sean, CFC, London

Interesting mail from a ManU fan – apparently, Pogba isn’t a natural No.10….and can’t play as part of a midfield two in central midfield.

This sort of begs the question – where can he play ?

So far, what we’ve seen is a player with undoubted skills jogging around the pitch, creating a couple of highlight reel moments (shots, stepovers, etc) but not really impacting any games, and certainly not dominating any.

He was exactly the same for France in the summer.

Obviously, it would help if Jose supported him with actual midfielders rather than a 6’4″ scary clown, but I’m not convinced it would make much difference.

If Jose persists with 4-2-3-1 possibly he could play on the left wing, which would at least put him in his preferred area of the field and not leave him exposed defensively. Or, moving to a 4-1-4-1 alongside Mata in the middle would conceptually work (a French Delle Alli, if you will), but is Jose just making room for a luxury player at this point, when a harder decision is needed.

Speaking of harder decisions, how hard can it be to select Schneiderlin in defensive midfield when your defence is a shambles ?
Matthew (ITFC)

(MC – He can play at centre-half, apparently. Probably better than Marcos Rojo.)

Mourinho had more time to prepare than anyone else
As someone who wrote in saying that United were copying the Madrid Galacticos model rather than building a team to play as a team, I was intrigued by Lee in the afternoon mailbox essentially saying that Mourinho shares none of the blame in this.

This tends to be the Mourinho model – get everything blamed on others – and clearly his PR campaign is working.

How soon everyone forgets that Mourinho had been ready to take over for months before he did. He had plenty of time to study the current players and lay out a plan of the ones he wanted to bring in. He had the time and the money to buy in players to fit his style of play. He wanted Pogba. He wanted Ibrahimovic. He wanted Mikhitaryan. He wanted Bailly. Bailly has been the sole success and a player that fits a Mourinho team.

Neither Moyes nor Van Gaal had the same amount of time to prepare as Mourinho. So lets cut the excuses. Not only did he not find the right players to fit his squad, he is playing most of them out of position in a way that the sum of the parts is less than the whole.

Other managers are playing players in different ways – Guardiola, Klopp, are examples – but they are doing it to find more space, attack and press. Mourinho only ever has one model and he could have moved more players around in the summer if he didn’t feel the current squad players could do the job.
Paul McDevitt

He IS the problem
Dunno what’s been smoked but Mourinho clearly is the problem (and Valencia is a less attacking full back than Darmian? He’s a winger ffs!)

If Ibrahimovic must be in the side, and therefore wingers who can cross well are needed, a good manager would start to focus on working with the wingers available to get the best out of them. If that’s not possible or doesn’t work out, play Rashford or Martial, who are excellent with the ball at their feet, up front and keep Mata in at no.10 to support them.

Likewise, Mourinho’s obession with having a big man in the team means Fellaini stays regardless of how he affects the team. After the Fenerbahce game the other night, Carrick should have been kept on for Chelsea. Instead, Fellaini played and was hooked at half time.

Now we’re hearing that he’s not even bothering with training sessions half the time, leaving Rui Faria, who should be in possessions of multiple lifetime bans for his previous behaviour, in charge.

Nope, definitely not the manager’s fault.
Alex, Leeds

After reading Lee’s note in the mailbox spouting nonsense that Jose doesnt have a squad, i had to bite.

Mourinho could play a diamond and freaking have two players in every position. Every position.

Mourinho could play a simple 4-1-2-1-2. Schneiderlin at the base, pogba on the left, herrera on the right and mata up top. Play any two of Rashford/Martial/Ibra. Pogba could go left and have Herrera and Schniederlin cover. He could link up with Mata/Martial with Ibra/Rashford pulling central defenders away.

He could replace Mata with Mikhi. Martial with Lingard or Depay (if the kid finds form ever) and still be effective.

Playing Pogba in the ten isnt a great idea neither is playing him in the two in midfield against stronger opposition.

Play a system to suit the team will work better than picking a team to play your system. When you pick a team to play your system, it takes longer and you need three windows to hopefully get everything right.
Sudarsan Ravi

 

Finders keepers
Arsenal have used three different keepers in the space of a week and all three have kept clean sheets.

Well done to all three of them – I’m going to party like it’s 1989.

Does make you wonder though who plays in the FA Cup if we survive in the league cup and the champions league into next year.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

Early flops
It’s much too early in the season to call anyone a flop, but here are some players who are doing a good imitation:

Jeff Hendrick – Does a little bit of everything, has scored a headed goal from a corner, but hasn’t improved Burnley’s midfield. Has yet to create a chance in the box and has taken several wasteful shots from outside the area. His tackles + interceptions are the lowest among Clarets midfielders. Steven Defour has been much more influential.

