Mou: World Cup heroics will lift Pogba
LOS ANGELES: Jose Mourinho is confident that the euphoria of lifting the World Cup will provide a boost to Paul Pogba’s club career at Manchester United.
Pogba was the subject of criticism from some quarters for his United performances last season and found himself relegated to the bench at times during the second half of the campaign.
However, the 25-year-old was instrumental in France’s triumph in Russia, particularly in the final, when he netted the third goal for Didier Deschamps’ side against Croatia.
Although Mourinho now expects to be without Pogba for the start of the Premier League season next month, the United boss believes the midfielder will inevitably be in an exuberant mood when he does report back for club duty.
“To win the World Cup can only be a positive thing. It’s difficult to say that to win the World Cup is not good for a player’s career. It’s amazing, fantastic,” said Mourinho in Los Angeles, at the start of United’s US preseason tour. “So many good players have never had the chance to be world champions or their country is not strong enough.
“For Paul, I think it’s the first World Cup that he has gone to and to be a world champion can only be fantastic.
“It’s a young team, apart from [Hugo] Lloris, they have more Euros and World Cups together. So I think the future for him in the French national team can only be brilliant. I hope that he understands why
he was so good. That’s the point about his performance level and his contribution to a winning team.
“It’s important for him to understand why he was so good in the second part of the competition. In the final, he was absolutely brilliant.”
Mourinho sent Pogba a congratulatory message after the World Cup, yet had no input into his performances when the tournament was underway.
“I did with Paul what I did with all my players. I sent a nice message before the World Cup [but] during the World Cup, I decided not to disturb anyone,” he said.
“When they are with the national team,
especially the World Cup, they don’t need their club manager to be on their shoulders saying yes, well done, happy not happy. They just need to focus on the job.
“Then, after the World Cup, I obviously sent a different message to the other guys because he won the competition.”
DALOT OUT UNTIL SEPTEMBER
Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot will miss the start of the Premier League season due to a knee injury, manager Jose Mourinho said.
The 19-year-old, who joined United on a five-year contract last month, sustained the injury while playing for former club FC Porto in the closing stages of last season.
“Dalot is injured; we knew that but we didn’t want to lose him because of that,” Mourinho said. “He will be ready for September.”
United begin their pre-season with friendlies against Club America on Friday and San Jose Earthquakes two days later before next week’s International Champions Cup tournament.