A poor relationship with Jose Mourinho harmed the midfielder’s production, says the former Manchester United striker
Wayne Rooney believes Paul Pogba needs to be left to play his game in order to get the best out of him, something he thinks did not happen under Jose Mourinho.
Pogba and Mourinho clashed this season, with the France international stripped of the vice captaincy over criticism over the team’s style.
In the final few games under Mourinho, Pogba was left out of the starting XI for Premier League matches, and did not play at all in the manager’s final game – a 3-1 defeat to rivals Liverpool.
Restored immediately to the XI under interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Pogba has responded with scintillating form, with the midfielder scoring four goals and adding four assists in the six games since the managerial change.
Former Manchester United star Rooney believes that is the result of Solskjaer having a good relationship with Pogba and letting him play his game, mistakes and all – as a opposed to Mourinho, who seemed to put every Pogba moment under a microscope.
“Well I think with Paul, I watched him come through the academy at United and he’s got a lot of ability, but the difficult time he was going through is, if you don’t have a good relationship with the coach, then it’s difficult to be at your top if you feel like the coach is scrutinizing every decision you make, every pass you make,” Rooney told ESPN FC.
“Paul Pogba will give the ball away, he’ll try passes [and] it won’t be the right pass at times, but you have to let him do that because two or three of them passes will create goals, will create opportunities.
“I think he found it difficult under Mourinho. I think a player and a manager with big egos clashed and the outcome was never going to be great.”
Pogba isn’t alone in his resurgence under Solskjaer, which has seen Manchester United reel off six wins in six games and climb back into the Premier League hunt for the top four.
Marcus Rashford has scored four goals in the six games since Solskjaer took over, and has made himself the pick for the XI over the likes of Romelu Lukaku.
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And a some helpful advice from Rooney back when the two were together on international duty earlier this fall may have contributed to his recent success.
“When I went back to play for the national team against the USA, I spoke to Marcus and he was trying too much, he was trying too hard, he was working too hard, he was getting tired at the end of games,” Rooney said.
“But the scary thing with Marcus, when he runs at you with the ball he’s impossible to defend and I reminded him to keep doing that, to just get the ball and run at defenders.”
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