£89m man is in danger of being dropped now

I FEEL Paul Pogba is coming to a crossroads with Jose Mourinho. When he was at Chelsea, Mourinho had players he deemed ‘untouchable’ but at Old Trafford, Pogba is finding his place in the team increasingly less secure. Pogba has suffered from the fact that Jesse Lingard is prospering in this Manchester United team. The Frenchman is at his best when he is in the final third hitting shots, going at defenders, being creative and making those buccaneering runs into the box. At Juventus, he would often have a midfielder like Andrea Pirlo sitting deeper which allowed him to express himself higher up the pitch. He cannot do that when he is made to play deeper but the form of Lingard is keeping him from that more advanced position. People say Jose Mourinho does not develop young players but under his watch Lingard has been playing exceptionally well. Against Newcastle, Pogba wanted to show Mourinho that he could be a disciplined midfielder. As our graphic below shows, he touched the ball just once in the opposition penalty area and did not have a single shot or create a chance. But in that position Pogba looks anonymous. He does not look happy, does not flourish and there is no joy in his performance. He becomes just another player and we do not see the qualities that prompted United to buy him back for £89million.