Mourinho defends Pogba as he reacts to Scholes criticism
Paul Scholes’ stinging criticism of Paul Pogba has been rejected by Jose Mourinho after the Manchester United manager insisted the France midfielder produced another “top performance” at Bournemouth.
Pogba laid on Romelu Lukaku’s goal as Manchester United prevailed 2-0 in Wednesday’s Premier League clash, with Chris Smalling also on target.
Former United midfielder Scholes insisted Pogba’s below-par showing in Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to West Brom was “disrespectful” to Red Devils boss Mourinho.
But Mourinho rejected that critique, choosing instead to praise Pogba for hitting back to form on the south coast.
Asked to comment on Scholes’ criticism of Pogba, Mourinho replied: “I don’t agree. I agree that it wasn’t a good performance at all (against West Brom); with that I agree.”
Scholes told BT Sport: “I thought it was a bit disrespectful towards his manager the way he played”, of Pogba’s showing in Sunday’s 1-0 Old Trafford defeat to basement club West Brom.
Mourinho made seven changes from the loss that handed Manchester City the league title for the Bournemouth trip – but crucially retained Pogba.
And the former Juventus star produced a much-improved display, leaving Mourinho purring.
Asked to rate Pogba’s showing at Bournemouth, Mourinho replied: “Top performance. Top performance. Obviously the performance against City was special, coming with two goals.
“But this performance was a very similar level. So top performance. He can do it.”
However, claims on Wednesday painted a very different picture with the United boss reported to have identified a £50m target to replace the Frenchman this summer.
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