Jose planning a rest cure for injured Pogba
JOSE MOURINHO has afforded Paul Pogba an extended break to recuperate from injury — and the Manchester United boss claims he has no idea when the midfielder will return.
Pogba picked up a second hamstring problem in six months against Basle last week and was not present at their Carrington training base yesterday.
United are keen to give the 24year-old sufficient time to recover from his latest setback after an inconclusive first scan. No timescale has been put on his return, but there are fears he could miss between four and six weeks. Boss Mourinho tailors training and rehabilitation of his stars to individual circumstances, shown by the time off given to Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season.
Pogba will rest away from the group for the next few days.
‘Every injury is a different injury,’ said Mourinho. ‘I cannot tell you there is a rule about injured players. Do you work for a travel agency? Do you want to organise his holiday?’ United stormed past Everton without Pogba on Sunday and the performance of Anthony Martial from the bench could see Mourinho turn to the winger more often.
Martial’s mentality improved immeasurably over the summer, according to his manager ahead of today’s trip to Southampton.
‘I see a great improvement in the person, in the mood, in the face, in the body language,’ said Mourinho. ‘If you want just a word, in the happiness.
‘He’s a happy guy, he’s working extremely well. He starts matches, he tries to do well. He goes from the bench, even it is for 10 minutes, he tries to enjoy and tries to give something in these extra minutes. I am very pleased with his attitude overall. Then it’s easier to play well.
‘It’s hard for him but it’s hard for many others. So many players are playing well.
‘When I see the match on Wednesday, the attacking players — which one deserves to be on the bench? Nobody.’
United are slicker this season, but Mourinho dismissed the suggestion his youthful side are physically any quicker than previous teams.
‘Has pace been lacking? I don’t think so,’ he said.
‘With Danny Welbeck, Angel di Maria — I don’t think they lacked speed at all. Look at how many fast players United have had over the years. It’s the style you want to implement in the team that makes the team fast or not. Speed in football is the speed of your brain.
‘We try, with the qualities of our players, to implement that fast football. It probably looks like we are faster than we are in reality.’
Mourinho also suggested he could start a frightening attacking trio of Romelu Lukaku, Martial and Marcus Rashford together in the future.
Meanwhile, the United manager has indicated that defender Luke Shaw is still some way off from regaining his left-back spot.
‘He has work to do,’ said Mourinho. ‘You saw the game against Burton. You saw the same as I see. Are you asking if he plays at Southampton? No, he isn’t.
‘He has to improve. Look, he doesn’t play for six months. I’m not expecting him to arrive on Wednesday and be man of the match or to be running up and down for 45 minutes.’