Manchester United: Paul Pogba was massive miss against Manchester City
By Ollie Slack
Why Pogba was such a big miss in the derby
With Pogba not available for the Derby, no one carried the ball forward to stretch City when they lost the ball. Contrary to when United counter-attacked against Arsenal, Pogba pulled the whole team up the pitch as he drove forward.
This allows the likes of Lingard, Martial and Lukaku to make runs off the ball and cause danger when attacking. But it also gives the defence a rest as the team kept possession.
Another string to Pogba’s bow is his arrogance to demand the ball in tight spaces. With City players pressing menacingly, he could have taken 3 or 4 players out of the game in one turn. Then, before you know it he can stretch his legs and gallop away.
On Sunday, Mourinho once again chose, in the absence of Pogba, to go direct. The tactic failed due to City pushing our attacking midfielders (Martial, Lingard, Rashford) back, with Walker (RB), Delph (LB) and Fernandinhio (CDM) pressing so high.
This meant rather than having Pogba to push the team up and have runners alongside him, a Marcos Rojo punt was met by an exasperated Romelu Lukaku. The isolated Belgium’s knockdowns had no chance of being picked up.
The failure to pick up any knockdowng meant Jose’s men never had a spell of possession to relieve the pressure, ensuring City were always on the ball and producing waves of attacks.
Pep’s plan trapped United deeper and deeper in their box. Jesus and Sterling danced their way into the box, and penalties looked a constant possibility. United had no way out. No one to get them out of a whole. No chance of a mazey run or pop shot to rally the fans.
In my opinion, a system better suited would have been similar to the one in last seasons 2-0 victory over Chelsea. Aggressively man marking the constant supply of De Bruyne and Silva. Direct balls being relentlessly chased by Rashford and Lingard. Similarly to Luiz and Cahill, mistakes would have been made against the accident time bombs, Kompany and Otamendi.
Next: What to do in the future if Pogba is once again unavailable