Indeed, in five appearances across all competitions, Pogba is yet to find the net or lay on an assist, and many are beginning to question Jose Mourinho’s decision to play him as one of a deep-lying midfield pair.
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Yet there is an understanding that he has a large task to transform attitudes among his players after two years under the stewardship of Louis van Gaal.
What looked to be an exciting new chapter at Old Trafford got off to a dream start under the Portuguese, with Community Shield glory followed by three successive Premier League wins.
The 53-year-old has publicly berated the displays of Luke Shaw, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard, and the players are reportedly losing confidence. Step by step it will be my team’.
Bring back Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The former Chelsea boss wants his players to be more instinctive whereas Van Gaal, his mentor at Barcelona, insisted on drilling procedures into his team.
And while it’s Mourinho who must pick up the pieces, each player also has the responsibility, whether they were signalled out or not, to prove their worth and get United back to winning ways. For now though, United have Northampton to worry about in the EFL Cup via a game that is expected to warrant starts for Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial while Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney slip to the bench.
Marouane Fellaini, Manchester United midfielder has encouraged the Reds to rise up after falling to a third defeat of the season to Watford on Sunday Afternoon.
He also felt the need to remind his players in public last week that they should not need any extra motivation from him to succeed when they enjoy a superstar lifestyle. “But I think we worked really hard, kept it as simple as we could and played professionally”.
‘The club is too big, the supporters are too passionate for the professionals not to feel that every game is very important’.
The last time United splashed the cash in January was in 2014, when Jose Mourinho sold Juan Mata to the Red Devils for a reported fee of £37m.
Press Association Sport understands the left-back had a groin complaint scanned on Tuesday, with the results showing a slight tear that makes him 50-50 for Saturday’s Premier League clash with reigning champions Leicester.
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Memphis Depay has had little action and will figure at Sixfields, although it might have to be as a substitute with Mourinho likely to go for Ashley Young on the left flank.
