Manchester United vs Crystal Palace - 19/09/20

Was it a penalty? No.

And that just about ends the list of positive things I can say about Manchester united's performance today. Telling, that it was an attempt to justify conceding a goal, because they did not create anything at the other end of the pitch. There was no intent from the midfield (which I will get on to), which in turn meant that our attack was practically locked out of the game and our defence was piled with unnecessary pressure. Furthermore, with that midfield instability, came rookie level mistakes (misplacing 10 yard passes, head down playing, the pitch looking as a flurry of white shirts because no one seemed to want to move) which Crystal Palace also made, however, their system worked well enough, to beat what quite frankly was a poor United performance.

The midfield that United play just looks confused.... They started with a 2-1 in the midfield, with McTominay and Pogba playing deep and Bruno as a 10. The primary problem there is Pogba, who is a waste of a player in that position, because he's a creative player who is not as active in defence, but someone who's attacking prowess makes up for that side of the game. To play him there is to miss out a place on the pitch, because he is more detrimental there than he is helpful. Secondly, McTominay should not be our primary choice for a CDM because although I enjoy the physical side of the game, he does not have the same control on the tempo of the game as someone like Matic, or the defensive prowess and confidence on the ball as Fred. It seems to be a reoccurring theme with Pogba, first it was he cannot play on the same side as Alexis Sanchez as they clash, and now it is Bruno Fernandes taking up his position, and here is the big bombshell.... As much as United fans are called reactionary, I think letting go of Pogba is the best thing for all parties involved. I will give a shortened version of why I am in favour of what sounds like such a radical change.

Firstly, it makes sense to let go of Pogba, as if we cannot make him work in our current midfield, he is surplus to our requirements. The signing of Van De Beek allows us to maintain some quality depth in our midfield as well as make way for a new midfielder with the funds we receive. Which is my second point. For all that Pogba brings to our midfield, I am sure the top European clubs would need him more than we do, being already world class and younger than most of the top midfielders. Pogba would easily slot into the likes of Real Madrid's midfield or even Bayern Munich's, needless to say that the fee we could get for him has the chance to be upwards of 100 million, depending on how/ how much he plays this season. In terms of replacements, Camavinga looks to be a prospect who has garnered many of the qualities of a top midfielder, and most importantly can fit right into that number 8 or 6 role with his energetic pressing and great ability to read the game. Even without looking into specifics, the money obtained from the transfer Pogba would allow us a sufficient replacement, as well as a chance to upgrade other areas of our pitch.

Now, going back to our midfield, the wingers that Ole chose to play, made it such that they were effectively locked out of the game as they just hugged the sideline and made no effort to receive the ball and make options, which United so desperately needed to maintain their top level of football. Regarding transfers, I think bar a right-sided wide man, United are in desperate need of a centre half, who if not directly replaces one of the current CB's, at least forces them to play better with their presence. I think Shaw was the only person, in our times of poor play, who seemed to want to go forward and opened up holes in Palace's shape by doing so. Van De Beek also looked very promising in the role that Pogba should be playing, moving everywhere off the ball and creating spaces for United to exploit.

Overall, a poor performance for United, but at least they can only go up from here and I would think that they would do that, what with the quality they have. In total fairness, they did not have their strongest team out, now I do not know if that was due to isolation and so lack of training, but I would hope to see Greenwood and Wan-Bissaka start their next game and their games to come, as they are

both the stronger players in their positions.