Right on Jose
> Mourinho has made mistakes at Manchester United but Pogba decision not one of them
THE main flaw in Paul Pogba’s argument about Manchester United’s need to ‘attack, attack, attack’ when playing at Old Trafford was that, for the majority of Saturday’s draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers , they did.
The issue against Wolves was not so much that United were too conservative but that their attack lacked coherence – a familiar problem under Jose Mourinho, but one that also pre-dates his reign.
United out-shot their visitors by 15 attempts to 11, boasting nearly two-thirds of possession in the process, and were largely dominant once Joao Moutinho equalised. Still, they created nothing of note.
This long-standing absence of any structure to United’s attack is a valid stick to beat Mourinho with. His (left) tendency to favour reactive football can be fairly criticised too, when an overlycautious approach costs his team points.
Pogba, though, questioned his manager’s sense of adventure after a performance that was not an example of anti-football, just bad football. This imprecise nature of the criticism made it seem opportunistic.
His fan-friendly message – parroting the ‘attack, attack, attack’ chant – came across as a clumsy, deliberate attempt to appeal to supporters too.
The news that Pogba has been stripped of United’s vice-captaincy , confirmed by Mourinho following Tuesday’s shock penalty shootout defeat to Derby County, should not, therefore, come as a surprise.
And for all the many mistakes that Mourinho has made at Old Trafford, for all the criticisms that can be fairly levelled at him, this decision is the