Ryan Mason – A Spurs midfielder should stand out at Hull City, but he hasn’t. Has shown defensive weakness without providing balancing attacking strength. Scored a deflected goal after a defender’s giveaway, but like Hendrick has been profligate from far out. I think there’s a good player in there somewhere, but Hull seem to be pulling him down to their level.

Didier N’Dong – Tidy on the ball, with by far the best completion percentage on the squad. But he’s neither an attacker nor a defender. Doesn’t have the creative knack, and although he’s decent at intercepting passes, doesn’t tackle and is often easily bypassed. Might be useful for a side that needs someone just to keep things ticking over, but Sunderland aren’t that side.

Lucas Perez – Has only seen 87 minutes of action in the league, and has shown little in other competitions to suggest he deserves more. A little bit of pace, good with the ball at his feet, not a bad passer, but no threat to Olivier Giroud, much less Alexis Sanchez.

Simone Zaza – Good technique, not bad in the air, lays the ball off well. But he can’t shake his markers. Premier League defenders are much more robust than those in Italy, and his physical style isn’t good enough. Manages about as many shots per 90 minutes as Salomon Rondon, and the results: fourteen shots, five blocked, one on target, no goals. Don’t think he’ll get a chance to take a penalty, but we can hope.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA

Gambling
Following on from the mails yesterday on the number of games being shown these days I thought I would bring up an issue that may be overlooked. Gambling. I enjoy a punt on most games when I watch them but with the number of live games being increased to cover most days, and with some days now containing 3 or more televised games, it’s easy for me to lose a bit of money should all the results go against me (For an idea think of between 2 to 4 £5 selections per match, I don’t want to go into that aspect too much). The thing is that I consider myself fortunate that when I say ‘lose a bit’ of money it’s a) Money I can afford, (if you can ever ‘afford’ to lose money) and b) More importantly nowhere near the amounts  that I have heard being spent elsewhere.

One thing I have disciplined myself of these days is to place the bet before the match, and usually on something that lasts the 90 mins, Goals & corners and the like and that’s it. The point of this mail is to highlight the number of in play features that are available. You know they are available, as before every game, during every game and sometimes on the hoardings during the game, they are flashed up. I’ve had a go on the in play market before and it is remarkably easy to see odds on next goal scorer flash up, place a £10 bet, and within 5 minutes someone else scores. Unlike the 90 minute bets these then reset and you can do it again. The ease of access to typing a few numbers on your phone, selecting a bet, then placing it is mindblowing these days with smart phones. Numbers on a phone don’t relate to notes in your pocket by the way.

Last night whilst watching the Liverpool v Spurs game I was conscious of a few people I know watching the updates and in some cases fingers hovering over the ‘Cash Out’ feature, another thing that has come into the gambling game, and it was watching that whilst considering the mails that I read on the number of games on at all times and all days that provoked this mail. You cannot remove the bookies from the game, nor should you, but the number of games being televised in combination with the number of easy ways to gamble not just on the outcome, but the next ‘Throw In’ or Odd or Even corners for Gods sake can lead to some to become addicted. The evil A word.

I wonder if I am addicted, but then I listen to stories of people on the radio talk of real addiction and consider by gambling more a vice. I recognise times in the past I had lost 12:30 Sunday, 2:30 Sunday and then wonder what to stake on the 4:00 game only for that not to come in, the ‘Chase’ is the most destructive thing. One of things I thought to myself last night was that where there are some people who watch a 0-0 result come in and feel disappointed at the lack of entertainment, there are some for who the result is not just disappointing, it could be worse than that. (This is by no means a pop at Degsy by the way whose tips I enjoy reading).

Like I said I enjoy a flutter, but i only ever do it before the game these days. The relentless latest odds actually annoy me these days and I wonder if they could be filtered off as an option although I don’t doubt they bring in huge revenue. The situation is difficult, and I hope anyone who struggles with it can find a way to deal with it, which I’m fully aware is far far easier to say than do. It’s for this reason alone I would prefer there were less games on TV, not for the disappointment of a dull game. Unfortunately I can’t see that happening any time soon.
Chris ITFC, Liverpool

Love for Mitro
There is something brilliant about watching a man permanently on the edge of sanity.

Sky really need to introduce a Mitrovich cam as the brief viewings during a live game or highlight reel are simply not enough.
H, (bet he is great value on a night out)