Paul Pogba was dropped for Manchester United’s game with Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
Pogba played very poorly in the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur earlier this week at Wembley, and was substituted after 63 minutes. The French midfielder regularly found himself out of position when United weren’t in possession, and he left his midfield partner Nemanja Matic with a lot of ground to cover. He made several poor decisions in the match, but the worst one appears to have been his refusal to accept criticism from his manager.
Jose Mourinho and Pogba had a dispute on the side of the pitch during the match, and the French midfielder, for some reason, chose to argue with his manager. He seemed to lack any tactical discipline during the defeat, yet wouldn’t accept Mourinho’s constructive criticism.
Spurs win showed why United fans must stop comparing Pogba to De Bruyne | @RobRedmond10 https://t.co/pJozmc0Nr3
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 1, 2018
Well, it appears Mourinho hasn’t forgiven Pogba for his poor performance, or for arguing with him.
The 24-year-old dropped to the bench against Huddersfield, with Scott McTominay replacing him in the starting XI.
TEAM NEWS Jose Mourinho rings the changes for @ManUtd with Rojo, Shaw, McTominay & Mata all starting and Young, Pogba and Martial dropping to the bench #PL #MUNHUD pic.twitter.com/ZUg2C1T94J
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 3, 2018
The BBC asked Mourinho before the match why he dropped Pogba for the tie at Old Trafford. The United manager made no mention of the French midfielder, and instead focused on his replacement, the 21-year-old McTominay.
“I play Scott McTominay. He arrived here aged nine years old and spent many years in the academy, he has been waiting for an opportunity which I give him now and again, today is another one.”
However, some on social media felt that Mourinho was too quick to drop Pogba, arguing that his previous good performances warranted another chance in the team.
The only reason Pogba and Martial didn’t perform v Spurs was down to Jose’s mistakes. He didn’t play a 3 man midfield and played Martial RW. Now it could cost United two games in a row.
— Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786) February 3, 2018
At risk of attracting more ire from the Jose can do no wrong branch, dropping Pogba and Martial and still playing Matic and Smalling is a nonsense
— Nick (@ManUnitedYouth) February 3, 2018
Just think it's a rather unhealthy risk to drop Pogba. Yes, was poor vs. Spurs. But don't think making an example of him/it achieves much. In any case, Matic really could do with a game or two out of the team.
— Alex Shaw (@AlexShawTel) February 3, 2018
