Mark Goldbridge was up in arms over Danny Mills’ combined Manchester United-Liverpool XI as he claimed Paul Pogba and Harry Maguire should have made the cut.
The pundit opted to choose 0 Man United players for his combined XI when on Sky Sports News and even added that some United players would struggle to make the bench when pitted against Liverpool’s back-up options.
Danny Mills has selected his combined XI ahead of Liverpool's visit to Old Trafford as the Premier League returns this weekend, live on Sky Sports.
A total of 0? Manchester United players made the cut, with Mills saying some would struggle to make the bench! ?
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 14, 2019
Goldbridge, who is the host of The United Stand on YouTube which is a show with 565,000 subscribers, accused Sky of being drunk when deciding their combined-XI, even though it was Mills that picked the team not the broadcaster, as Pogba and Maguire should make the cut on ability.
Fashionably stupid to hate on Maguire because of his price tag but he's been the most consistent CB in the country with Van Dijk for the last 2 years and hasn't put a foot wrong for United either
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) October 14, 2019
“United vs Liverpool combined 11 with 11 Liverpool players in it according to Sky Sports
Ok Liverpool are streets ahead but you’re drunk if Pogba and Maguire don’t get in on ability,” wrote Goldbridge on his personal Twitter account.
“Fashionably stupid to hate on Maguire because of his price tag but he’s been the most consistent CB in the country with Van Dijk for the last 2 years and hasn’t put a foot wrong for United either.”
OPINION
Mills did explain that he was picking his combined-XI on performances this season as he suggested that’s why he favoured Joel Matip over Harry Maguire. While Maguire is a talented centre-back, his current form shouldn’t see him ranked above Matip or Virgil Van Dijk. The 26-year-old Man United enforcer has averaged 0.5 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 3.9 clearances per match across his eight league outings, as per WhoScored, which is okay but when you consider Matip has averaged 1.8 tackles, 1.7 interceptions and 5.2 clearances across his six league outings, as per WhoScored, it shows he simply has been outperformed. Also, Van Dijk who has a lower average rating on WhoScored than Matip this season has also outperformed Maguire as he has averaged 0.8 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 5.3 clearances across his eight league outings, so Mills was spot-on to omit the Man United enforcer. As for Pogba, he’s been hit and miss for a while. The 26-year-old may have registered two assists in five league outings this season, and averaged a very rating of 7.15 on WhoScored, can he be ranked above Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum or Fabinho on form this season when you consider how consistent they’ve been across all their outings? Surely not.
