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THE new Premier League season has not even started and Jose Mourinho is already in meltdown.
The Manchester United boss has been complaining that some of his biggest stars haven’t been able to join the club’s pre-season tour of America due to their World Cup involvement.
That’s the same World Cup, remember, that Mourinho worked at as a pundit, getting paid millions in the process.
But instead of deriding a tournament that added a few more noughts to his bank balance, what Mourinho should be doing is appreciating the fact Russia 2018 offered him genuine hope of solving his biggest problem at Old Trafford: How to get the best out of Paul Pogba.
Didier Deschamps managed it. The France boss got a fit, focused and well-disciplined Pogba to perform and drive his side to a second world title.
Damage
Pogba reminded us all what a huge talent he is, not least when a manager picks him in his most effective position.
So Pogba’s performances presented Mourinho with the ideal chance to heap praise on his most high-profile star and repair some of the damage done to their relationship during a difficult domestic campaign last time out.
But once again Mourinho showed his insatiable appetite for confrontation and mischief by doing the exact opposite.
Mourinho decided to use the topic of Pogba as a chance to be hard on him, making it clear the midfielder’s focus when playing for United is not as good as it is when he is with France.
This might well be true but whose fault is that? Because players like Pogba are reflections of who is managing them.
It might be just a small thing but during the World Cup Pogba didn’t change his hairstyle once.
He chose a ‘normal’ haircut and stuck to it, with the only glimpse of bling coming in the shape of some personalised diamond earrings he wore while warming up for the final against Croatia.
When in Manchester, meanwhile, Pogba appears to visit the barbers more often than he visits the training ground. He’s been through all the colours of the rainbow and Mourinho lets him do it.
Mourinho believes the reason Pogba (below) is underperforming for United is down to the player himself.
It isn’t. Pogba’s failings at club level are down to Mourinho, who has had the 25-year-old in his care for two years now and is still no closer to getting the best out of him.
Pogba must feel like Mourinho doesn’t trust him and the United boss has wasted a golden chance to change all this by refusing to make the player his new captain.
This honour will go to Antonio
Valencia, an ageing full-back with a history of fitness problems.
It gets worse, though, because when asked who might wear the armband in Valencia’s possible absence Mourinho reeled off a host of names – but Pogba’s wasn’t one of them.
Did it not occur to Mourinho to ring Deschamps to discuss Pogba and his possible credentials in terms of him becoming the next United captain? Wouldn’t having the armband help sharpen Pogba’s focus to the levels Mourinho is still demanding? The tough love Mourinho shows towards Pogba is driving a constant wedge between the pair – and the biggest losers are United.
The pairing should be a match made in heaven but it remains on the brink of being a marriage made in hell. Something will have to give this season because the scenario has become an unwanted sideshow that is destabilising the team.
Perhaps when Pogba does return to club duties he should stride into Mourinho’s office and stick his World Cup winner’s medal down on the desk.
It’s proof he can win the biggest prize in the game and that he deserves