How World Cup helped Pogba – Mourinho

Manchester United boss, Jose Mourinho has said that Paul Pogba needs to prove he can be successful at Old Trafford after the French man’s 2018 FIFA World Cup success.


Pogba silenced his critics this summer by helping France to lift the World Cup, and scoring in the final against Croatia.

The 25-year-old had a difficult season at United last season, with Mourinho dropping him at several points’ through-out last campaign.

Mourinho, however, believes the World Cup environment helped Pogba to thrive.

“I don’t think it’s about us getting the best out of Pogba, it’s about him giving the best he has to give,” Mourinho told ESPN.

“I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give [their] best.

“Why? Because it’s closed for a month, where he can only think about football. Where he’s with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate.

“During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a big match again.

“In the World Cup, the direction of the emotion, of the responsibility, of the big decisions is always growing up.

“You are in the group phase, you go to the last 16, to the quarterfinals, to the semifinals, to the finals.

“This feeds the motivation. This feeds the concentration of a player. So I think it was the perfect environment for him.”