This wasn’t Huddersfield at home. It wasn’t one of those predictable occasions at Old Trafford when Jose Mourinho could rely on a Manchester United win and drop Paul Pogba to the bench, as he did at the start of the month.
This was the last 16 of the Champions League away to Sevilla in Spain. United’s first appearance at this stage of the competition in four years and one of their biggest games of the season.
So when the news was confirmed an hour before kick-off on Wednesday night that Pogba would only be a substitute at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, and young Scott McTominay would play instead, Mourinho knew exactly what kind of message this would send out.
Paul Pogba started on the bench for Manchester United’s clash with Sevilla on Wednesday
Jose Mourinho preferred to hand a start to young English midfielder Scott McTominay (right)
The Manchester United manager knew exactly what kind of message his call would send out
United’s £89million record signing kept out of the team by a young man making only his second Champions League start.
Pogba may have got on after 17 minutes when Ander Herrera limped off injured, but this was still a chastening experience for the Frenchman.
Has Pogba been getting too big for his boots at Old Trafford? Is this Mourinho laying down the law?
Or is the United manager genuinely struggling to get the best out of one of the world’s top players because he isn’t disciplined or diligent enough?
On Saturday, when United played Huddersfield again, this time away in the FA Cup, he was unable to use Pogba in his preferred role on the left-side of a 4-3-3 due to illness.
On Wednesday night, Mourinho had the choice and left him on the bench.
The French midfielder was brought on after only 17 minutes for the injured Ander Herrera
Pogba missed United’s win at Huddersfield through illness – in Spain he was fit but still left out
After all, Herrera went straight back into the starting line-up alongside McTominay and Nemanja Matic on Wednesday night despite not playing since the end of last month.
It appeared to backfire as well when he went off early in the game.
By then, Pogba’s omission was already the main topic of debate in the BT Sport studio.
‘You always go to the one who doesn’t start,’ he said when quizzed about the decision before kick-off, not for the first time declining an opportunity to speak more positively about Pogba.
‘McTominay is working hard every day, feeling strong and played the last match for 90 minutes.
‘Last Saturday, Paul was unable to play. We believe this is the kind of game where we need players to be 100 per cent.
‘Paul gave us some doubts by not playing last Saturday, by his own decision. He was not feeling good.’
‘McTominay is working hard every day…and played the last match,’ the United boss said
United’s record signing warms up alone ahead of the Champions League clash on Wednesday
PP, DID YOU PAINT THOSE TRAINERS YOURSELF?
Paul Pogba’s latest indulgences are a classic pair of adidas Originals with a twist — his initials PP in garish red brushstrokes. While a standard pair will set you back £69.95, with the option to add your initials if you fancy, these are likely to be a custom-made gift from the company … although less impressed online commentators suggested he might have painted them himself.
Pogba, who is a big fan of his own initials, and also has them plastered across his cushions, luggage and even a pool table at his Cheshire home, teamed the shoes with an ICON embroidered beanie hat (£145 by trendy label Dsquared2) and his Manchester United tracksuit, which was thankfully free of red paint.
And if you’re desperate for your own Paul Pogba kit, he does have a capsule collection with adidas. How does £129.95 for a pair of shoes with his name on them sound?
BY EMILY MONCKTON
Maybe Pogba was paying the price for phoning in sick on Saturday morning and then returning to training just 24 hours later.
‘Pogba is big enough to take it on his shoulders,’ said Frank Lampard, a favourite of Mourinho’s at Chelsea. ‘Mourinho wants to shock him and get a reaction.
‘For £90m, you want to get the best out of him. But you look at the best teams. They all have an urgency to get the ball back. You cannot have a passenger.
‘You have to say “it might not be your best attribute, but you at least show urgency and get in position”. It’s awareness and effort. There are basics for that position; a desire to run, and an awareness of what’s around you.’
Paul Scholes knows a thing or two about playing in midfield for United, and he believes that Mourinho still hasn’t worked out how to get the best out of Pogba.
‘Mourinho has lost a bit of trust in him, especially for a big European away game,’ said Scholes. ‘He doesn’t play the role well defensively. Pogba has more ability than other three ahead of him, but Mourinho wants stability.
‘At Juventus, he was one of the best midfielders in the world as a small part of a team. But at United, he doesn’t know if they will play a three or a two (in midfield) and 18-20 months into his United career, we are still talking: where is his best position in the team?’
Rio Ferdinand can understand why Pogba’s languid style can be a source of frustration.
Pogba was unable to inspire United to victory in the first leg of their last-16 clash in Spain
‘I would have screamed at him if I played with him,’ said the former United defender. ‘He would have found me a nightmare, because I would have been pushing him all over the park. It’s that intensity he has been lacking.
‘When you pay £90m for a player, you play him in positions which highlight his strengths, but we are talking about his weaknesses. The team does not set up to get the best out of Pogba.’
In three days’ time, United face Chelsea at Old Trafford in another huge game, and not least because it pits Mourinho against his arch critic Antonio Conte.
Will he trust Pogba to carry United’s hopes then? You would have thought so. But it’s a sign of his diminished status at United that we don’t know for sure.