Countless football pundits had been saying it after the goalless draw versus Southampton- Manchester United must let Paul Pogba press forward. It was a popular opinion being expressed in the run-up to day’s 2-0 win at Everton as well- don’t hold Pogba back (both literally and figuratively), let him loose.
Tonight saw Paul Pogba line up on the left side, in a 4-3-3 formation, instead of kept backward in a 4-2-3-1. You saw the result, and now Mourinho needs to stick to this plan. The Frenchman is the team’s most important player, and United need to build around him.
Pogba is a No. 6, and he needs to stay on the left in a midfield three. That’s how he made his name at Juventus, racking up assists like crazy from that spot. He had two assists today, setting up beautiful goals by Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard. That gives him seven assists in 12 Premier League games for United this season. Kevin De Bruyne has nine in 21.
Seven of the 23 chances that Pogba has created in league play this season have been converted, versus just four of the 57 he created last season. The argument could be made that United don’t have the right pieces to put in place around Pogba at that spot.
However, when you invest £89.3 million in a world class player like this, then you need to figure it out. Mourinho has said that he needs time to rebuild this side. He can make Pogba the cornerstone, and build out from there.
Mourinho said yesterday that United will attack in the second half of the season/2018, and Paul Pogba can be the maestro from the midfield who makes it go.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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