Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

And your point is what? CR used to score half his goals on PK when he was at Madrid. So do a lot of top scorers on teams. PKs are a part of the game last I checked and nobody calls out strikers for scoring them.

Pogba is shit at PKs too... so really, he should be at 20+ goals.

I think he’s just saying that figure is a bit inflated, just like Ronaldo’s stats are inflated as well.

sportsczy wrote:And your point is what? CR used to score half his goals on PK when he was at Madrid. So do a lot of top scorers on teams. PKs are a part of the game last I checked and nobody calls out strikers for scoring them.

Pogba is shit at PKs too... so really, he should be at 20+ goals.

Listen, I never judged Pogba on goals (or lack thereof). That's not his job.

What I don't like about him is the fact that he's unbelievably inconsistent and rarely ever plays well. What's the point of having this genius footballer if he can only offer you a small handful of elite football the entire season? I challenge you to find one United fan, just one, in this solar system that would tell you that Pogba actually justified his transfer fee and that they are completely satisfied with his overall performance.

I lost count how many times I tuned in while he was playing and watched him lose the ball countless times and jog back without a worry in the world. The amount of misplaced passes he also makes is outrageous. You'd expect someone who was signed for 100m to be able to string a simple pass, but no, not him.

Even his attitude is disgusting. The sense of entitlement and the lack of motivation is alarming and frankly irritating. You're getting paid a mountain of gold. Even if you don't like the coach or the system, even if you want out, at least have the decency to honor the contractual bond with your employer by playing with grit.

Every time I watch him, I honest to god fail to see this world beater everybody is talking about, and always end up thinking the same thing: why is everybody overrating the crap out of him? Even Zidane the other day said that what makes Pogba special is the fact that he can attack and defend. If he truly thinks Pogba can defend then he must also think that I'm the queen of England.

Dude is a primma donna just like Ronaldo. The only difference is that Ronaldo is a good player.

I really don't care what his French teammates have to say, I got my own eyes. Fairly certain none of them watch (or have time to watch) Utd consistently like I do.

With that said, DoC is being way too over the top with his criticism in the same way Sports is literally being blind to what he is doing at Utd. If Zizou wants this version of Paul, well, I hope Pogba understands what Real Madrid is about and knows the Bernabeu does not take primadonnas lightly and definitely does not take indifference period.

I have no doubts though that Utd is gonna reject most offers from Madrid though so I do hope Zizou has other players he has in mind that are realistically obtainable.

EPL players as well... they voted him as the best midfielder in the league.

You mean the PFA team of the year? Where him, Fernandinho and Silva were picked as well? Because PFA player of the year is Van Dijk.

Anyway, I said what I said and you said what you said. If Zizou wants him and Utd subsequently tells him and Madrid to get fked, I hope he has other options and this doesn't turn into a Calderon-esque 2008 "Chasing Ronaldo" tale.

Doc wrote:and this doesn't turn into a Calderon-esque 2008 "Chasing Ronaldo" tale.

Ronaldo was the fastest player in the Premier League. Pogba is the number 1 walker in the Premier League. Chasing won’t be necessary. Then again, "chasing a man who doesn't run" would be quite a fitting description of going after his signature

Can't wait till we sign Pogba he is gonna the next lad to divide Madrid fans worldwide

Nah, he'll just be another name to add to your list of failed hypejobs

You will have to show me the last time I hyped hin

I mean pogba isnt that bad to be writing paragraphs about him. I get he might not be someone youd want to spend money on but some of you act like he shouldn't even be top flight football. I dont like eriksen that much because I've never seen him put in a good shift but I'm not going to throw a tantrum if we sign him

You guys still thought Bale was good last year.

Imagine thinking Pogba wouldn’t improve our team.

my only thing with Pogba is that people are looking at this season to say that he plays when he feels like it or to say that he isnt good, queue that ridiculous walking stat, etc... what garbage

have people forgotten what's like to be caught in the mourinho's third year vortex? he made our own elite players look like scrubs. Furthermore, we have seen how poorly some of our key players have performed this year, guys who are generally considered as world class, they have played like crap this season. So context of a season counts a lot, without even wanting to make excuses for him.

I dont think this is the best season to look at Pogba and to say, "this is what he is, and this is what he will always be"... i would be careful with that line of thinking cuz it's not smart and it's short sighted.

Sports argument about him being elite, but playing with scrubs is not a bad one. Pogba is not a player that will single handily lift a team up, but when surrounded with good players, he performs. When he has a clear role, he performs. Although, he has really had that consistently at Juve and the world cup is a special context and only lasts for 7 games.

