Mourinho has indicated Pogba is ready to make his second Manchester United debut against Southampton at the Theatre of Dreams on Friday evening having missed the opening match against Bournemouth through suspension.
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Manchester United may have paid a world-record transfer fee to sign Paul Pogba, but Paul Parker says he does not even compare favourably to Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel.
Pogba makes no secret of his desire to usurp Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi by winning the Ballon d’Or, but Mourinho believes that as a midfielder, it will be hard for him to steal their limelight.
Two games into José Mourinho’s tenure as Manchester United manager and the narrative surrounding England’s most successful club has significantly changed.
“[Paolo] Maldini never got a gold ball”.
“I am not expecting him to score a wonder goal, maybe I expect the first time he touches to ball to make a correct pass”. Not even 25 per cent. I believe he can not score 20 goals in a season.
“Their (United’s) players have changed, their manager has changed and Southampton’s view of this team has changed”, said the former Monaco, Lyon and Nice coach.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, United have averaged 2.02 points per Premier League home game, compared to 2.63 in the previous three seasons. In the past few games Mourinho has switched and changed his midfielders and with Pogba nearing match fitness it might change again for the upcoming game.
He finished off his statement by noting that the Swede has extremely high motivation and that he sees him at the club for two years without a doubt. “Before me, comes the team, and what I think is the best for the team”.
Starting only where he could, Mourinho spoke about the possibility of Paul Pogba making his debut.
“But I think it’s very important for the club not to be afraid to do what the club did”. At this moment it’s hard for us to play at home, because playing here is like playing in an empty stadium.
However, Le Tissier is confident they have players capable of troubling United, despite losing Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle in the summer.
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Puel has warned that Southampton’s last two results at Old Trafford will count for nothing on Friday and he has also warned his players not to repeat the sluggish start they produced against Watford. I made a decision to play (Wayne) Rooney both games in that position close to Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) and I didn’t start with Mikhy.
