Pogba’s role is to box clever says Jose
JOSE MOURINHO has mocked Wayne Rooney’s suggestion that Paul Pogba can be a box-to-box midfielder without defensive responsibility.
Mourinho says a midfielder must be able to operate at either end of the pitch and believes Pogba is able and happy to do both roles.
The Manchester United manager says there is no “confusion” or “problem” about his £89million record signing’s role in the team, despite their heated touchline exchange during the recent defeat by Tottenham.
Pogba will return to the starting line-up at Newcastle tomorrow. He had been dropped for the win over Huddersfield last Saturday after his substitution in the Spurs game prompted heavy criticism for his defensive indiscipline and a debate on how he should be played.
“With some comments from some important people in football I got a little confused,” said Mourinho. “For me, box-to-box means you have to be good in this box and have to be good in that box. It means you have to defend well in this box and have the physical condition, desire and stamina to go to the other box, where you have to be good at scoring, creating, heading and so on.
“Now I’m confused when some people say box-to-box has to play free of defensive duties. That’s not a box-to-box player.
“I just think it means midfield players. When people ask what is Paul’s best position – he’s a midfield player. It depends on the tactical system, whether we play with one, two or three, but he will always be a midfielder.”
New Newcastle striker Islam Slimani is already eyeing the club’s iconic No9 shirt.
The Algerian is on loan from Leicester but has revealed he would be delighted for the move to become permanent.
“I already knew a lot about Newcastle,” said Slimani. “It’s very famous with worldrenowned players like Alan Shearer who have been here.
“If I could stay here, I’d be very happy.”