The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
– Can Mourinho harness attacking talent? –
For the hundreds of millions spent by United in the transfer market in recent seasons, Pogba remains the most marquee of them all having beat off competition from around Europe to make him then the most expensive player in the world in 2016.
The question remains whether Mourinho, who extended his contract in January to 2020, and Pogba can reconcile their differences for the common good.
Despite his stellar coaching career, it is not the first time Mourinho has failed to muster the maximum potential from a prestigious talent.
Two of the frontrunners for Player of the Year honours in England, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah, were disregarded by Mourinho and sold on the cheap during his time at Chelsea.
Not long after he returned to United, Pogba told French magazine So Foot he be “the new midfielder”.
A player he defined as “can defend, he can win the ball, he can make the play, he can pass, he can score”.
A concept that doesn’t sound too dissimilar to Mourinho’s definition of a box-to-box midfielder in recent weeks.
“(It) means you have to defend well, have the physical conditions to go to the other box, where you have to be good at scoring, creating, heading and then, when your team loses the ball, you have to go to the other box,” said Mourinho.
“Now people say a box-to-box has to play free of defensive duties.”
Time will tell if United’s star player and coach can harmonise their ideas on paper onto reality on the pitch.
