MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has angrily insisted that rumors his relationship with Paul Pogba has broken down are “lies.”
According to French sports newspaper L’Equipe, midfielder Pogba is unhappy with the more defensive position in which he has been used by Mourinho.
Pogba, who rejoined United from Juventus for £89.3 million ($123.5 million) in August 2016, has struggled in recent weeks and Mourinho has taken the 24-year-old off during two of the Red Devils’ last three matches.
Other reports said the arrival of Alexis Sanchez has unsettled the Frenchman.
At his press conference on Friday, ahead of the FA Cup fifth round tie against Huddersfield, an irate Mourinho said Pogba would play on Saturday and dismissed suggestions there was any issue between him and the France international.
“I accept and I can speak on Paul’s behalf without any kind of problem. Paul accepts that he has not been playing well in the last few matches but that’s all.
“I don’t have to speak with you about my conversations with my players. I don’t have to tell you anything about it,” the Portuguese boss added.
“It’s my problem, it’s the player’s problem. It’s a big lie that the relation is not good, a big lie that we don’t communicate, a big lie that we don’t agree with his positions and his involvement in the dynamic of the team.”
Mourinho admitted that in the last two matches Pogba “did not play well” but he told the press conference: “I think you are nice with your words, because when you say ‘a lot of speculation’ you should say ‘a lot of lies’.”
“There are people in your role that their surname is ‘Liar’.”
Mourinho, whose second-placed side are a huge 16 points behind runaway Premier League leaders and local rivals Manchester City, believes Pogba’s difficulties in overcoming hamstring and thigh injuries sustained in September have contributed to his struggles.
“He had a big injury in the season, a big injury,” Mourinho said. “He was out for a long long time. And in this moment he is not playing well, period. He is not playing well, period. And the team needs him at a good level.
“And when he is not playing at a good level the team is not as good as the team can be. I think it happens with every team when the best players, the most crucial players, for some reason are not performing. Period.”
Mourinho also said there was no disagreement between him and Pogba about the player’s position as he again rounded on those in the media who have questioned how the midfielder is used.
“Do you know which is the Pogba preferred system? 4-3-3. Do you know which is Pogba’s favorite position in the 4-3-3? No.8 on the left,” Mourinho said.
“I would like someone to tell me in which position, Pogba played against Newcastle. Does one of you want to tell me?
“We played with one no.6 and two no.8s. We played with (Nemanja) Matic as a no.6, (Jesse) Lingard on the right side of Matic and Pogba on the left.
“So it’s easy and honest, and objective to say Paul Pogba did not play well against Newcastle. But some of the guys (reporters)are paid millions.Don’t let people read things that are not true. You are paid to read the game, to explain (to) people the game. Don’t say b*******.”
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho slams Paul Pogba ‘lies’
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho slams Paul Pogba ‘lies’
Postecoglou admits taking Nottingham Forest post a ‘bad decision’
- Postecoglou, 60, was appointed as Nuno Espirito Santo’s successor in September
- “There’s no point me blaming it on ‘I didn’t get time’ or anything,” said Postecoglou
LONDON: Ange Postecoglou has said he has only himself to blame for an extraordinarily brief reign as Nottingham Forest manager, with the Australian accepting he made “a bad decision” taking on the job with the Premier League strugglers.
Postecoglou, 60, was appointed as Nuno Espirito Santo’s successor in September.
But infamously impatient Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis sacked Postecoglou just 39 days later, after the experienced manager lost six of his eight games in charge.
Postecoglou, reflecting on his time at Forest for the Overlap podcast, said an over-eagerness to get back into management after his departure from Tottenham Hotspur three months earlier, had been the root cause of his troubles at the City Ground.
“There’s no point me blaming it on ‘I didn’t get time’ or anything,” said Postecoglou. “I should never have gone in there. That was on me. That was a bad decision by me to go in there. I’ve got to take ownership of that.
“It was too soon after Tottenham. I was taking over at a time where they were kind of used to doing things a certain way and I’m obviously going to do things differently. I’ve got to cop that, that was my mistake. It’s no-one else’s fault.”
Postecoglou remains without a club but he has ruled out returning to Celtic, where he enjoyed a successful two-year stint from 2021-23, with the 73-year-old Martin O’Neill currently in caretaker charge of the Scottish champions until the end of the season.
“I loved Celtic, it’s a wonderful football club,” said Postecoglou, who left the Glasgow giants to join Spurs. “If I was younger, I probably would have stayed there longer. I probably would have stayed there three, four years.
“I think I could have made progress with them in Europe but at the time, it had taken me a long time to get to this sort of space, and the opportunity to join Tottenham was too good.
“In terms of going back, I don’t go back. I just don’t think that’s kind of been my career.
“Whatever the next step is, it’ll be something new, somewhere I can make an impact in, somewhere I can win things, but it doesn’t diminish the affection I have for Celtic.”
