Rooney is done though, I know the coaches like him and think his crossfield passes are indicative of his ability to play midfield. United has a bunch of new players who needed to be integrated better into the team. Zlatan has played as a 9 but also as a playmaker for his teams previously, he is not an Eto or Villa type to run behind the last line of defence. Pogba played as an advanced midfielder for Juve backed by better central midfielders than what United have in their side. I a surprised that after watching the Euros when Deschamps played Pogba in a deeper position and it failed that Mourinho though he could get it to work. People seem to expect him to run the game lie Modric or even Kroos but that is not his skillset.
City started well last year and could very well run away with it if they can supplement Aguero's goals and keep the defence playing well. Last year they had CB pairings not working out but i think Pep has way too much going forward to help.
Thing is Pogba has three options as a midfielder: a) play the holding role; b) play the no. 10/advanced role; c) play box to box
Tbh given his natural skill set and his ability to cover a lot of the pitch quickly, and given our midfield options, we have to play him box to box. But a box to box midfielder is a tough role because you have to be competent defensively and attacking-wise. Pogba is so ill disciplined defensively but Juve's defensive excellence helped mask his flaws. This dude loves to roam the pitch and just play in the schoolyard as Carragher alluded to early this season. So he has to play box to box but he has to be disciplined. If you cannot get a £89m player to be disciplined you got a fukking problem. I'm happy to build around Pogba but not to the extent where we brush away his flaws too. He MUST get his act together first and then it will be easier.
I would say he could play advanced role but we have options like Mata and Mkhi there. In comparison, only Herrera is a real box to box midfielder for us.
I think Fellaini gotta be dropped now and it's unfortunate. He doesn't play well under pressure even though so far this season he's been one of our better players. Most importantly, he doesn't complement Pogba. Pogba has to get the ball from deep because Fellaini isn't a great playmaker and passer or even dribbler. He can break up play and be a nuisance aerially. That's it. Schneiderlin and Carrick offer more for playing a traditional holding role and probably Blind too. Herrera has to start games because he works hard and plays box to box. If him and Pogba alternate between attacking and defensive responsibilities and then you have that holding player who plays the role properly, we can play a 3 in midfield.
The issue is, I think we need 2 strikers up top. Zlatan needs someone like Rashford or Martial to run off him and those players are STRIKERS, not wingers. I think given our options, we don't have great wingers until someone like Depay steps up to the plate. For now, we'll have to forgo wingers imo and use Valencia and Shaw's attacking capabilities from full back positions to provide that width. But I really don't know what formation is best for this team. We could play 4-4-2 diamond and still get the holding mid and the Pogba/Herrera to play 3/4s of the diamond, with Mkhi or Mata playing the no. 10 role. And that way we still get two strikers with Zlatan plus either Martial or Rashford based on form.
I know I've just rambled a little bit lol. Needed to express my thoughts somewhere.
Wazzas actually able to find the guy.. something the 89m guy cant do
so far.