You have to love modern footballers. When they aren’t caught doing something spectacularly vulgar, they can also make themselves available to make the most profound comments…
Pogba’s won nothing under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but the Norwegian has been terribly nice to him. And that’s what counts, eh? Ole even went down the Pochettino route of claiming that trophies were for egos.
Under the unhinged egomaniac Mourinho, Pogba is able to boast of winning 3 pieces of silverware.
Funny old game.
Correct, history will not remember him as a great footballer
Stam criticised Fergie in an autobiography and was gone which Fergie admitted later was a mistake. Pogba was a vanity project bought as much for his social media following as for his undoubted but intermittent ability.
All at United probably wish they’d spent the money elsewhere in hindsight
I think he also said the same about Stam. Pogba’s record at Utd backs Jose, he has hardly sparkled for Ole. Don’t forget he was the world’s most expensive player.
I wouldn’t have Pogba for free, he’s poison !
Champions league is a much better tournament than the old European Cup and much harder to win. I know people hanker back to the days when it’s was only champions only but if you a tournament like that you would have only max six decent sides in it. Who would pay to see City play/beat the Luxembourg champions? It would certainly not attract the levels of sponsorship interest either. I agree Champions League in a competition not just for champions is wrong but the format is much better
There is no way Spurs & this current sqaud should be finishing 2nd…
There isnt another team in the league so dependent on 2 outfield players, if we finish 6th I would say thats probably where we should be…having said the lowest point of the season so far was our exit in the Europa league…. I cant see Mourinho lasting until the end of the season….
Jose’s biggest problem at United was that his wife wouldn’t move from London with him. The Lowry is a lovely place to stay but not to live. Rushing back and forth can’t have been helpful in a very demanding job.
If i found £20 note i would be happy. If i found £100 i would be much happier. Hence League title & CL are the £100. FA cup & Europa £50. League cup £20. There are only 5 trophies & any are good to varying degrees. When we win something its crap. When United or City, Chelsea do Sky say they have a major trophy. League cup final atmosphere usually electric
Charity shield is a friendly. Europa & League cups have been demeaned by Sky talking them down. UEFA cup used to be 2nd, 3rd, 4th teams. Who now wrongly go in CL. Hence when they go out of CL they pop them back into Europa to up the quality. Game ruined by money. Gerrard winning CL but never won Prem 1st. All wrong.
Im not picking an argument & this is all Levy & Sugars doing. Our own fans expect nothing & think we cant aim higher than 2nd & Europa. I hope you believe as i do that with new owners that back coach we should be looking at winning the league & CL. Bill Nichs club has been undone by bad owners, poor scouting & crap mentality for too long , we should have done far better. Hope in future we do Also im sick of this , we are inferior to United crap. Fergie done brilliant , but them & Arsenal were in right place & time when Prem , Sky & Euro cup became champs Lge. There were no other good sides around , hence United won 13 titles. Arsenal only rival until Briefly Rovers , then Chelsea & Citys money came along. United couldnt stay top forever & UEFA cup used to be prized.
Sorry, I also forgot to mention how many games this season your ‘Lovely Ole’ has left you out of, so much so that we had your even more moronic agent going to the press to tell everyone how unhappy you were, and that you were leaving. Short memories are in short supply around the Manchester area i feel..
Pogba does reflect many of the traits of the modern footballer and is clearly a difficult player to manage. The problem is that he is supremely talented and that Man Utd are certainly a better side with him in the team than not.
Ole and Jose have both had to manage him and obviously have tried different methods of trying to get the best out of him. OGS has tried the arm round the shoulder routine, some would say placating him, whereas Jose called him out. The problem in Jose’s case is that he is a £100 million asset and if he’s not in the team and the side is struggling you leave yourself open to criticism
Pogba holds all the cards regrettably. He knows because of his value they can’t sack him and effectively give him a free transfer and he knows he will be there long after any manager has gone.
Given that his performances at Man Utd have not justified what they paid for him I suspect there are those at the club who feel that the monies paid for him could have spent better elsewhere
I just now saw the interview on Sky Sports, two things came to mind: 1) you didn’t say f*&l-All after we stuffed you 6-1 at Old Trafford, and 2) you’re only shouting your mouth off because you won last week. You play a couple of good games a season, and one of them against your Old Boss because you want to prove something, and you come out with that rubbish. ‘Mourinho doesn’t want to talk about the game, he wants to talk about someones father’, really, he was replying to your managers classless comments you uneducated piece of s&&t, where a Manchester United team who have managed to con and cheat their way to varying levels of success over the years, anyone remember Mendes’s shot that almost hit the net at the back of the goal, Ronaldo diving to win penalties every time we wee ahead etc etc etc. Add your name to that of Jack Wilshere sir, classless, uneducated, overpaid, and over rated, and hopefully soon in exactly the same place as him.. Rant over !!!
I don’t think Jose was that successful at United but neither was he is as bad as is made out – or at least not until his third year at the helm. He did win the league cup and Europa the one season. Though these trophies are minor fare, United were up there contending and the next season – in some ways arguably better despite no trophies – they were runners up in both the Premiership – to an outstanding, very expensively assembled and well established Man City side – and the FA Cup.