With france though, Pogba is very different. I would assume that if Zidane is signing him, it's to leverage that version of Pogba.

i get the issue with pogba. but my take on it is, anyone zidane wants, zidane should get; unless we don't have the money, and if we have the money for a less expensive alternative, then zidane should have the final say on who that alternative is.

that way, there's no "zidane wanted player a and flo gave him player b, and now player b is an outcast". so if zidane gets who he wants, its his full responsibility to get the best out of that player and in turn get us results. pogba's situation at utd isn't the best, but if zidane indeed wants him, he will be coming to a situation where he is starting afresh, and a coach who will be trying to get the best out of him (Especially as he'll cost a ton of money).

i cannot complain that i want flo taking a reduced role on sporting issues, yet in the same vein complain about players the coach feels are necessary to his vision. let the coach get what he wants and there's transparency across the board.

if zidane doesn't want eriksen or icardi or salah or any of these players, flo forcing them on him is just going back to square one all over again

Freeza wrote:You guys still thought Bale was good last year.

Imagine thinking Pogba wouldn’t improve our team.

Who thought Bale was good last year? Seriously, I really wanna know this because this seems like something not even Hala would write.

Also, if Zizou wants Paul (which he does) and Utd & Madrid can work out an agreement, sure. As tito wrote, whatever Zidane wants, the club should do its best to acquire. But I maintain, this version of Paul is not someone I would want currently similar to how I didn't want Hazard back in 2016 or whenever. This Hazard, a clearly more mature in thought Hazard would be excellent. i have serious doubts about Pogba's maturity. Unlike DoC though, I do not question his talent as that is undeniable, well, it shouldn't be tbh.

I really (and I mean really) think it comes down to whether we can convince Kroos or Modric + Isco or Asensio to go to Man U. We can get about 100 mil for the pair (maybe more). That offsets a lot of the cost to buy Pogba and good portion of his wages too.

That's the structure I've read / heard on tv that Madrid is going after and Man U isn't against it.

The variable is that some in the Madrid front office have a grudge against Man U's front office over De Gea. So communication isn't the best. ZZ is trying to get everyone to act like adults and focus on the present and forget the past shenanigans... that includes Raiola too.

All the players reportedly being potential signing. It's a lot.

It's about 5 plus players.

Hopefully they all get signed way before the preseason, so they can get comfortable and proper prep for the season.

It's really annoying when the club waits till after or during preseason to sign players.

AS (I know they are crap), have outlined pretty much all the signings we have discussed.

"IN: Militão (€50M), Ndombele (80), Eriksen (85), Jovic (60), Hazard (112) and Pogba (150)

OUT: Keylor, Llorente, Ceballos, Kroos, Kovacic, James, Isco, Mariano and Bale are for sale."

The only things I don't agree with are prices they listed and the thought that we will get all 3 of Pogba, Ndom, and Eriksen. I think we likely get 1 of them, and maaaaybe 2, but not all 3 that doesn't make sense.

Apart from the article, I still think it will be cheeky to sign Rabiot on a free. I wasn't a fan initially, but 1) I had a look at his stats and his ball progression numbers and tackles are absolutely insane, 2) if Kova is going to be sold, which I think is likely, we will need that player to come off the bench and progress the ball through the midfield and 3) from what I have been told he can play even deeper if we need a tactics change to swap him and Casemiro.

Deez I don't think we will do Eriksen, Pogba AND Ndombele. To me Pogba and Eriksen are redundant to begin with, even though Eriksen has some flexibility as an attacking midfielder, he played wide right for Spurs last year.

Haven't seen rumours about the right winger a lately

I have a serious question to those who have watched closely both of Militao and De Ligt. Who's better between the two?

I have watched De Ligt long enough to realize that the kid is quite talented and has the potential of becoming a top CB, but since I haven't watched Militao at all, I can't really say who's more talented between the two.

Do you think Madrid made a mistake by signing Militao and leaving De Ligt for Barça?

My general feeling has always been to buy the most talented players you can, as long as they fit the profile you need, and then let the manager get the best out of them.

The notion of getting hard-working but less talented players is a loser to me...

Ideally, you'd like both. But I'd always take talent first. You can't overcome a lack of talent.

@Nick I agree, I said the same thing- I think we definitely get 1of the 3, if we get 2 it will be Ndom and either Pobga or Eriksen but not both. No chance in hell we get all 3.

@D o C De Ligt is definitely the better player at the moment. From what I have seen of Militao he has a tendency to get caught out of position. Probably because he has been shunted from RB to CB back and forth. De Ligt already plays at a higher level, is younger and has a higher ceiling imo.

I've gone on record stating they made a mistake signing Militao. But hey, RM wanted to save an extra 30m for the cheaper option. That is their choice. And ultimately, we won't really know until we see more of both players, but that's just my initial assessment.

sportsczy wrote:My general feeling has always been to buy the most talented players you can, as long as they fit the profile you need, and then let the manager get the best out of them.

The notion of getting hard-working but less talented players is a loser to me...

Ideally, you'd like both. But I'd always take talent first. You can't overcome a lack of talent.

I agree, but an abundance of talent unfortunately doesn't compensate for little to no dedication to a club, or to the profession.