It seems there is a developing news story regarding Paul Pogba or Jose Mourinho every day, but it’s often hard to tell what is blown out of proportion and what is fact. Stories of a rift between the two have been circulating for some time but one could be forgiven for not being totally convinced by them as Mourinho had selected the World Cup winner as his vice-captain.
More fuel was thrown on the fire after Pogba insisted in a post-game interview that Manchester United should rather ‘attack attack attack’ after they were held at home to newly promoted Wolves. It was then revealed that Jose Mourinho had apparently told Pogba in front of his teammates that he would not be Manchester United captain ever again, accusing the 25-year-old of thinking that was bigger than the club.
Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho’s relationship is getting worse and worse… pic.twitter.com/ygSrcqhYTE
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 26, 2018
More hearsay but that there was a mounting belief that not all was well behind the scenes despite Mourinho still insisting there was no rift between the two. However, all the speculation and rumours were finally put to rest thanks to some eagle-eyed work from a Sky Sports cameraman filming the players at Carrington on the morning of Wednesday the 26th.
The footage shows Pogba arriving at training where he shakes the hand of one of Mourinho’s assistants which is followed up by Mourinho saying something to Pogba which the 25-year-old seems to take exception to. Pogba is seen looking bemused before getting stuck into an animated argument with Mourinho. Pogba’s body language is totally dismissive of Mourinho and it looks like any respect that they had for each other petered out a long time ago.
There’s no doubt that footage would have been viewed by Ed Woodward and the other powers that be at Manchester United which begs the question, who will be shown the door first? Make no mistake: either Pogba or Mourinho will leave in the very near future as this isn’t an environment the other players can work in. You only have to look at how uncomfortable it is for the Manchester United players during this hostile exchange to realize how big of an impact this is having on the squad.
This all comes on the back of what seemed like a successful week for Manchester United where they beat the high flying Watford away from home before schooling Young Boys in Bern during their opening Champions League fixture. That 3-0 win was so empathic Man United dropped to odds of 7/4 to win Group H in Champions League betting, what’s more, is Pogba played a telling part as he netted twice.
What a difference a week can make and right now the club look incapable of moving forward before this problem is sorted out.
If one had to GO who’s your pick?
RT for Mourinho
❤️ Like for Pogba pic.twitter.com/rTdOQpi1WP— EPL Bible (@EPLBible) September 26, 2018
It seems pretty safe to say that there are irreconcilable differences between a young and impressionable Paul Pogba and an older Jose Mourinho who is simply unwilling to compromise. The only way Pogba leaves before Mourinho is if the Man United hierarchy decides to back the manager and then wait until January which should give Mino Raiola more than enough time to sell his player to the highest bidder in Europe, if he hasn’t already.
It has always been the Manchester United way to back a manager over a player that goes rogue but crucially it may not just be Pogba that has irreconcilable differences with Mourinho but also vice-chairman Ed Woodward. Don’t look away, there will be an imminent high profile departure from Old Trafford in the near future.
