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#3 Where is the Pogba and Lukaku that Manchester United need?
As much as I hate delving into Pogba or Lukaku and painting a bullseye on their backs, there is absolutely no way we can truly understand what's going wrong at Manchester United without pinpointing these two out.
Sure, Paul had a wonderful World Cup. And suddenly, all the talk became about how he needs to leave Manchester United. In fact, one of the arguments was that Pogba needs to be played in his preferred position and as long as he is not afforded that opportunity at Manchester United, he bneeds to go as he is too good to be shackled by them.
Bonkers, that is. Paul Pogba has been deployed in every single position across midfield and except for the occasional game where he silences his detractors, he goes missing more than the wallet does on Saturday mornings.
Where was Paul Pogba last night? Some days, a player is just supposed to keep things simple. Pogba is not keeping things simple in the middle. He is not facilitating easy movement of the ball. Fred is doing that. But Pogba offers nothing incisive going forward. He drifted wide at times and seemed to uninterested to get into the thick of things.
If this is the Paul Pogba that the United fans are going to see over the course of the season, I hardly think they'd mind if he decides to ship out to Camp Nou at the end of the campaign.
At the same time, Romelu Lukaku's form is worrying. Lukaku's first touch issues are still pretty much there. His passing is erratic and worst of all, his composure in front of goal seems to be evaporating faster than water bodies on the equator.
He missed the open goal after laying claim to a horrendous backpass from Danny Rose. He then went on to miss the goal from a not so tight angle. He scuffed yet another chance a bit later. Lukaku's only good moment in the match came when he forced Lloris into making a good save moments after Spurs had taken the lead.
The fans know that Lukaku and Pogba are two young players who can lead. They are leaders and they need to show that they will do it for the Red Devils. Forget about the last summer. Forget about the next. The focus has to be on the present.
