Jose denies he axed Pogba as McTominay takes chance
PAUL POGBA was not dropped. That was the first point Jose Mourinho wanted to make. There was a reason Scott McTominay had been selected and it wasn’t to punish the Frenchman.
What Mourinho could not dispute, though, was the fact eyebrows had been raised by his selection of a 21-year-old Academy graduate at the expense of one of the world’s most expensive players, who had been taken off for an erratic performance in the 2-0 defeat to Spurs.
McTominay has barely figured this season but, thrust into a game to which Mourinho had given huge importance, he responded with a display that had his manager purring. Economical with his passing and constant with his running.
Mourinho said: ‘He started nervous, but then grew up in the game and he was fundamental for us in the way he gave us that desire to recover the ball. We were solid and by being solid, we had the ball all the time.
‘I made changes thinking about the characteristics of this game and this kid [McTominay] has a great desire to recover the ball. He’s a kid that chases the ball, tries to recover high up the pitch and when he has the ball he plays simple.
‘Sometimes, against opponents like Huddersfield, who play so close, with so many bodies, simplicity is genius. You have to open space by playing simple.’
This was the first time Pogba had not started a match for United for which he had been fit since arriving from Juventus, but Mourinho insisted there was no significance in the decision and was happy with how his No 6 performed when coming on in the 65th minute.
‘I don’t feel that it was a big call,’ said Mourinho. ‘I try to do what I think is best for the team in any moment. I prefer to look at it in the beautiful way of a little kid that arrived here at nine years old with mum for the first training session. Ten or 11 years later he is playing in [a] United shirt, in [an] important match in [the] Premier League at home. I prefer to look at that perspective.
‘Paul is a fantastic player, one of the most talented in the world, but to sit on the bench one day is not the end of the world. I changed a few players and the intention was not to punish anyone. To punish anyone, I also need someone to punish me because we are a team. When we win we win together, when we lose we lose together.’