Martial and Pogba out of France squad with injuries
ANTHONY Martial and Paul Pogba have withdrawn from the France squad through injury – despite meeting up with their international team-mates at Clairefontaine yesterday.
Ahead of the derby, Jose Mourinho revealed Pogba suffered an injury during United’s Champions League game against Juventus on Wednesday night – which meant it was ‘impossible for him to recover for this match’.
Martial, meanwhile, completed a full 90 minutes in United’s 3-1 defeat to City on Sunday but the French Football Federation have confirmed he has picked up an abductor injury.
At lunchtime, the Team France account tweeted: ‘Paul Pogba (thigh) and Anthony Martial (abductors) were treated by Dr. Franck Le Gall this afternoon. They are replaced by Alexandre Lacazette and Moussa Sissoko.’
It is not the best start to the international break for Mourinho, but he will be pleased France immediately removed them from squad duties.
The United boss was unhappy when Alexis Sanchez, Marouane Fellaini, Diogo Dalot and Scott McTominay returned to Carrington with injuries last month.
“All of our injuries were with the national teams,” he said. “Some of them with the national teams they were very professional with us and sent the players back and we could start the process early.
“But some of them wouldn’t do that.” WHILST reminiscing about the derbies he played in, Gary Neville dwelt on his dismissal in the 2004 Valentine’s Day FA Cup tie. He had tamely headbutted Steve McManaman and was subsequently surrounded by Joey Barton and Robbie Fowler.
“That’s like my perfect dinner party right there!” Neville joked. Graeme Souness might be on the guest list.
Neville and Souness are two of the most trenchant and erudite pundits in the country and their post-derby debate on United was arguably more entertaining than the game.
Souness justifiably asked Neville whether Jose Mourinho was ‘getting the best out of the players at Manchester United?’ Neville has never sat on the fence in his life but started leaning against it. So Souness asked him again, as if he were Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, Neville’s face visibly reddened.
A black-and-white transcript does not quite do it justice. Souness said: “I think Lukaku was showing more at Everton than he’s showing for United.”
Neville hit back: “He went missing every big game for Everton.”
Souness began the debate by referring to the ‘group of players’ managers inherit at clubs and Neville singled out a startling statistic: Seven of Pep Guardiola’s signings started for City and only two of Mourinho’s lined up for United on Sunday.
United’s questionable spending, Paul Pogba’s injury, Alexis Sanchez’s ‘little problem’ – it is a reliable reflection of the clubs’ backing of their managers. Guardiola has been allowed to escalate his squad changes, whereas Mourinho hasn’t.
“To transform talent in professional players, stability, performance, is a hard work process, so is rebuilding, yes,” Mourinho said on Friday. “If I need a full-back and if I buy four, is easier, okay?
“So when I need a full-back when I’m not happy with Luke Shaw level, the easiest is to buy four and some clubs can buy four. We didn’t buy a left-back for three years.”
City discarded four full-backs last year – and bought three. Guardiola has almost always got his way with ins and outs, with Jorginho the outstanding exception. Yet a midfield recruit was not as pressing for City’s centurions as a defensive reinforcement was for United in the summer. The managers’ mentalities differ, yet Guardiola was never going to complain after City finished so far ahead of their rivals they resembled a mirage. A minus goal difference after 12 games suggests Mourinho was entitled to grumble about United haggling over Toby Alderweireld. Players are lingering at the Reds that Mourinho does not want, whereas Guardiola has hacked off every shred of dead wood apart from the immovable object that is Eliaquim Mangala. At United, high-level sources hoped Matteo Darmian would stay – he has not played since August 10. Since Guardiola and Mourinho arrived in Manchester in 2016, City have spent £508m and United’s expenditure stands at £358.7m. Samuel Luckhurst