your argument is flawed. you're rating Pogba as "terrific" based on stats you "tend to look for in a good midfielder", yet Aguero is "very poor" despite performing well in the main stat you would look for in a good striker. this makes absolutely no sense.

Seems like your were wrong. Not sure if that's usual as well.....

I am looking at each player on an individual basis, and whilst both have huge upsides and their respective potential is very high, that is where the similarities end.

Aguero has I think by his own at times unbelievably high standards, so far he hasn't quite reached that level, despite being what, third in the goalscorers table, a player of his talents should be leading it, so for me, that shows him being below par in that sense.

With Pogba, he has so far played very well if you look at the metrics which tend to govern if a midfielder has played well.
Has he been perfect, heck no, is there room for improvement, yes of course!
Saying that, he has been a very good watch this season so far, and he is just coming into his own at this time.

So you do have to judge each player on their respective merits, and their respective positions.

fixed it for you

Aguero has 10 in 12 in the league and 16 in 19 in all competitions. there isn't ANY sort of argument you can make for him being very poor. please stop this nonsense. you are biased, plain and simple.

Pundits didn't miss that it seems. They did miss the fact that Fernandinho only got slapped because he had his hand around the back of Fabregas' neck already in a threatening manner (all Fabregas was doing, was trying to calm Iheanacho).

I would say thank you for that, if that was remotely what I was trying to say but it was not.


I am not biased, if anything perhaps I am guilty here of rating Aguero a bit too highly, which for a rival player is generally not something you would expect of someone being accused of bias against him and his club!

Let's forget the Pogba comparisons for a minute. Aguero has 10 goals in the league;
1 against Sunderland and Boro and 2 against Swansea, Stoke, West brom and Burnley. He scored 0 and 0 assists against West Ham, Spurs, Everton (sub), Southampton, Palace, Chelsea. Imo he's the best striker/player in the league but you can definitely make the argument that he's not contributing enough in the important games this season. A worldclass player like him needs to be helping his team beat their closest rivals. So many chances were created for him to score today and he just couldn't do it.

Thank you for this post, it is nice to have a helping hand every now and then!

Ok that's a different argument. And I could counter it by questioning just what exactly Pogba has contributed in big games. The point still stands, you can't be claiming Pogba to have been terrific and Aguero very poor. There's absolutely no criteria by which that assessment holds up. None.

Pogba is a midfielder so we're not really comparing like with like.

Zlatan has scored 7 goals in the league so far which is a better comparison. Aguero has missed three games already due to indiscipline which is the bigger issue. Mind you David Luiz has got away with at least two red card offences this season, the other against United so I can understand his frustration tbh.

The FA should look at that fight at ban half a dozen Chelsea players for next Saturday.

I'm not comparing Aguero to Pogba though, I was just pointing out batdude's very transparent bias. Man U player that has by most accounts underwhelmed somewhat = terrific, Man C player averaging close to a goal a game = very poor. It is just not possible for both of those statements to be true in an objective mind. If you want to make an argument for Aguero being very poor, then so be it. Hell, I could probably make the case myself if I really put my mind to it, but there's no way Pogba could then be seen as terrific using the same scale and criteria.

Totally - to cite Aguero as "very poor" for still having a major impact on City's output whilst calling Pogba "terrific" for, frankly, a marginal impact is simply bias and shouldn't be dressed up any other way. Aguero hasn't been at his peerless best all season but very poor? It's comedy. Most would have Aguero as very good and Pogba as average on recent form. Which position they play is immaterial - their respective impact on their team is the measure.

One way that I look at this is what are the teams like when they don't play

City look a far better team with Aguero in it

For United, I'm not sure that there's much difference with Pogba in or out of the team

On a side note, when a player gets red-carded in December, the discussion in our house always ends up with comments of " Oh, they must want Christmas/New Year off..!

I dont subscribe to that view but I'm sure there must be a few that fit that criteria

I don't quite know any other way of saying this, but my view was not one of being biased, it does annoy me somewhat that term is thrown around a bit too easy at times, when having a difference of opinion is what this is here.
Why does that term have to be used if someone disagrees with what someone else says?

That'll be ok, they play Sunday!

It's not an insult - bias is natural and often unconscious - as you tend to leave your most controversial (and largely isolated) opinions to rival clubs and players, whilst being overly generous or favouring United or their players, it's hardly surprising people put it down to bias. If your views were widely held, you may have a case but they aren't.

So I am not allowed to hold an opinion on something unless multiple other people hold the same opinion(s), otherwise I will be accused of being biased, that hardly seems like a fair system.
Also quite how many people does it take before my perceived bias is no longer seen as such?

There's no point discussing this if your comprehension of the point being made is so poor (or you are being deliberately obtuse). One thing's for sure - far more people would conclude your Aguero/Pogba stance is biased than actually agree with it.

So Aguero has been very poor this season and yet you have him in your fantasy football team *strokes chin*

All he does is score goals! (And tries to cripple people)

One trick pony like Ronaldo...goals goals blah blah *yawn*

I've not seen yesterday's match yet but it sounds like he's been a very naughty boy.

batdude how old are you? I'm not trolling, it's a serious question.

you're not being accused of bias due to holding an unpopular opinion, but because there appears to be no logic whatsoever to your opinion. I wouldn't have a problem with you genuinely believing Aguero had been "very poor" this season if you weren't the same person trying to claim Pogba had been "terrific".

let's be very very clear on this - yes they don't play the same position and definitely can't be compared like-for-like (not that I was doing so) etc, but by pretty much any objective measure you wish to use Sergio Aguero has performed much better than Paul Pogba this season. this isn't even my argument though. you've supported your argument by claiming Pogba to be performing well in the areas you - rather conveniently - look for in a good midfielder, yet dismiss the fact that by that same measure Aguero is performing extremely well in the area most observers would look for in a good striker because he's only third rather than top of the goalscoring list. if Pogba has been terrific, then by your reasoning Aguero must have been even more terrific. You then also echoed an argument made (with fairly sound reasoning) by another poster that Aguero hadn't really delivered in big games this season, completely ignoring Pogba's almost complete lack of impact in such games. if Aguero has been very poor, then by your reasoning Pogba must have been at least as poor. It is impossible for Pogba to have been terrific AND Aguero very poor using the reasoning that you have put forward.

if your opinion is unable to be supported by logic - and I've shown this to be the case - then the only conclusion one can arrive at is that it is instead supported by bias. do you now understand?

Think that's uniteds problem in a nutshell pogba is undroppable irrespective of how poor he is because of the fee.

Likewise ibrahimivic because of how much he earns both do nothing in the bigger games still