This might be a bit of a surprise but Paul Pogba is actually suspended for the first Premier League game of the season. The 23-year-old midfielder picked up two yellow cards for Juventus in the Coppa Italia over two legs and will not able to take to the field for the game against Bournemouth.
That would certainly come as a relief to Eddie Howe and his men as they look to face Jose Mourinho’s new-look Manchester United. The side have spent a lot of money in the window to bring a number of players but the loss of Pogba would be a significant one in the heart of midfield.
Manchester United do not have someone who is as dynamic in attack and in defence as Paul Pogba is and this being just one game which he misses out might not be such a big issues but someone has to take his place in the team and maybe even in the future when he is rested or is unavailable for whatever reason there is.
Wayne Rooney playing in that midfield role is out of the question as Jose Mourinho had stated that the English striker would be used in the attack and not in midfield, unlike the previous Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal.
Daley Blind is not a player that seems to give Jose Mourinho a lot of confidence and the Dutchman have been linked with a move away from Old Trafford since the former Chelsea manager took over at the club.
The dynamic Bastian Schweinsteiger or so the so-called dynamic Schweinsteiger is another player who is linked with a move away from the club and has even stopped training with the first team squad which has led to a lot of unhappy voices pointing fingers at Mourinho and stating that he doesn’t know how to respect players.
One midfielder should be guaranteed a spot in the side is Marouane Fellaini. For some reason, the Belgian midfielder is also preferred by Mourinho and he was used extensively in the preseason tour. That only leaves one more spot and for this one game, it could fall into the hands of Michael Carrick.
The English midfielder is not young or as young as Pogba is but that is not an issue as the 35-year-old still has the ability to control the game from the heart of the midfield. Carrick won’t be the one doing all the running, that job would be given to Fellaini and that could be one reason why the former Everton man would be preferred in this game to go along with Carrick.
Manchester United do have other options in midfield such as Morgan Schneiderlin but he does not provide as much movement as Fellaini does or maybe he was not allowed to move about as much as Fellaini was during Louis van Gaal’s era.
Whatever the decision of Mourinho at the end, the team should still be strong enough to defeat Bournemouth in the opening game for the Manchester side. A decent win should give them a platform to build on and this could also be a chance for some of the players to show Mourinho that they belong to the team and should not be sold out anytime soon.