Jose: Pogba must impress me
JOSE MOURINHO has put Paul Pogba’s wayward season down to inconsistent performances in training.
Mourinho is a great believer in picking those who work well during the week and the improved Pogba is back in the Manchester United line-up, having been left out of big matches against Sevilla and Liverpool.
He was the two-goal hero in last weekend’s derby victory against Manchester City, scoring only minutes after Gary Neville had said he’d be only be ‘fifthchoice’ midfielder under Pep Guardiola.
Now Mourinho wants the 25-year-old Frenchman to maintain standards, starting at home to West Brom today.
‘I told him after the City match that I don’t expect him to be man-of-the-match or to score two goals every week. I told him to be consistent in a certain level,’ said Mourinho. ‘That’s the challenge he has to put to himself, to keep a certain stability, not have the good match, the so-so match and the bad match. I think he has to keep that stability and with that will appear the special match like it happened against City.’
The key for Mourinho is how he performs at United’s Carrington HQ from Monday to Friday.
‘He really has to try to go for that stability and the first thing is stability at training level. Stability in the working week and for the last few weeks, I’m really happy with him.’
Pogba started his career at United but moved to Juventus because he felt first-team posssibilities were restricted at Old Trafford. He returned for a world-record £89million fee in 2016 but has suffered a disappointing second season and scored only five goals. He was at the centre of controversy before the derby when Guardiola claimed he’d been offered to City by agent Mino Raiola in the January transfer window.