José Mourinho believes that Paul Pogba, by winning the World Cup with France in 2018, made him lose his bearings when he returned to Manchester United.
Pogba became the world’s most expensive footballer when he re-signed with United for £89 million in 2016, the same summer Mourinho joined the club. The duo got off to a promising start, winning the League Cup and Europa League in their debut season, but things turned sour between them before Mourinho was sacked in December 2018.
Mourinho and Pogba notoriously clashed in training at the start of the 2018-19 season after the former was unhappy that the Frenchman had posted on Instagram during a United match for which he was unavailable. Reflecting on the breakdown of their relationship, Mourinho claimed Pogba changed after his World Cup triumph.
The delayed tackle
“The only thing I can say is that it happens to almost everyone at certain points in their career: you lose a little sense of who you are and what you should be.”Mourinho told the Telegraph. “The season after France won the World Cup (2018), I think Paul came back different. The World Cup took him into a dimension where football was not the most important thing for him.
Pogba has not started any of Mourinho’s last three matches, as a power struggle between the two men has divided supporters and players. The Special One suggested he did not have the full backing of the United board after making the bold decision to remove Pogba, leaving him feeling discredited in front of the rest of the team.
Pogba accused of changing
“When you don’t have support, because the player is more important or what he represents is more important, you find yourself in a fragile situation. Even if you are a coach with a lot of experience, as was my case.”
Pogba remained at Old Trafford for another four years following Mourinho’s departure before agreeing to return to his former club Juventus on a free transfer for a second time. But his return to Italy proved disastrous as he missed most of the 2022-23 season, including the World Cup, due to injury. Pogba then failed a doping test after Juventus’ first match of the season at Udinese, and was handed a four-year ban from playing football.
The Portuguese boss insisted he took no pleasure in Pogba’s downfall, despite disagreements between the two men over the years. “I am not at all happy with Paul’s situation,” declared the Lusitano tactician.
