Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho explains what Paul Pogba has to do to get back into his good books.
Paul Pogba started on the bench against Fulham on Saturday afternoon and was not summoned from it during United’s 4-0 thrashing of the Cottagers at Old Trafford.
Why is there so much tension between Pogba and Mourinho? Five things you need to know…
- Pogba was Mourinho’s first high-profile signing at Man Utd when he arrived for a club-record £89m.
- Their feud could reach as far back as last season when Pogba spent periods on the sidelines.
- Pogba was stripped of the vice-captaincy at the beginning of the season after the Frenchman openly criticised his manager’s tactical judgement following a 1-1 draw with Wolves back in September.
- Their strained relationship was captured for all to see, as the pair exchanged frosty looks at each other during a training session.
- The latest episode in their relationship has renewed speculation over the Frenchman’s future, with rumours suggesting he might be heading back to Turin.
Mourinho insisted that Pogba has the potential to be a “fantastic” player but the Frenchman has to share the mentality of the whole squad before he gets back into the team.
“He has to play with the same mentality as the team is playing,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
“Paul can be a fantastic player, he has the potential to be a fantastic player.”
Despite the public criticism of Pogba, Mourinho declared that the France international will start against Valencia in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“Against Valencia, he is going to start and have a fantastic football game to play and to show everybody how good he is,” Mourinho said.
“You have teams that are positionally good, ready to press, and with a desire to press, and I think these two boys – Matic and Herrera – have a really strong mentality.
“The way they play football is to play at the top of their level and then the people in front of them were also good.”
Can Mourinho really get away with leaving Pogba on the sidelines?
If United’s performance against Fulham is anything to go by then the answer could be a resounding yes. United eased past the Cottagers, notching four goals while arguably displaying their most entertaining and dynamic performance of the season.
However, bottom-of-the-league Fulham aren’t the best litmus test for the Red Devils’ qualities; few expected United to come up short in this one despite their lacklustre form of late.
Pogba has performed lethargically in games this season and has made some careless mistakes in midfield that have contributed directly to the Reds conceding unnecessary goals, but despite his lack of consistency and moments of madness, Pogba remains United’s best player.
In the Premier League, the imperious Frenchman has scored the third most goals amongst his colleagues (3), has made the second highest number of assists (3), has completed the second highest number of passes (810) and has made the most shots (40) so far this season.
Leaving the Frenchman out of United’s starting XI is probably not the best idea, and one gets the impression that Mourinho’s decision to do so – and then talk about it publicly – is less to do with candour and pragmatism and everything to do with his ego.
The post Jose Mourinho explains what Paul Pogba must do to get into Man Utd’s strongest XI appeared first on Squawka News.
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