Rough Diamonds #4-Paul Pogba

Andrew Harding gives us a peek into the player who is touted to be the next Patrick Viera

Manchester United can go pretty much anywhere and make news, drawing media attention on a whim and seemingly creating supporters displaying devotion no matter where in the world they may be. This would be the case albeit toned down to a respectable British pre-season level as a young team representing Manchester United turned out on a wet Sunday afternoon at the Greenhous Meadow, the home of Shrewsbury Town. While Darron Gibson drew minor attention from those of a less fanatical nature and was the only player in the team to have tasted first team football for the Red Devils, a few eyes were set on the presence of a tall Frenchman wearing the number 7.

The number 7 is worn by a 17 year-old born on the outskirts of Paris by the name of Paul Pogba. He would go on to have something of a frustrating afternoon in Shropshire with Manchester United ultimately suffering a defeat by the solitary goal in three, United’s intensely narrow play suiting Shrewsbury’s reliance on attacking from the flanks. There were individual positives on display particular from the Frenchman. Pogba would regularly move the ball into areas where his teammates dared to tread and at times it was as if his teammates were looking for where Pogba was as opposed to breaking forward on their own. Pogba demonstrated, as he has on numerous occasions both for club and country, the versatility many feel is now required for a modern footballer as he is equally adept at playing in defensive and attacking roles in the midfield. Combined with impressive passing ability and the ability to not just look to but actively dictate the tempo of play in midfield, Pogba has all the ingredients required for a top-class footballer. However, for all his potential, Pogba is nowhere near the finished article and will be under more pressure than most as while some slip under the radar of the media and emerge , Pogba will always have eyes on him all thanks to the delights of the publicised tap-up allegation.
Pogba was in the middle of a storm back in 2009 as Manchester United signed the Frenchman from the waiting clutches of the team who had signed Pogba as a schoolboy, Le Havre, a club renowned for their ability to scout and develop talent despite limited resources.  Le Havre’s claims that United had poached the youngster illegally turned out to be false but players involved in such deals are picked up by the media and often the hype-machine enters full swing with a young player trapped in the middle of it all. Such hype has eased a little but it will mean that should Pogba not fulfil the potential he has already demonstrated then he would be a potentially popular entry into the “What Happened To..?” polls later in time.
As a player, Pogba’s abilities have seen him likened to Patrick Vieira and Abou Diaby but at such a young age such comparisons hold only the vainest of water as there is a long road of adaptation ahead before the player can be analysed adequately as a finished product.
Manchester United, like title rivals Chelsea, have a somewhat low quota at present of talent originating from outside the British Isles that have graduated from the youth ranks to feature for the first team. It would be of no surprise if Paul Pogba would be the man to emerge as an example of youth scouting abroad paying off for the Red Devils.

-Andrew Harding(http://andrewcharding.wordpress.com/)

The Makelele Role

Claude Makelele

This week marks the retirement of two of the greatest midfielders of our time, Paul Scholes and Claude Makelele.  In this article we are talking about the latter, completely different from the former but as important,if not more. Tributes have been pouring in continuously for the Salford-born Englishman.But another legend of the game Claude Makelele is hanging up his boots.  Both certainly didn’t play the game the same way and had totally different attributes,but both were the masters in what they did.

Very rarely are football terms named after the footballers themselves, one example is of course the famousCruyff turn,but the most famous of our generation is “The Makelele Role”.  The Cruyff turn epitomizes the skill and the footballing brain of its inventor,but total football’s most famous man has an unlikely successor.Claude Makelele’s role at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho when they won the Premier League title was named after its inventor.

Unlike Cruyff, Makelele is a player who Arsene Wenger may call an anti-footballer . He is there to break up attacks, to hold the shape of the team.  But this role is different from the traditional defensive mid-fielders, who used to be hard tacklers and generally used to scythe down opponents.The Frenchman was simple, efficient,had great positional sense and was highly disciplined. Whilst at Real Madrid,he was regarded as the most important player by his teammates, who needed a calm and disciplined influence on the pitch.They won the 2002 Champions League with a host of attacking talent like Figo, Zidane, Raul and Roberto Carlos.  Going forward Madrid were brilliant, they attacked like bees, and were a neutral’s delight.  But it was when they lost possession and the opposition countered, Makelele came into his own.  When the opposition attacked he was all alone, with none of his midfield partners doing any sort of tracking back, he kept his calm and broke down plays.His calm presence and slow passing were a key factor in Madrid’s success.He then demanded a new and a bigger contract but Florentino Perez refused to give him one and eventually he was sold to Chelsea.

