Introduction

The midfield is the most important section of the pitch in a football match. Controlling it allows you to not only create great chances for your own team, but limit the opposition’s chances.

I’m going to be comparing the play style of two very different types of midfielders today. Needless to say, both are fantastic players who don’t lack much. I wish to point out that when I write this article, I am not saying that Paul Pogba lacks technical ability, or that Ilkay Gundogan lacks physicial ability.

The rise of Ilkay Gundogan

Ilkay Gundogan’s rise to fame started with Borussia Dortmund in their 2012/13 campaign where they came 2nd in the Bundesliga and runners up in the UEFA Champions League final, both to FC Bayern Munich. His play in the two legs against Real Madrid (4-1 W at the Westfalenstadion, 2-0 L at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium) was praised. His box to box role allowed the four attacking players (Lewandowski, Reus, Götze and Blaszczykowski) in front of him to wreak havoc with the Real Madrid defence. In that summer, there were reports that he was going to sign for Manchester United during their ill-fated season with David Moyes. However, Dortmund were hit hard with an injury crisis in the 2013/14 and Ilkay was one of the casualties. He had sustained a back injury in an international friendly, which ruled him out of action for nearly 18 months. There were growing reports during this time that he had gained weight and lost his fitness. Those doubts were confirmed when he returned to action in the 2014/15 season (the year that Dortmund were 18th after the winter break in the Bundesliga). His recovery has to be praised. He lost the weight and is now a crucial part of Thomas Tuchel’s new look Borussia Dortmund alongside one of the rising wonderkids in modern football, Julian Weigl. It didn’t look like he would be staying at Dortmund for Tuchel, but he signed a one year extension to his contract, meaning he will be at Dortmund until 2016 (unless he gets an extension or is bought by another club).

Paul Pogba; Sir Alex Ferguson biggest mistake?

“Il Polpo Paul aka Paul the octopus” started his career at the Le Havre academy. His move to Manchester United’s youth setup was heavily criticized by Le Havre. However, Paul Pogba got his desired move in the end. His first match for the U18s was a 2-1 loss to Crewe Alexandra. He took the number 42 shirt for his first match for the first XI against Crawley Town in the FA cup two seasons later. His speciality, the powerful driven shots from outside the box began to develop in between these years. This is a skill that he still shows today for Juventus.

However, things didn’t go sweetly between him and Sir Alex Ferguson. Paul wanted a new contract with a significant pay rise. He didn’t get the pay rise or a new contract. In fact, the Manchester United hierarchy felt insulted by Paul’s demands and they let him leave. He signed for the Italian giants Juventus. His domination of the midfield in games made him a pivotal figure in Juventus’ UEFA Champions League final run of 2014/15, in which Juventus were defeated by FC Barcelona 3-1 in the final. His performance in that match enhanced his reputation further.

The current season

I am not going to compare their performances in the Champions/Europa League.

Ilkay Gundogan

This season has seen the return of the old Ilkay Gundogan. His stats from Squawka are extremely impressive (linked below).

Paired with Julian Weigl, Ilkay Gundogan runs the game for Borussia Dortmund. The team transitions between a 4231 formation with Weigl and Gundogan in front of the defence, to a 4141 where he is playing alongside Shinji Kagawa in midfield. Weigl slips just behind into the 1, sandwiched between the two rows of 4. This transition has become an extremely lethal tactic, which relys on the superior vision of Kagawa, the defensive and passing capabilities of Weigl and the all round support of Gundogan. So far in this season, Dortmund are sitting in 2nd place, and are one of the few teams closer to Bayern than the relegation spot in the league.

Paul Pogba

This season was never going to be as easy as before for the Italian giants from Turin. They lost Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo in the summer. However, the loss of Tevez has also had a huge effect on the performance of Juventus. His replacement, Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala have not yet reached his level. However, Dybala is young and Mandzukic has the experience to make their combo into a deadly strikeforce. There is also a good backup called Morata, who can always fill in a shift upfront.

So when I start comparing statistics for Pogba and Gundogan, I will expect to see a lower overall score for Pogba because of his teams performance being worse. The same should happen for Gundogan when I compare stats from last season, which wasn’t Dortmund’s best ever year.

Pogba plays in the centre of a 5 midfield in a 352/532. This formation is uncommon in Europe, but in Italy where tactical knowledge and defensive organisation is so valued, it’s not an uncommon formation.

His stats on Squawka are still impressive. The the system that Massimiliano Allegri play, he is a key player. He has to cover for the defence as well as be one of the main focal points of the team. This is a lot of responsibility. However, Pogba has really stepped up his game and has played a fantastic role for Juventus in the Serie A.

The style of play

As mentioned before, these players are completely different. Pogba could fill in the role of both Weigl and Gundogan in Tuchel’s 4231 system, but Gundogan would also be a key player for Massimiliano Allegri in his 352. The main difference comes in the strengths of the players. Pogba is a tall strong player who is extremely hard to get the ball off. He can be a scrappy player, who wins the ball and surges forward with it to create opportunities.

Gundogan however, is less of a focal point for Dortmund. He plays in a deeper role and dictates the play from there. His linkup play with the new forward 4 in front of his has been good, leading with Dortmund scoring 68 goals in 68 appearances, albeit some of these were in Europa League matches against teams of much worse quality. Both players are relied upon in defence. However, comparing this is much harder because of the different play styles in Germany and Italy (usually very high pressure and energetic in Germany, while slower and more tactically cautious in Italy). Surprisingly however, Gundogan wins duels and has a higher pass accuracy.

The future

“There was a time when no team wanted to sign me except Juventus. Now when everyone wanted me I prefer to stay here forever.” – Paul Pogba

It is absurd to think that either player has no chance of leaving their current clubs. Pogba already has a line of potential suitors, including the likes of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Gundogan is in a similar situation. He is a player who has previously said he wanted to play in the premier league. This links nicely with the unsubtle interest from Manchester United (how much of this is true, I don’t know. It seems every transfer window, Manchester United and now Liverpool are linked with the entire Dortmund squad). However, Pogba is only 22 and has a fantastic future ahead of him. Gundogan is a few years older (25) but is also a top midfielder. No matter where these two end up, they will be crucial players for any team.

As it stands, Juventus are reportedly interested in the German midfielder. However, I have yet to see this on a reliable source.