As fans rage, Jose faces tough call

DOES MOUR HAVE BOTTLE TO DITCH SUPER FLOPS?

JOSE MOURINHO is facing one of the biggest calls of his career.

Starsport revealed yesterday how the Manchester United boss feels superstars Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez are “killing” the team with their poor displays.

The revelation – made during the fall-out from United’s shock midweek exit to Sevilla in the Champions League – came from someone who knows Mourinho extremely well.

So the obvious but brave thing for Mourinho to do, starting tomorrow for the visit of Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, is to leave £89m Pogba and £500,000-a-week Sanchez out of his squad.

Of course it is almost unimaginable, from a commercial and financial point of view, that he will shun the duo.

It is not hard to believe huge transfer fees and wages, and all the attention that comes with such high-profile moves, have an effect on the players concerned, and sadly often a negative one. You can imagine Pogba and Sanchez feeling they have a right to be in the team, such was the huge investment in the pair. To a degree, who can blame them? Football, as this column has regularly warned, is in big danger of eating itself. Players’ heads must be turned, their egos inflated like barrage balloons, with the riches being thrown at them and attention lavished on them. Fans continue to pay through the nose to watch their heroes – but how often do they deliver? Yes, Mourinho deserves some flak for his negative tactics. But if the two marquee signings are indeed “killing” the team, you have to have a certain amount of sympathy for the Portuguese coach. Happily, football does have some uplifting stories, too. At Burnley, Sean Dyche is producing a team the town can be hugely proud of. Yesterday, keeper Nick Pope and centre-back James Tarkowski got their first call-ups into the England squad, while the Clarets lie seventh, just five points behind big-spending Arsenal, who are one place above them.

Burnley fans must love it. But Dyche continues to remain unfashionable, never linked with the possible upcoming vacancies at Arsenal and Chelsea in the summer.

One thing’s for sure at Turf Moor – no players are “killing” Burnley’s season.