13 Mar 2017 09:56:30
Morning lads, I hope you have all been keeping well.
I was listening to a few podcasts over the weekend regarding Paul Pogba and Dele Alli. They ultimately were debating who is the better player and who in the current transfer climate is more value for money based purely on playing ability.
I am a fan of both players and I like what each offer to their sides on match day. It is a tough one but the more I review the pros and cons I would probably lean more towards Dele Alli.
P. S On another note did anyone see Depay's goal for Lyon yesterday evening? Unreal.
13 Mar 2017 10:47:02
Alli probably would be the better value for money option, his wages and transfer fee would be significantly less than what we have/ are paying for Pogba.
Currently they are probably playing at a similar level, Alli is hyped up becausr he is English while Pogba is berated due to his price tag and probably because he plays for us. I wonder how differently Pogba's transfer fee and performances would be viewed if he signed for Liverpool instead of us. But that is all speculation.
I think Pogba has a far higher ceiling on his potential, and I think he is far more likely to realise his potential. English players have a habit of taking it easy once they hit their mid twenties and never reaching the levels they were capable of. They don't seem to have that drive to be the best or are prepared to make the sacrifices needed to get there.
Either way we have Pogba now and the chances of getting Alli seem slim at best. So let's get behind the lads in Red, rather than pinning over the guys who aren't.
As for Depay's goal I once scored from midway in our own half. Those kind of goals are as much luck as skill if not more. I hope Depay goes on and has a good career, but I won't be hoping he comes back some day. Playing well in France or the Netherlands is a very different prospect to playing well in England.
13 Mar 2017 10:59:40
Shappy I don't think anyone is "pining over Alli" it was simply football fans comparing two similar types of players.
As for Depay he knew what he was doing with that goal, quick look up and pulled the trigger to perfection. I wasn't a huge fan of his either during his spell in Manchester but you I can still give the lad a pat on the back when he does something great - you should try it sometime.
13 Mar 2017 11:12:41
Strip away all the hype and money and for me Ali is playing much better than Pogba and I think is a better player.
The two of them with Herrera in midfield would be one hell of a midfield though, but only if Pogba ups his work rate and does more than turn up 1 in 5 games.
13 Mar 2017 11:58:40
Maze, I'm not saying Depay didn't mean it, and the lad clearly is talented, but hitting a shot over that distance requires a massive amount of luck to go in, I'm more inclined to applude his audacity for attempting it. With how light the balls are now a small breath of wind could be the difference between an awesome shot or a wasted ball.
Beast, I think your neg head specs are twisting that a little bit.
The English media have a habit of over hyping young English players, while its clear to most of us there is a anti-United agenda within certain sections of the media.
When you strip it back and look solely at their performances, Pogba is making more passes, making more key passes, completing more take ons and having more shots. He has also been more influencial to how his teams plays. That all being said Alli has appeared to step up more often in the "big" games. With key contibutions against Spurs nearest rivals, where as Pogba has struggled with that so far.
Personally I think they are pretty close, possibly too close to call. Statisically Pogba has shaded it. But maybe the expectation his transfer fee has created makes it hard not to be left with wanting more from him.
13 Mar 2017 12:46:10
It would be fair to compare both may be after the end of next season. Dele alli seems settled at spurs already and pogba hasn't even completed a season yet.
13 Mar 2017 14:08:20
Great goal by depay. When Beckham Pele did it they were well applauded. But Jason cundy did it too so not the benchmark of a great player obviously😀
Pogba and Ali are different players playing different roles and asked to do different things by their coaches.
Pogba appears to have more defencive responsibility than Ali.
Both are really good players both will have great careers. Pogba will end up with more fame more money and most importantly more medals is my guess.
13 Mar 2017 15:01:05
I watch a fair bit of Spurs as they are mostly good to watch. Ali is a very good player and proves it most weeks. If an alien came down and watched Ali and Pogba this season they would pick Ali, it's only club bias, media hype and ill judgement that would make anybody think Pogba has been better than Ali this season.
13 Mar 2017 15:50:21
If an alien had came down at the end of last season there wouldn't have been comparisons about who was the better player at that time.
Agree with shappy players with different roles with pogba having more responsibilities.
Agree dele alli has been the better player this season but i don't feel he is going to get any better whereas pogba still has loads of potential so will be interesting to see what happens.
13 Mar 2017 16:41:12
They have different roles but the question was "Who is better value based on ability". The fact that most posts here are making excuses for Pogba shows that Ali is seen as the better player at the moment but most people simply won't admit it. Again ask any neutral fan and they would tell you Ali has been better this season that Pogba.
We would be higher in the table if we had swaped Ali instead of Pogba this season irrespective of the excuses people want to throw around imo. Ali was playing in League 1 a couple of years ago, Pogba was strutting his stuff in the CL. If anybody has the upward trajectory it is Ali.
As an Englishman I'm delighted we have Ali on the scene, as a Utd fan I am disappointed with the performances of Pogba since he signed in the main, but see potential, (expected much more from him like all of us did if we are being honest) .
I'd have been happy paying £15m for Pogba this season and Ali would be around £45m if based purely on contribution and overall performance levels. I certainly believe that Ali looks more like the £89m player and Pogba the £5m player.
13 Mar 2017 17:20:26
Beast dating they pay different roles is not making an excuse for pogba at all don't talk clap trap.
You have your opinion and are entitled to that but don't me that my opinion is wrong when there is no right or wrong.
I'd have pogba before alli all day every day I'm glad he plays for united and he will win more over his career than alli because he is better and will improve more than alli.
This year's stats v last year if you read them literally will tell you alli has disimproved in every aspect of his game but he is English and is currently the darling of the media. Has never won anything and perhaps never will we have to wait and see.
13 Mar 2017 18:18:08
i know this threads about alli and pogba but if I was Mourinho I'd go all out for dembele to partner pogba next season. Dembele is far better than Alli.
13 Mar 2017 18:25:29
Let's compare Pogba to Herrera, or Miki, or Valencia. He's still just a player with potential for me. This league is a lot faster than Italy so maybe he will start to get the pace a little better but so far, 6 out of 10 for Pogba for me.
13 Mar 2017 18:46:55
I agree dave dembele is the 1st spurs player I'd sign if given the choice. I think he is fantastic. Totally under rated
Maybe kane but if ibra says I'd be happy to wait another year for him😀.
13 Mar 2017 18:35:00
Ken - My post was mainly about Pogba not having completed a season and Pogba having more responsibility than Ali, and the countless posts over the past 6 months that plead with critics to give him time. I'm sick of it being demanded that people are given some arbitrary amount of time to prove themselves, yet other players and managers can do it each week like they are paid to.
I can see media hype very clearly, Pogba is all hype so far. I watched a fair bit of him with Juventus and with France and I can count on one hand how many times I have thought "wow what a player". For the avoidance of doubt I have done that more times this season with Ali than I have forever with Pogba (and I watch every game of course) .
You are saying things like "he will" which is not just an opinion it is a fact, so when you say things like that then you ought to back it up, because Pogba is hype at the minute and Ali has shown regularly the level he can perform at which is more reliable than our player.
I'm not talking clap trap, on form this season having watched them both Ali looks better. Maybe Pogba is operating in third gear and there is much more to come (there certainly should be), but that doesn't negate the fact that Ali has put in many stand out performances and Pogba one or two. Tell me which games Pogba has stood out in please (for being good of course not for being an overhyped, undroppable, lazy boots that seems to do more in a 30 second advert than an entire season)?
13 Mar 2017 19:41:48
If you are debating better value for money then what kind of money are you basing the argument on?
No sense in discussing this without laying out the base line first 😂😂.