Daily Mirror

HE’S STILL GOT THE FACTOR

Jose keen to ease pressure on Pogba: Every player has big responsibi­lity.. not just Paul

- FROM DAVID McDONNELL in Seville

JOSE MOURINHO wants to ease the pressure on Paul Pogba ahead of his return for Manchester United tonight.

The £89million record signing is under huge scrutiny after being subbed in two of his last three games and dropped for the other, with Mourinho having admitted the midfielder is struggling for form.

Although he missed the Reds’ 2-0 FA Cup win at Huddersfie­ld last weekend through illness, Pogba is set to return for tonight’s last-16 first leg Champions League tie against Sevilla.

Mourinho has been forced to defend his relationsh­ip with Pogba, amid claims the 24-year-old is at odds with the manager over his best position and wants a more free role with United.

But, ahead of tonight’s game, the United boss tried to play down the expectatio­n on Pogba, claiming every player has the same level of responsibi­lity, regardless of price or profile.

“I don’t think it’s fair to speak about the responsibi­lities of an individual player,” said Mourinho.

“I don’t even like the fact a player that cost ‘X’ millions doesn’t have the same responsibi­lities as a player that cost three-times ‘X’ millions.

“I think the responsibi­lity is for everyone. I understand for you, but not for me. In the same way I pick a team, I don’t look to the age, to the salary or the transfer fee, because that is also not fair.”

Despite the Portuguese’s efforts to dim the spotlight on him, the midfielder is under huge pressure to deliver after an underwhelm­ing season blighted by injury, suspension and patchy form.

Pogba began the campaign impressive­ly enough, scoring freely and providing a clutch of assists, but has since lost his way, although tonight’s tie offers him the chance to prove his quality at a potentiall­y defining stage of his career. Mourinho was cryptic when asked if Pogba (right) had recovered sufficient­ly from illness to start, but suggested the fact he was involved in full training was proof he was ready to play.

“I opened the training session today and I opened it in a period where normally we don’t open,” said Mourinho.

“We normally do the warming-up and the first simple drills of the training session, but this time we did it for quite a long time.

“In the last period, you could see the players in a competitiv­e situation and, when a player is in that situation, it’s because the players are normally ready and without problems.

“So, you could see that in training some people that didn’t play in the Cup, like Pogba, Antonio Valencia, Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera (were ready).”

Mourinho maintained his mantra that United are not among the favourites to win the Champions League, but admitted anything is possible if they can reach the last eight.

He added: “We want to try, we go with everything, and we’re confident that over two legs we can do it.

“I said before that any team that reaches the quarter-finals has a chance.

“I never thought I was going to win it with Inter or Porto, but it’s when you reach the quarter-finals you think something can happen – the dynamic can change.

“Some clubs are more ready to win it, but when you reach the quarter-finals, that is when any team can feel anything can happen – this step of going from 16 to eight teams is a very important one”

 ??  ?? Pobga will be aiming to hurt Sevilla and show his class
Pobga will be aiming to hurt Sevilla and show his class

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