Changing position is a common challenge for football players. Whether its a midfielder dropping into a defensive role, a winger being asked to fill in at full-back, or a striker being told to play in a deeper or wider position… But which footballer thrived after changing positions. Have your say!
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Experts of last DAILY TOPIC: In retrospect, is returning to Man United a right decision for Pogba?
Returning to Manchester United was the right decision for Pogba, but not under José Mourinho, I feel.
Mourinho is a stubborn man with a very set style of play; he plays all of his attackers and most of his midfielders in a very defensive, rather physical and aggressive role. Pogba, on the other hand, is an attacking midfielder with a creative knack and he is good at running through the midfield and attacking, rather than act like a controlling midfielder like Mourinho wants him to be. Especially with the arrival of Sanchez, who is also an attacking and creative player and likes to roam around a lot, Pogba's place in the lineup in his position of choice may get redundant.
I don't think Pogba likes the thought of playing second fiddle to Alexis Sanchez either, and that is seriously hindering his focus on the game and his relationship with Mourinho and the team. He is one of the best players in the EPL though and should be played in his natural position at least lest his game gets worse and his attacking nature gets wasted.
His choice of coming to United was natural; who doesn't want to join their boyhood club when they come calling for him, and that too at a (then) world record fee? Pogba is one of the best players in Manchester United, and I don't think he should leave United just yet, or that United should let him go. I think Mourinho should eat his pride for once and stop playing Pogba so defensively. He should engage in discussions with Pogba and reach a compromise with him with respect to his duties in the game.
It was 100% the best decision for him. He was looking to excel his career and you CAN NOT stay in Serie A and expect that to be the case. EPL is the #1 league hands down. It should be every footballer's goal to make their way there. Unfortunately, sometimes a managers style of play may not mesh well with their players, which is what is going on in this case.
Mourhino really needs to make Pogba feel comfortable again and find a style/position that HE is happy to play. Not force your own coaching style on every single player. Pep does this beautifully, he has a specific system in place but players like KDB are still able to play freely and make magic happen. This is the type of player Pogba is and needs to be.
This was the best move for his career and anyone who’s says leaving Juve was a mistake is dead wrong.
At that point, to return to MU was a great idea for Pogba. When we look at this from today's view, from this perspective that decision was wrong on so many levels. The problem is not MU club itself but this problem is just too deep. The major problem why this problem is even issue is Mourinho. He is just not capable to use full playing potential and capacity from Pogba, he can't recognize Pogba's needs, he is forcing wrong tactics and wrong playing position on Pogba where he is lost, limited in Mourinho's tactics. Pogba is player who needs space to develop his creativity and effectiveness but Mourinho is keeping killing his beauty of the game.
We Will never know, what would happen if Pogba didn't return to MU but retrospectively that was the wrong decision because it left significant mark on his career, sadly negative mark. Maybe things will get better for Pogba but for that to happen, Mourinho would have to change his tactics and this is veeeeery unlikely, we all know how stubborn Mourinho is. At this point, I think the best possible thing for Pogba's future football career would be to leave MU because that relationship Pogba-Mourinho can't work for mutual benefit. Sadly, this is not just Pogba's problem, this problem could have Alexis Sanchez too because he is also a type of player who absolutely needs enough space on the pitch to show his brilliant talent, he is very creative but this creativity can't be effective i. wrong playing tactics!
