If there is one encouraging thing to take from Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Wednesday evening it is that Jose Mourinho, who has looked as tactically stubborn as the “specialist in failure” in north London this season, tried something new. His remarkably attacking formation left United far too open in central midfield, allowing Moussa Dembele and Christian Eriksen to dominate the game, but it was at least a potent response to the criticism Mourinho has received for overly cautious tactics against the Premier League’s biggest sides.
There is an awful lot of work to be done before Mourinho is ready to attack six-pointers so aggressively. First he needs to ensure the wingers (in this instance Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial) track back and tuck in to create a narrowly compressed midfield, but if using a 4-2-3-1 he also needs to work out how to get Paul Pogba into the team. The general consensus seems to be Pogba cannot be trusted in the middle for big games or is unable to function as part of a two, but this argument misses something crucial: the Frenchman isn’t really a central midfielder at all.
As such a swaggering preternatural teenager, it is no surprise Pogba became an all-round central midfielder; he always wants the ball and enjoys affecting the game from the halfway line as much as he does in the final third. But the sheer unpredictability – and tactical naivety – of his positional play tells us Pogba has never listened carefully to instructions, instead storming around the pitch like a bigger kid hijacking a park kick-about. These concerns have followed Pogba throughout his career, and over the last 12 months Man Utd have, like Juventus, learnt to adapt to him rather than the other way round.
After six years of top-level football Pogba is universally recognised as world-class when part of a three and largely incompetent in a two-man midfield. Is there any other footballer in history whose performances have been so dramatically affected by such a basic tactical shift? It is certainly a curious conundrum - and one that has split public opinion with regards to the 24-year-old’s value to Man Utd - but perhaps we are looking at the Pogba question from completely the wrong angle.
Pogba doesn’t play like a central midfielder. Not in the slightest. He is a magnificent passer of the ball and a powerful runner but these characteristics are more naturally attributed to number tens or inside forwards – or at the very least to false-eights, the late-surging midfielders like Kevin de Bruyne, a hybrid between eight and ten. The more traditional qualities of a central midfielder – from tackling and positioning to calm but simple recycling of possession – are not things we associate with the France international.
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In fact, Pogba’s free roaming around the pitch makes it highly unlikely he will ever appear in the right places to get stuck in or keep things ticking over. When pundits suggest Pogba can function in a three-man midfield what they really mean is his sauntering creativity is compensated by two hard-working players covering for him. Pogba is no more an effective central midfielder (as part of a three) than Mesut Ozil or David Silva.
Convinced for so long that Pogba is indeed a central midfielder, are we missing the obvious signs he is in fact a traditional number ten? A luxury player who should be treated as such? Mourinho is set for a complicated few months as he looks to find space in his first 11 for Alexis Sanchez and company, but one mistake he must avoid is assuming Pogba can fit into his tactics anywhere other than in the final third. Like Ozil at Arsenal, if a 4-3-3 is deployed Pogba should be shifted into a wide attacking role before he’s plonked alongside Nemanja Matic.
Perhaps it’s his domineering stature, or his athleticism, that has led Pogba to be defined as a central midfielder, but there is very little evidence to suggest he can perform this role. United’s general dominance of possession means his inadequacy tends to fly under the radar, with the 2-0 defeat at Spurs only the second time this season Mourinho’s team were truly tested with Pogba in a two. On the other occasion, a 3-1 win at Arsenal, a porous United relied on David de Gea’s genius as the Gunners took 33 shots on goal.
Pogba is a number ten, a marauding playmaker who should be treated as such. Realising this is an important step for a Mourinho side in the midst of evolution.
