Ole admitted he was wrong to start Pogba early on in the season as he had misjudged his recovery from covid.
But ever since realising his mistake, the way he's handled Pogba's Reintroduction has been spot on.
Let's take a look 👇
Background:
- Pogba tested +ve on Aug 27th
- ManUtd played their first game on Sept 19th
- Pogba had just 3 weeks to recover
- Pogba had barely 2 days of training
But Ole felt he needed to start Pogba as he was his best player - he was wrong.
Pogba has played 8 games for United this season and this can be easily split through the middle into 2 different sets:
- First 4 games when he was still recovering
- Last 4 games when he was being reintroduced
Let's look at both one by one:
Pogba 1st 4 games:
Pogba played 4 out of United first 5 games starting 3
- 66 mins vs Palace
- didn't play vs Luton
- 64 mins vs Brighton
- 22 mins vs Brighton
- 90 mins vs Spurs
It was evident he wasn't fit or effective - Ole had to take him off early in all but the last game
By now Ole had to go back to the drawing board and was looking at a way to play without arguably his best player while facing the toughest run of fixtures he's faced in a while. The rumours in the media about his job being on the line, although unfounded, certainly didn't help.
The solution he found was genius
- use Pogba as an impact sub vs tired legs
This ticks a few boxes
☑️ Can start a Fred/McT pivot - shield defense
☑️ Can try a different system(s)
☑️ Can give Pogba much needed rest
But most importantly
☑️ Pogba plays higher up when he comes on
This lead to the 2nd set of 4 games for Pogba
- 22 min vs Castle
- 24 mins vs PSG
- 33 mins vs Chelsea
- 90 mins vs RBL
Our best run of form this season where we won 3 and drew 1 beating PSG & RBL comfortably with Pogba playing a big role in turning the tide in almost all games
From playing 66, 64, 22 & 90 mins in the first 4 games & barely making an impact, Pogba had just played 79 mins combined in the 3 games before RBL & helped us win almost all 3
79 mins of playing higher up helped him gain fitness & confidence & got him ready to play 90 vs RBL
In the 1st set of 4 games Pogba had just 1 goal that too vs Brighton in the EFL cup from a combined 242 mins
In the 2nd set of 4 games Pogba had 2 assists, one each against PSG & RBL from a combined total of just 159 mins.
Better output vs better opposition in a shorter time ☑️
Ole learned from his mistake by turning Pogba into an impact sub
He realised 20 mins of Pogba at 90% is far more useful than 60 mins of Pogba at 50%
It was a tough, bold call, a call that meant he had to justify his selections on a daily basis but a call he knew will pay off
Pogba's reintroduction is far from complete, he has just played his first full 90 and I expect him to be gradually eased back in more
But the last 4 games gave us a lot more +ves than just Pogba
☑️ We see the depth in our midfield
☑️ We see the different systems we can play
Ole is a learning manager - his biggest strength is he'll accept when he's wrong & instead of defending himself, he'll learn
The Pogba mistake gave us 3 wins, 3 new systems & new found depth
This selfless team first attitude is why he always turns an adversity into an advantage
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Over the last few weeks, the constant chatter has been VDB's playing time.
United have played 8 games so far and Donny has featured in 7. Only Rashford has featured in more.
Either way let's dive in & tackle this non-issue👇
One of United's biggest issue last season was the lack of creativity on the bench. Ole was criticized for not making substitutions when the game wasn't going our way.
Against Seville in the EL Semi's we didn't make a sub until the 87th min - clear sign Ole didn't trust his bench
This season, the first thing he addressed was this issue
- Donny van de Beek for £35m
Donny has primarily played as an AM at Ajax but has also featured at CM and very rarely at DM too.
But Ole didn't sign him to be a CM/DM, Ole signed him to be a back up 10 as is clear below👇
So wait, it's ok to play VDB out of position just to start him but when Pogba has to drop a little deep Ole is a clown playing him out of position?
So you do know players need to play in their best position but only as long as you can use it to criticize the manager?
Got it.
Even funnier now that Pogba is getting to play further up no one is complaining. But why is he getting to play further up? Bcs he's used as an impact sub against tired legs meaning he has less defensive workload
Almost as if the manager knows how when & where to play his players
None of this 'VDB has to start' agenda is coming from a place where they think it's a valid criticism. These fans clearly know without dropping Bruno VDB has to play out of position to start - they're not dumb. But if it means they get to bash on the manager they'll act dumb.
Ole's been our manager for 1.5 seasons and 3 windows now. Ideally he should now be getting his 8-10th signing and the rebuild should be on its last stretch.
But the mess he took over was so huge that 3 windows in, he still has 7-8 unwanted players left to clear out.
Fans need to realise the sheer magnitude of the rebuild he took over. The solution was never going to be just buying players who he wants and likes.
Before he gets to do that, first he has to clear out the ones not needed and we had quite a few of them.
The wages of those players along with their absymal form means finding a buyer for most of them is difficult.
But even with those constraints, Ole is doing the best he can - loan them out with the hopes of getting a buyer later.
LFC's attacking FB's convinced everyone there's no other way to play. They do that bcs their mid isn't creative. City has a creative mid so the FB's tuck in & recycle.
Utd hve inside fwd on wings
They cut in - FB's overlap
They stay wide - FB's tuck in
United have great creativity in mid & superb attackers up front. There is a reason why we play fewer lobbed crosses than anyone else. Our game plan isn't to stretch play wide & cross from the byline. Ours is to compress space & progress vertically with quick one twos.
This is why Shaw was instrumental to us down the left. He has the intelligence to know when to overlap and when to tuck in. Even when he did overlap it was still almost always inside the box to offer a quick give and go for Rashy.