KILBANE
Jose and Pogba spat sign of deep division
United must end the Jose-Pogba show, it’s ripping the club apart
THERE was a time when training ground bust-ups between team-mates, or between a manager and player, would never have reached the public. How the times and clubs have changed. Within hours of Sky broadcasting the disagreement between Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba on the Manchester United training ground this week, the footage had generated more than eight million clicks worldwide.
This has been coming to a head for weeks, if not months, and it is not going away. It is a mess and Manchester United have an enormous problem on their hands which they have to face up to and deal with quickly – yesterday’s defeat to West Ham will only keep the issue in the headlines.
The United board have to back their manager and they are trying to prove they will do so. Why else would they release the news that Pogba has stated he wants to leave the club in the aftermath of those pictures, when they have spent the summer saying the opposite?
And if Mourinho goes and, as he desires, Pogba leaves the club anyway, Manchester United have a bigger problem on their hands.
The difficulties between Mourinho and Pogba have been festering since last season, and then over the summer, and came to a head in those extraordinary scenes on Wednesday morning after United’s League Cup exit to Derby County.
If Mourinho wanted a situation which leads to the club having to make a decision between him and the club’s record signing, he has it.
But it is still not the way you expect the Manchester United manager to conduct himself. Alex Ferguson had disagreements with players – Roy Keane, Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy and most famously David Beckham – but it was done privately and succinctly.
Mourinho has a history of falling out with players and being confrontational with certain individuals and that history is repeating itself in front of the world.
He took on Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and there was a major disagreement with Diego Costa before Mourinho left Chelsea. He also famously criticised a young Kevin De Bruyne publicly before selling him.
Even before the Derby defeat, things were coming to a head between these two. Mourinho had stripped Pogba of the vice-captaincy earlier in the week and, in front of the rest of the players, told him he would never skipper the side again while he was in charge.
The United manager could have continued to deal with Pogba privately this week. Their confrontation did not need to be played out in front of the Sky cameras. How often do you see training transmitted from the United training ground? Hardly ever.
Mourinho was well aware the cameras were running when he greeted him with a terse welcome. He knew he would get a reaction from the Frenchman.
Whenever I was wanted by my manager for a word face-to-face, it would be done before training. A member of the office staff, a physio or team-mate would invariably tell you the manager wanted to see you and things would be cleared up in the office before training. But times have changed and one of the issues all managers have to deal with nowadays is social media and their players’ interactions with the public on various platforms.
We know there is a massive appetite for the Premier League across the globe and having access to stars like Pogba on social media is a huge part of the game. But players have a responsibility to conduct themselves properly and it must drive managers like Mourinho crazy to have individuals who are out of their control.
Pogba putting his post out on Instagram was hugely damaging and although he tried to justify the reasons why it went up so long after their loss to Derby, there are no excuses.
It is interesting that Mourinho said at the World Cup during his TV punditry that Pogba was playing well and having a great tournament, because he was just concentrating on his football. It was a clear dig to indicate that he does not like the image Pogba plays up to on social media. It is obviously a major issue between them.
It is undoubtedly having a detrimental effect on Manchester United at a time when they can ill afford it. Things have not been right at Old Trafford, or with Mourinho, since they won the League Cup and Europa League in 2017.
Since then, they have not been able to compete with Manchester City. They may have finished second in the Premier League last season, but could offer no serious challenge for the title, and there is a danger of that being the case again this season. The constant theme in Mourinho’s press conferences, when he talks about other clubs, is that they have spent more money – even though he has spent a fortune too and, for all their defensive shortcomings, bought most of the defence. Pogba seems to be holding all the cards and acts like the powerbroker in this mess because he is their record signing. But he is not earning as much as Alexis Sanchez, which was always going to be a problem for United.
Listening to the United fans in the aftermath, there is a split. They want to back the manager, and will accept no player can be perceived to be bigger than Manchester United. But Mourinho needs to start winning football matches.
Valencia will be the next visitors to Old Trafford for Tuesday’s Champions League clash and Mourinho was already under pressure to win that group match after last week’s draw at home to Wolves, followed by the Carabao Cup defeat.
Defeat to a Valencia side who only won their first game of the season yesterday is unthinkable. If it happens, Mourinho could be out of the exit door sooner than Pogba.