Mourinho United thread 2016-17

Pogba4Now;n6459179 said:

What does Perisic have that Martial or Mkhitaryan doesn't have?

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What he has is a great balance of everything. He is much more athletic, stronger and has the profile of a Mourinho winger. Two footed, relatively quick, shoots from everywhere, decent aerially, can go up and down the pitch.

You should also grab Milan Badelj while you're at it if all else fails in terms of finding a midfielder. He'd do an acceptable job as an alternative/replacement to Carrick.

Lukaku is very good doing 3 things:

1- Protecting the ball and playing backwards
2- shooting/finishing
3- attacking defensive line's back.

On the rest he is average but great striker overal.

He is quite poor technically. He gets lost against stronger opponents. No UCL experience.

We are linked with Verratti. Any thoughts on him? Would Pogba Verratti Ander work?

I'd rather get a proper DM. Verratti is a DLP.

Verratti is the midfielder you need to build a team around. It'd be pretty epic in theory imo. Ander and Pogba ahead of Verratti. World class on paper and well balanced. I'd be pretty envious for sure.

Pogba - Matic - Herrera or Pogba Matic in a double pivot and Mata or Miki as AMF? I see Pogba more of a box to box midfielder than a goal scoring midfielder. He is more like Scholes than Lampard. He is everywhere on the pitch.

Matic Pogba double pivot with an AMF worked well today. I think this should be our formation against most teams. Against tougher opponents, then Pogba Matic Herrera midfield. Pogba is a box to box midfielder so he is better playing deep rather than AMF.

Good win. Lots of positives. Hope we can continue with this kind of performance.

Pogba4Now said:

Matic Pogba double pivot with an AMF worked well today. I think this should be our formation against most teams. Against tougher opponents, then Pogba Matic Herrera midfield. Pogba is a box to box midfielder so he is better playing deep rather than AMF.

Good win. Lots of positives. Hope we can continue with this kind of performance.

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I'm in no position to comment really, since I haven't had the chance to see any of our matches so far this season, but I've got to point this one thing out - Pogba isn't a box-to-box midfielder. He's an advanced playmaker so to speak, his speciality isn't running up and down the pitch like a race horse full of steroids.. He's best at the left side of a midfield trio with a licence to roam forward. Matić covering helps him do that.

You probably didn't watch Juve much, but he played a similar role there, and that's where he excelled. In a midfield of three, on the left side with a proper DM, so he wouldn't have to worry about defensive duties.

Him, Matić covering and Ander Herrera who's actually box-to-box is pretty good. So far as from I've understood, Mourinho has played a variation of 4231/442 with Matić being the DM, Pogba next to him on the left, Mhkitaryan almost as a supporting striker to Lukaku (the role which Griezmann would've played, if it wasn't for Atleti's transfer ban), and Lingard/Rashford/Martial (or Mata as AM) on the wings depending on whether the team is attacking or not. The formation alters quite a bit whether the team is attacking or not.

We could've really used another winger, Perisic proved out to be too expensive and Inter was like you either pay the asking price of the player we don't want to let go, or forget about it.

Willian would've been perfect, but there's no way in hell Chelsea would've given us both Matić and him lol.

I believe Matić will turn out to be as our most important signing of the summer, since we've been lacking a proper DM for a while now.

Fabinho would've been good as well, since he can cover right-back too.

Have you seen Amadou Diawara for Napoli? The guy's an absolute gem. Like Busquets on speed. His passing range is even better than Jorginho's. Another one of Napoli's "unknown to some" talented midfielders.

I completely disagree. Pogba is best as a CM rather than an attacking playmaker. If you see how he has been this season you will understand what I mean. He has been everywhere on the pitch. He is best playing alongside a DM like Matic or Kante (for France). The few times he has played AMF last season, he has not been as good as in CM. He has been great as RCM with Matic and Mkhitaryan as AMF.

Playing AMF in Serie A is different than playing AMF in the EPL. He didn't impress as AMF last season. Maybe he will be better in this role if he plays there this season who knows.

