Jose Mourinho has made it known to Paul Pogba that he will never captain Manchester United again, further straining the relationship between the both.
Pogba laid on an assist for Fred’s opener in the 1-1 draw against Wolves on Saturday but was later dispossessed by Ruben Neves in the build-up to the equaliser.
Mourinho later blasted the attitude of his players in his post-match press conference, saying: “That’s a basic law of football, you have to play with the maximum of your potential, with the maximum of your focus.
“Unless you are playing in such a weak league where you play against really weak opponents and then playing 20 per cent of potential is enough to win. That’s not the case, and we all know that.”
Pogba later told reporters that United ought to be playing a more attacking pattern at Old Trafford, thereby questioning Mourinho’s tactics.
“We are at home and we should play much better against Wolves. We are here to attack,” said the 25-year-old. “When we play like this it’s easier for us.
“I think teams are scared when they see Manchester United attacking and attacking. That was our mistake.
“Maybe the attitude should be better and we should play better because, again, we are at Old Trafford and we should just attack and press like we did against Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal last season.”
Mourinho’s response was to launch a tirade at Pogba in training in front of the rest of the first-team players during which he told the France international that he will never captain the club again under his watch.
Pogba has served as the vice-captain so far this season, leading the team against Leicester City, Brighton and Young Boys in the absence of regular captain Antonio Valencia.
Mourinho also confirmed that Pogba will not be second captain anymore, telling Sky Sports that: “The only truth is that I made the decision of Paul not to be the second captain anymore.
“But no fall-out. No problems at all. The same person that decides Paul is not second captain anymore was exactly the same person that decides that Paul was the second captain, myself.
“I am the manager, I can make these decisions, no fall-out at all, no problems at all, just one decision that I don’t have to explain.”
This is just the latest in a series of issues between the two stretching far back to the time when Pogba was first dropped from Mourinho’s starting lineup ahead of the Champions League trip to Sevilla.
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