United, it has to said, did not back their manager against Pogba, who, in effect, was allowed to become bigger than the club. A significant moment in Ferguson’s managerial career, that as much as anything proves his greatness as a manager, was when he turfed out Beckham. Pogba should have been sent on his way, too, but Jose wasn’t backed.
Mourinho falls out with players when he knows they could be better if they sorted out their attitude. I back Mourinho. Spurs should back Mourinho. Do people think some other manager is going to come in and all of a sudden we’ll start winning all the time?
Although, sadly, greatly and tragically diminished in stature and a long way behind the CL and Premiership in importance, I would personally rate the FA Cup as the third trophy for English clubs and as my major consolation trophy!
Hahaha it is getting so desperate every season and counting tell them just win anything anything for god’s sake you make my day.
Finishing on the subject, to give them their deserved due, Sevilla managing to win the Europa six(?) times in about 17 years is, in its own way, a remarkable achievement and one of consistency.
Less extreme example: finish runners-up in the CL and, of course, NO TROPHY…..or winners of the Europa (a much easier feat) and a trophy to show off!
Did you read Fergie book he said his only regret in United management that he let go Pogba I can’t back this one on Jose.
But like I say above, there are trophies and…. trophies! Admittedly, rather an extreme example, but would you rather finish runners up in the Premiership – and obviously, and quite rightly because you haven’t WON, no trophy – OR win the Championship and get a trophy!
Actually, I’d perhaps rather win the league cup than the Europa myself because the Liverpools, Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal etc enter it, though they greatly devalue the competition by not taking it too seriously until the final stages. These clubs, however, are largely missing from the Europa where it’s necessary to be an also ran (or a failure in the CL!) to qualify for the competition.
But, essentially, what you say above about the various competitions is absolutely SPOT ON! European Super Cup – like the Charity Shield – is another glorified friendly game.
There are indeed trophies….and trophies! Sevilla have won the Europa six times, is it, in the past 17 years or so? And yet I derive a smug satisfaction from their repeated failures to make a mark in the CL proving my points about the Europa. During the same period in SEVEN attempts in the CL they have managed to reach the quarter-finals just once, knocked out in last 16 four times, one failure to get out of the group and once didn’t even reach the group phase! Poch getting to the CL Final is far superior to winning the Europa but you don’t get a trophy for that!
The problem I have with the Europa and its relevance is that if you finish fourth and qualify, as everyone is striving to do, for the CL it’s possible, but generally unlikely, that you’ll win the CL unless you improve in relation to other teams ; finish fifth, which you don’t want to do – missing out on CL qualification – you actually, as a result, have a favourite’s chance of winning a European trophy the following season.
Not sure about 2nd/3rd tier trophies, at the moment I’d take anything tbh. A trophy is something to cherish and enjoy a day out watching the parade, it’s what football is all about. Without trophies an allegedly top team like us is an abject failure.
Fergie got rid of Pogba because he wanted mega bucks as a kid without having earned it. If Fergie felt for a second he was going to benefit his team he would have kept him, but when an 18 year old, at one of the world’s biggest teams is more concerned about money, he knew he was not a ‘team’ player. There is no doubting Pogba’s ability but his attitude is suspect, even under Ole he has blown hot and cold for 3 seasons. He destroyed us in the the last game, but he should be doing that week in-week out.
Pundits attack him regularly, but then lay it on thick when he performs well. He has learned to just do enough which ultimately has been a talent wasted. Some could show me his World Cup and Serie A medals, but even Djimi Traore won a Ch Lg medal for Liverpool!
Winning the Europa League is a fall from grace for Utd (I can’t see anyone beating them), I have never liked that Ch Lg teams dropping in to it, but it will still be the same trophy Jose won. If Ole finishes second he has emulated Jose again. The media will pick up on this, the equaling of records (they are very close to one another in total Utd games managed for games won, points gained), but this is a massive deflection of what is happening. Man Utd, the biggest club in the world are still a country mile of catching City, but this is not a narrative the media will pursue.
Whatever happens in Manchester, Jose failed at Utd. He didn’t reach the heights he should have and he was given plenty of money to get it right. We should be winning the Europa and finishing a glorious second, not Utd. We would see that as progress after having nothing for 20 years except a Rumbleows Cup. Once Utd backed Pogba over Jose he was busted. I think it was the wrong decision, Utd have hardly set alight to anything have they, even this season? But player power is massive. The Chelsea lot understood that. It is just funny, that our bunch of players, who haven’t a winners medal to their name are rumoured to be trying the same!
Are they doing better? I think statistically they are doing very similar now to when Jose was in charge in terms of win %.
Trophy-wise: a top level player might enjoy winning trophies, but when they look back they only look at the top tier trophies. Those are the champions league, the league table, plus international trophies. The three trophies Jose won at ManU:
Europa is 2nd tier – by being in it you aren’t good enough to get to knockout stages of champions league. The only good thing about winning it is it gets you into the Champions league if you aren’t good enough to be top 4.
League Cup is a 3rd tier trophy. And soon it is the gateway to the 3rd tier of Europe, which is where we are aiming to get under Jose. From champions league runners up to hoping we get into the 3rd tier of Europe to play teams in countries with populations 10s of times smaller than ours.
Charity Shield – it’s a glorified friendly game.