As I mentioned before, Perisic would have created more harm than good so I am glad we did not sign him. Both Martial and Rashford have been amazing so why buy a player who is soon going to be past his prime to play instead of Martial/Rashford?

Sorry for the confusion. That's what I basically meant. I don't want Pogba as an AM, but on the left of the midfield in an advanced role, with Matić covering.

That's what I meant using the term advanced playmaker in a midfield trio, a creative player with the most freedom, who doesn't have to worry about defending so much. It means something else to you. Something from FM as well as AMF, which is a #10 for you I imagine. I call an attacking midfielder playmaker/#10 or an AM, depends where he plays exactly.

I agree, he looked out of place as an AM last season. At Juventus he played at the same position as he does now. During his last season over there he was tried out as a #10 a bit, but he wasn't so good in that role in Italy either. Juve also tried him out in a 442 as a left wide midfielder when they played Bayern and got knocked out. He was okay, but it's not his position. Hernanes Khedira Cuadrado were the others, Dybala and Morata supporting striker and a #9 respectively. If this interests you.

Yes, Perisic would've taken playing time away from Martial and Rashford like you said, I wouldn't have liked that either. But he would've been a very good signing.

Mourinho likes already established players, he scores with both feet, assists, great crosser etc. He obviously is gunning for the Premiership and wants to do well in the CL, so that's where he would've been useful.

Pogba played this "left side of midfield 3" last season and I wasn't impressed. I think he is best as midfielder partnering a DM. He just seems more natural in this position. There's a difference between EPL and série A and ManU and Juventus. He's been fantastic the first 3 games as RCM. He often plays there for France as well because of Matuidi.

Did you watch Euro 2016? He played in a double-pivot next to Matuidi (who's been pretty bad recently), and was rubbish. Even Moussa Sissoko was miles better than him. Those two just don't mix together. French team's formation and starters vary a lot, they've been playing 442 recently, Pogba has been one of the worst performs in that team. But we're not here to talk about the French NT, are we? Let them worry about themselves.

He's gotten better in that position lately, but thanks a lot thanks to having a reliable DM as in Matić. Last season when Carrick was playing and was in decent form, he was much better too. So we basically agree on that one.

He commented on it like this:

Paul Pogba explains how Manchester United new boy Nemanja Matic has given him more freedom

Paul Pogba has hailed Nemanja Matic’s arrival at Manchester United and believes he is already benefiting from the steel and solidity provided by the Serbian midfield.

And now the Frenchman has spoken glowingly about his new midfield partner, and says the attacking side of his game will be able to shine with Matic sitting behind him.

‘Against West Ham, Matic was starting behind and I could worry more about attacking. I feel good playing that way,’ he told the Telegraph.

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Sauce: https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...-a-threat-for-manchester-united-a3613466.html

That's one of the seasons why I consider Matić our most important signing by far.

It seems we're going with 4-3-3 today with Matić as a DM/*regista* with Pogba and Ander Herrera next to him. Let's see how will Pogba fare in this role in this glorious evening.

Can't wait since I haven't been able to watch a single United match this season.

De Gea - Valencia , Bailly , Jones , Darmian - Matić - Ander Herrera , Pogba - Mkhitaryan , Lukaku , Rashford

The reason why I hate Pogba on the "left side of a midfield 3" is he will try to dribble and impr3ess and lose the ball. It is clearly not working. I don't understand why Mourinho didn't stick to the winning formula. Darmian on the left side doesn't make any sense. Blind is better and is left footed.

OMFG what a pass by Mkhitaryan. He is the one who should play advanced midfielder. Pogba should make way for him.

Considering the team seems to play better using the 4231 system, I'm still livid that Mourinho didn't go all out for James. Would've been lovely with him as a #10 scoring bangers and feeding Lukaku. One of the better passers in the modern game really.

The deal that Bayern got is basically a steal lol.

We won 3-0. Can we cheer ole ole already and declare ourselves the champions?

It was a terrible performance though. We had to rely on super Felli for a header, an assist and another header from Lukaku.

My main man.. I watched the Barca - Juve matches, but that's the most Mourinho thing I've ever heard. As long as we'll be winning matches we'll be alright mate!