Manchester United fans were shocked when Jose Mourinho sent out his team sheet for Saturday’s home clash with Huddersfield Town for star man Paul Pogba was the glaring omission and many felt the Portuguese tactician was sending the Frenchman a message by dropping him from the starting XI.
#MUFC‘s starting line-up for #MUNHUD is in… pic.twitter.com/UTYTd83BCT
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 3, 2018
Pogba had an below-par performance in United’s midweek loss to Tottenham Hotspur and the fact that Mourinho had hauled off the club’s record signing shortly after the hour-mark with his side trailing did not go unnoticed.
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The self-styled Special One made four changes to the side that lost 2-0 to Spurs at Wembley for Huddersfield’s visit but it was the swap of United Academy graduate Scott Mctominay for Pogba that had fans worried.
Mourinho is extremely vocal at his press conferences whenever his players do not perform to his expectations, with the likes of Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw having faced the brunt of their manager’s ire in the past.
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However, Pogba has never been publicly been given a dressing down, leading many to feel that the Frenchman was a ‘protected’ player at Old Trafford due to his stature and immense price-tag (£86 million).
The club-record signing had an largely-underwhelming debut campaign (2016-17 season) and while he has been one of the standout performers in the Premier League’s 2017-18 season, clearly his manager feels the 24-year-old needs to do more.
Interestingly, the loss at Wembley was the first time United had tasted defeat in the league this season with Pogba in their starting XI.
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The Frenchman is on the bench and could feature in the second-half if United require his services against a side that are on the edge of the drop zone.
United’s arch-rivals Manchester City drew 1-1 at Burnley earlier on Saturday and if United can beat the 17-ranked Terriers, the Red Devils will have trimmed the gap between themselves and the Sky Blues to 13 points.