FORMER Manchester United captain Bryan Robson has been busy on the club’s pre-season tour. Each day, in his role as lead ambassador he’ll be invited to question and answers sessions with fans and sponsors. Fans will approach him, with those who can remember telling the 62-year-old playing what a great player he was and picking out memorable moments – and there are many – from his stellar career. Robson was the best thing about United in the 1980s, the one player who would have got into any team in the world. And been captain.
They’re one-way conversations, but Robson listens patiently and nods. He also speaks to the media where he’ll defend the club from what they consider to be too frequent attacks from the media and even United fans upset at Manchester United in July 2019.
His voice carries more weight than any official and he’s unmistakably, proudly, a club man. You won’t get criticism as there’d be from Gary Neville in his role as a pundit, picking apart players who deserve to be picked apart. If the club feels stories are spun against them, then Robson will spin things back the other way – or reality as he sees it. Other members of staff are not allowed to speak out publicly and maybe correct perceived untruths. A problem is that there’s often more than one version of the truth in football.
The noise from the fans, the chaos, the genuine delight from the players. Old Trafford’s greatest night? Bryan Robson scores the winner as Man United beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in 1984 #mufc @UtdBeforeFergie @AndyMitten pic.twitter.com/qx1yjTwpt7
— @forgottengoals (@forgottengoals) April 10, 2019
One reason United’s last season ended badly was that the team didn’t have a Bryan Robson type midfielder. Or a Roy Keane. United fans will argue to the end over which of the two was better.
United’s midfield didn’t have any players like either last season. Ander Herrera looked the closest at times, but he didn’t play enough games and wasn’t at the same technical level. Who is? Herrera couldn’t get in the Spain team, Robson and Keane led their national sides.
For fans who’d seen their like, it was hard to accept a Marouane Fellaini in central midfield, no matter how hard he tried. Nemanja Matic had a decent first season but, like most of those around him, faded badly last term. Matic knows that it wasn’t good enough and, like the rest of his teammates, is absolutely determined to make recompense this season. Scott McTominay shows promise in his attitude and words as much as anything else, but let’s not pretend he’s at the same level at Robson or Keane at the same age. Andreas Pereira has played well centrally on pre-season tours, but he’s concentrating on establishing himself in the first XI first. Fred cost 35 times more than Robson and 14 times more than Keane. He’s yet to do 1/35th of what Robson achieved, let alone 1/14th of Keane.
I’m sorry, but how a 6”3 man manoeuvre like this? Paul Pogba is a special footballer pic.twitter.com/oxAcpPJE8d
— Swanny (@ftbIswanny) July 20, 2019
Which brings us to Paul Pogba. In some aspects, he’s a mark up from the aforementioned. He’s more athletic, less afflicted by injury, taller, multi-lingual and a World Cup winner. He doesn’t touch alcohol, he’s thrived in Serie A, he’s a modern footballer capable of adapting to different systems. But Keane and Robson’s yardstick finds him lacking.
And while Paul Ince is now ridiculed because he played for Liverpool and says things that United fans disagree with, he too was a superb central midfielder.
The problem is that Pogba isn’t consistent enough. There are reasons for that. The players around him aren’t as good as those around Keane and no manager can compare to Sir Alex Ferguson, but some of the blame must lie with the player. Every single United player looked like they’d stopped trying at the end of last season. All are looking to right their wrongs this term, but action will speak louder than any words.
United have been lacking a strong captain. Solskjaer has hinted that Pogba could be captain but the manager doesn’t know whether the Frenchman will be at the club in a month’s time. If he leaves then Ole would like to bring two midfielders in. If. And if he does then United have a problem. The transfer window for Premier League clubs closes on August 8th – yet they can still sell to clubs abroad after that date. The Spanish transfer window closes September 2nd, for example. Selling Matteo Darmain might be good, less so losing Pogba with no option to replace him.
PLEASE STAY @paulpogba YOUR NEXT CAPTAIN @ManUtd ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/Wr8LGEMTUQ
— Ahmad Yunus (@babol48) July 22, 2019
There’s another point. United’s best central midfielders usually played in a 4-4-2 formation. Few teams play 4-4-2 now. Who are the best central midfielders in the world? Sergio Busquets who plays as a holding midfielder for Barca? N’Golo Kante does the same for Chelsea and Pjanic filled this role wonderfully for Juventus at Old Trafford last season, allowing Betancur and Matuidi to move forward. They completely outclassed United’s midfielders.
Or someone who plays further forward? Kevin De Bruyne or David Silva at City, Pjanic at Juventus, Modric at Madrid, Fabinho or Wijnaldum at Liverpool.
Before he decided to re-enact the Battle of the Bulge against Manchester United in Shanghai on Wednesday, I spoke to Spurs’ Moussa Sissoko – he’s doing very well at Spurs, but he’s a holding midfielder and hardly the box to box man that Keane and Robson were. Interestingly, Solskjaer and his staff always want to have a midfielder arriving in the area. That person should be Paul Pogba, just as it was Paul Scholes, one of the great central midfielders to play for Manchester United. Is it any wonder than two of the biggest critics of United in recent seasons have been Keane and Scholes? They know how high the standards were – and how far they fell.
United have tried to buy brilliant central midfielders but as well as those players mentioned, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Daley Blind sadly never came close to measure up to the legends of yore in central midfield.
