Where does the club-record signing fit in Jose Mourinho’s starting XI?
Manchester United winger Alexis Sanchez (L) and midfielder Paul Pobga (Photo: AFP)
In the wake of a multitude of analytical articles with regards to the best position and formation for Paul Pogba, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho took aim at the experts as he explained the Frenchman was competent enough to play in any system as long as he was in the midfield slot.
Pogba’s disappointing outing against Tottenham Hotspur ended near the hour-mark two weeks ago when Mourinho hauled him off and the fact that the the Portuguese tactician dropping him for their bench for their next Premier League encounter against Huddersfield Town had raised a few eyebrows.
“Paul is a good professional,” Mourinho stated as he added, “Paul works well, Paul likes to train”.
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Any reports of a rift between the manager and the player were quashed as Mourinho insisted, “I never had one single problem with him regarding his professionalism because he really is a very good trainer. He’s one of the guys who likes to train and enjoys to train”.
However, in the wake of the loss to Spurs, many pundits had opined that Pobga did not have the tactical discipline to play in a central midfield pivot in the 4-2-3-1 formation United have mostly employed this season.
Most felt that the Frenchman was better suited to playing in a three-man midfield in a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3 with another midfielder like Ander Herrera or Marouane Fellaini assisting Nemanja Matic in shielding the defence while allowing Pogba to break forward.
“In relation to his best position, I had a few laughs over the past few weeks because I heard, I watch, I had the chance to read a few things and I’m not English but I think I understand English enough to understand what you want to say with box-to-box,” Mourinho said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“But with some comments from important people in football, I got a little bit confused because, for me, box-to-box means box-to-box and means you have to be good in this box, you have to be good in this road and you have to be good in that box. It means that you have to defend well in this box, you must have the physical condition, the desire, the intensity, the stamina to go until the other box.
“In the other box, you have to be good at scoring, creating, heading and so on and so on. Then, when your team loses the ball, you have to go to the other box because I think this is the meaning of the phrase box-to-box. But, this week, I got confused when some people say a box-to-box (player) has to play free of defensive duties – that’s not a box-to-box, that’s a box in the box and staying in that box and doesn’t move from that box,” a visibly amused Mourinho added.
“I got a bit confused. I think this country produced a lot of amazing box-to-box players and I had the pleasure to coach some of them. But I think nowadays, with some pundits, some agents, some family members, I think the concept of the box-to-box is changing a little bit. I think now it looks like we are going to a different concept of box-to-box.
“Box-to-box is not my words, of course. I heard it for the first time in 2004 when I arrived (in England). For me, with my Portuguese and trying to just translate to English, I just think just ‘midfield players’ and, for me, Paul is a midfield player. He’s not a left-back, he’s not a striker, so when people ask what’s the best position for Paul to play – Paul is a midfield player.”
The arrival of Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez at Old Trafford from arch-rivals Arsenal as a part of a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan has heightened expectations but there are some who feel United’s new No.7 will force the Red Devils to play in a different style than what they are accustomed to and it may not be ideal for their club record signing.
“It depends on the tactical system the team plays – he can play with two, he can play with one, he can play with three (midfielders) but he will always be a midfield player. It doesn’t matter the tactical system the team plays – for me, Pogba is a midfield player. But then, with so many opinions and we are in a world of opinions, people can get a little bit confused. But between me and Paul, there are no confusions. He is a midfield player and that’s it and a midfield player with more potential than Paul has is difficult to find because Paul has everything,” Mourinho emphatically stated as he sought to end the topic once and for all.
United take on Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Sunday and while Pogba is expected to be restored to the starting XI, it will be interesting to see what kind of formation Mourinho employs at a ground he has never won at.
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