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Pogba ruled out of FA Cup tie due to illness

Since the moment I knew Paul can not play.

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Elsewhere, a week to forget for West Brom was rounded off with an FA Cup exit as fellow Premier League strugglers Southampton won 2-1 at the Hawthorns. In Pogba’s absence, who is to fill his shoes?

Now, Jose Mourinho is determined to bring in the player as he looks to “enhance” his midfield options, according to The Independent. Manchester United are an attacking team, they play with flair, they need exciting players, and Ferguson – whatever about his grumpiness and all of that – he never ever resorted to defensive tactics. From evaluating the starting lineup, it appears as if Mourinho turned to Michael Carrick to fill the void.

“I might say that when he gets back to training he needs to do a bit more practice on this or that”.

The report states that Mourinho sees Kroos as the flawless replacement for Michael Carrick, who will retire at the end of the season.

Mourinho earlier said that Pogba will feature in the FA Cup clash against David Wagner’s side.

While there is a fair argument to say the French midfielder must learn to be more tactically aware and defensively disciplined, but it is also counterproductive to reduce him to only playing a two-man midfield alongside an ageing Nemanja Matić.

Tom Ince twice went close, bending an effort just wide of the far post after being put through by Rajiv van la Parra before the former Derby forward narrowly failed to get the right connection to a Florent Hadergjonaj ball behind the defence.

Pogba returned to action in mid-November and was forced to miss three domestic matches after he received a red card against Arsenal in December.

However, Pogba could miss the clash after the France ace was ruled out of their win at Huddersfield last weekend with an illness.

These include a two-legged Champions League tie against Sevilla and league games with top four rivals Chelsea and Liverpool. The Belgian was their match-winner, destroying Huddersfield with his pace and power and showing composure when it mattered. It could be the difference between silverware or not. Paul was going to play on the left side as a No 8 in a 4-3-3. “The next one is the one that we are out of the FA Cup or we are in the quarter-final draw”, he said.

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Manchester United’s Scott McTominay in action with Huddersfield Town’s Danny Williams.

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