Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho aren’t seeing eye to eye, lately.
At least, that’s what the papers are saying.
Given that Pogba’s spent a bit of time on the bench in recent weeks, it does appear his manager isn’t totally happy with the midfielder. How bad things really are, however, isn’t all that clear.
On Wednesday night, the French international put in a man of the match performance to help Manchester United to a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth. Having laid on the pass for Romelu Lukaku’s goal, he was then substituted – probably to keep him fresh for this Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham in mind.
Predictably, the cameras followed Pogba as he made his way off the pitch. Having shaken hands with a couple of the coaches, he then made his way towards the tunnel, only to turn around and take his seat on the United bench for the game’s final minutes.
Eager to feed the idea that the player and his manager were still at odds with each other, some outlets ran headlines claiming Pogba had ‘snubbed’ his manager.
According to the Manchester Evening News, this isn’t how things played out at all. They report that Pogba mistakenly believed that Mourinho had gestured for him to go the changing rooms, as had been the case with Jesse Lingard when he was substituted minutes earlier.
Reaching the doors of the tunnel, Pogba appeared to be called back to the bench by a teammate. Before he takes his seat, Mourinho – along with others in the United dugout – gave him a round of applause before patting him on the back.
Not quite as dramatic as some may have thought.
