He came out swinging.
Jose Mourinho let rip about what he believes are fabricated Paul Pogba stories in his Friday afternoon press conference.
It has been widely reported, over the last two days, that Pogba is said to be unhappy about his deep-lying role in midfield and “regrets” going back to Manchester United.
Ahead of his side’s FA Cup clash with Huddersfield, Mourinho made an admission about Pogba’s recent form but stoutly defended his player.
“I think you are nice with your words,” Mourinho told a reporter, “because when you say ‘a lot of speculation’ you should say ‘a lot of lies’.”
“Because I accept, and I can speak on Paul’s behalf without any kind of problem, Paul accepts that he has not been playing well in the last few matches. But that’s all.
“And if you want to speak about it, then that’s one thing and then your word speculation maybe makes a little bit of sense, but the majority of things you can read and listen, don’t be nice, be objective and say lies.”
“I don’t have to speak with you about my conversations with my players. I don’t have to tell you anything about it.
“It is my problem, it is the player’s problem. A big lie that our relationship is not good, a big lie that we don’t communicate, a big lie that we don’t agree with his positions and his involvement in the dynamic of the team.
“So, be objective and say what we all know – in the last couple of matches he didn’t play well. Period. End of story.
“Now, it’s my problem and Paul’s problem to deal with it and try to improve his performance level. You don’t need to be a liar.”
Mourinho confirmed that Pogba would be starting against Huddersfield and revealed the France international opted out of getting mid-season surgery so he could return to action sooner.
The Red Devils are in FA Cup action this weekend as they take on Premier League strugglers Huddersfield Town and he confirmed that Pogba will start the game and was annoyed by the critism from pundits alike.
“He was playing phenomenal before that [injury]; he played phenomenal after that. He had a red card against Arsenal probably in his best match of the season, in his best moment and probably in the team’s best moment.” Mourinho continued:
“He was out for a long, long time and in this moment, he is not playing well. Period.
“And the team needs him at a good level and when he is not a good level the team is not as good as when he plays phenomenal. “I think it happens with every team when the best players, the most crucial players for some reason are not performing. Period.
“You don’t need to come with ‘we are going to sell him’, ‘we want to sell him’, ‘he wants to leave’, ‘we fight every day’, ‘we don’t see each other’. You don’t need that, and some people go in that direction.
“Some of them I know them for many, many years, I know the profile. I know their surname is liar. There are people in your world that their surname is liar and that’s not nice.”
Ivorian international Eric Bailly is in contention to return to the starting line-up against Huddersfield after three months out due to a ankle injury, Ander Herrera and Marcus Rashford will miss the game through injury, however.
Written by Sam McKeever
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