Perez harshly criticised the Frenchman saying

“We will not miss Makelele. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn’t a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres.”

Of course Perez was wrong as he discovered later.  All the more Real bought Beckham as a replacement which led Zidane to say

“Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?”

But Makelele’s move to London proved a highly succesful one.Under Jose Mourinho he excelled in his role and this time the world noticed it.There was admiration all around and The Makelele Role was born.

So now let us look into his role at Chelsea which made him famous.Jose Mourinho generally played with a 4-3-3 and it was very succesful in the Premier League as still the other teams were playing with a 4-4-2.

Chelsea Under Mourinho

Mourinho in of his interviews said

‘Look, if I have a triangle in midfield – Claude Makelele behind and two others just in front – I will always have an advantage against a pure 4-4-2 where the central midfielders are side by side. That’s because I will always have an extra man. It starts with Makelele, who is between the lines. If nobody comes to him he can see the whole pitch and has time. If he gets closed down it means one of the two other central midfielders is open. If they are closed down and the other team’s wingers come inside to help, it means there is space now for us on the flank, either for our own wingers or for our full-backs. There is nothing a pure 4-4-2 can do to stop things’.

Claude first struggled to settle in the Premiership under Ranieri but after Jose’s arrival, his role in the team became more well defined and Makelele’s best years were played out under him.The following comments sums up Makelele for you.

“It’s the ultimate honour to have it (The Makelele Role) named after me, I suppose it shows that I have achieved everything I have worked for,” he says. “I really learnt how to play that role at Real Madrid where, if we were losing 1-0, we would say ‘Right, lock up shop’. The four at the back and the one in front of them – me – would concentrate only on defence and let the others go and do what they had to up front. They would take the risks, I would take care of the opposition’s attacks.

“In every team you need to know what your role is and one of the keys to my role is to keep the balance of the team right. So when Didier [Drogba] goes here, I do this. When Frank [Lampard] goes there, I go there. Same with Michael [Ballack]. When one person moves out of position, then someone else comes in and covers for them.

“When you play in my position you have to enjoy it. You can’t be thinking  I don’t get any goals’. You just enjoy it, you enjoy playing football, tackling, giving the ball. Just enjoy it. When you are small you have to tackle at the right moment. He might be tall, he might be strong but if you tackle at the right moment you’ll win it. It’s about timing.”

Sergio Busquets is a modern day version of Makelele,he can do what the Frenchman does but he can pass the ball too.  Nowadays a holding midfielder only to play the Makelele Role is not sufficient as you must be able to pass the ball and occasionally hit the long ball too.  Michael Carrick and Sami Khedira are prime examples.  Not many players who form the defensive backbone of team get credit for their work like Makelele got, but it will some time and it will take a great doing for someone to invent a role and have it named after himself.

Gabriel Obertan Biography

Born 26 February 1989 in Pantin, France. He is a French footballer currently playing for Manchester United of England. He primarily plays as a winger, but can also play in the centre of midfield and as a striker. A former attendee of the famous Clairefontaine academy, Obertan began his professional career playing for Bordeaux in France, before joining Manchester United for an undisclosed fee in July 2009. He is a member of the France U21 football team and was named as France's best player overall at the 2009 Toulon Tournament.

Obertan began his career playing for his local club in Pantin before moving to a higher level joining Paris FC in 2002. After spending a year there, he did what most youths at Paris FC often do and joined Paris-Saint Germain. Following another year of training, he moved to the famed Clairefontaine academy in order to further his development. It was here where he was first spotted by Bordeaux scouts. After a year at Clairefontaine, he moved to Bordeaux to begin training with them.

On 6 July 2009, French newspaper L'Equipe announced that Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud had reached an agreement with English club Manchester United for the transfer of Obertan with Triaud stating that an agreement had been reached several weeks ago and that the player had agreed contract terms. The following day, Obertan successfully passed his medical in Manchester and, on 8 July, signed his contract officially making him a Manchester United player. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but is believed to be in the region of £3 million, with Obertan joining the club on a four-year deal.


More about Obertan click HERE