Manchester United secured a point with an impressive 2-2 draw against Arsenal in midweek before thumping Fulham by 4-1 on Saturday afternoon in recent Premier League fixtures. Midfielder Paul Pogba found himself outside of the starting eleven for the second successive Premier League match, but unlike against Arsenal last week, the Frenchman did not even make it off the bench this past weekend.
Though Mourinho’s men without Pogba, still draw that game against Arsenal who are undefeated 20 games in a row, the performance of the team was admirable.
Paul Pogba is undoubtedly a unique talent at the club; a world-class player. However, on more than one occasion this season he has looked completely out of his game. His stats are 5 goals with 3 assists in 19 appearances, which so far is a good number for any midfielder in Europe at midterm of the season.
Pogba tries to take a touch too many, tries to beat multiple players and it slows down the play. When he pulls it off, he looks like the best center-mid in the world. When he doesn’t, it is beyond frustrating to watch. He’s still only 25 and has a long way to go.
However, Mourinho has made it clear that the team is above any individual player. Recently many reports came out about off the pitch discomfort between the Mourinho and Pogba in which the manager calls him a ‘virus in the team’, suggests all is not well at the club on and off the pitch.
https://twitter.com/utdxtra/status/1069152892320387073
An Old Trafford source revealed Jose called Pogba a virus in front of all the player, according to the Sun.
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“He told him ‘you are like a person with a flu with a virus in a closed room – you pass that virus to the others.’
“He also told him ‘you don’t play, you don’t respect players and supporters and you kill the mentality of good, honest people around you.’”
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The United manager confirmed that Pogba will start against Valencia in United’s final Champions League group game. However, it does not guarantee his position as a starting eleven player in the upcoming matches. The United boss wants the world cup winner to perform consistently in the coming times and needs to ‘simplify elements of his game’.
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