Paul Pogba v Mourinho: How much was Jose to blame for Man Utd flop?
Karan Tejwani
- 16 Jun 2022 14:31 BST
- 3 min read
New details have emerged from Paul Pogba’s new documentary – The Pogmentary – and it highlights the Frenchman’s relationship with former manager Jose Mourinho.
It’s well-known that Pogba and Mourinho had a frosty relationship when they were together at Manchester United, and the documentary highlights some aspects of it.
Mourinho signed Pogba from Juventus in a world-record move at the time, and while they got off to a fine start, winning the Europa League and League Cup in their first season, it went sour after.
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The two had rifts several times during their time, and when Mourinho was sacked in December 2018, Pogba was often blamed for letting the manager down.
Pogba "points finger at Mourinho"
Now, according to The Athletic, Pogba “points his finger at Mourinho” for his struggles at Old Trafford when they worked together, further emphasizing on their relationship.
The two had clashed publicly on several occasions, including once during a 2-0 defeat against Tottenham in January 2018 just as Mourinho’s spell started to get fall apart.
Later on, Pogba was stripped of captaincy for one game, before a video emerged of an awkward training ground conversation between the two in which the player looked confused.
It was also reported that Mourinho labelled Pogba as a “virus” in the squad, which didn’t go down very well within the club.
Throwback to Jose Mourinho explaining the difference between Paul Pogba at Man United and France after the last World Cup 👀 pic.twitter.com/s3JQucRExj
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 16, 2020
Pogba later played well under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for periods, but his form, just like Manchester United’s, fizzled out through the 2021-22 season.
He was unable to recover that during Ralf Rangnick’s interim spell, as the Frenchman spent much of that spell on the sidelines due to injury.
Pogba is expected to make a return to Juventus this summer, six years after he left, having seen his contract run out at Manchester United.
There wasn’t much insistence from the Red Devils to extend his deal this year, which prompted suggestions that it was best for all parties to move on.
