Stoke City Fan View: Two big issues as the Potters host Manchester United

Don’t give Pogba time on the ball.

Paul Pogba has shown us exactly why Manchester United forked out an astronomical sum last summer, as the French midfielder has dictated the first three games of the season from midfield. His great feet, precision passing and unstoppable power have made him a contender for August’s player of the month.

One thing we can’t do with Pogba is allow him time on the ball. When he is given space to turn and find teammates is when he’s at his most dangerous, as soon as he’s facing your goal you’re in trouble.

It’s going to be a huge task for probable centre midfielders Darren Fletcher and Joe Allen to accomplish, but pressing Paul Pogba for 90 minutes is our best chance of stopping the free flowing United attack. Stopping the attack at source is our best way of getting something from this match.

Who should start at right wing back?

Mark Hughes has a huge selection headache come Saturday’s match, as he and Stoke fans alike have no idea who we should start in the right wing back role.

I was shocked that people in charge of the transfers didn’t realise that this was a position that needed massively upgrading, especially considering that in the first three games we’ve had to play a striker and centre back there!

With no one knowing the situation with Glen Johnson, it will be interesting to see if Hughes prioritises an attacking option at right wing back or defensive approach. I personally believe he will opt for the latter but playing someone like Ramadan could really help in forcing pressure onto the Manchester United defence, creating more options for us in the final third.

Although the tactics against Arsenal were spot on in our last home game, I do believe it would be a bad approach to take with this week’s visitors and I have many reasons for it.

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With Arsenal, we allowed them to retain a lot of the possession and as soon as they handed the possession over to us break really quick and try and create an opportunity down the other end of the pitch. However, these two options against United is the wrong way to go about it.

Manchester United have shown that when they’re given time to play in front of you, they’ll break you down and create a handful of chances. Also, trying to play them on the break is also difficult as the speed they have tracking back is immense.

It will be interesting to see how we approach it, I just hope we don’t play too conservative and go into a shell.