Paul Pogba has certainly had an up and down couple of weeks recently. In the 3-2 Manchester derby win at the Etihad, he was arguably the most dominant player in the Premier League that week. In the 1-0 West Bromwich Albion loss this past weekend, the Frenchman was totally abominable. Tonight, in the 2-0 win at Bournemouth, he was again elite.
After the match, United manager Jose Mourinho had a lot of praise for Pogba, and he also defended his midfielder against the criticisms made by club legend Paul Scholes.
Scholes speaking to BT Sport about Pogba’s dismal showing at Old Trafford versus West Brom: “I thought it was a bit disrespectful towards his manager the way he played.”
When he was asked to comment about Scholes’ scathing critique of Pogba, Mourinho responded: “I don’t agree. I agree that it wasn’t a good performance at all; with that I agree.”
As for Pogba’s performance today against the Cherries, Mourinho branded it as a Man of the Match level showing. The Frenchman started, and played 80 minutes before being subbed off for Daley Blind. Mourinho said coming into this match that it would be used as a try out for the FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Pogba, and apparently everyone else now it seems, are in contention to start in the much anticipated clash at Wembley.
“Every player on the pitch was positive and put himself available for Saturday. I’m not very good on Man of the Match. I’m not a big fan of it, but Paul Pogba played very well. Against Man City he was phenomenal but today he was very, very good.
“A good choice.”
“He can do it,” Mourinho finished, repeating, “He can do it.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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