MANCHESTER UNITED boss Jose Mourinho has told Paul Pogba he must fight for his future ahead of the Red Devils’ clash with Chelsea.
Pogba’s Manchester United future is uncertain with the France international recently toiling in defeats against Tottenham and Newcastle.
He was also benched for the Red Devils’ Champions League game against Sevilla in midweek.
And, speaking ahead of Manchester United‘s clash with Chelsea on Sunday, Mourinho has warned the 24-year-old he must earn his trust to survive.
“I think I don’t give trust for free. I think it’s the other way round,” he said.
“I don’t think its about the manager to trust the player, is the player to make the manager trust him, it’s as simple as that.
“Sometimes it looks like we have to give everything to the players and they give nothing back to us.
“I don’t think that way. The confidence and trust I show towards Scott, he earned it since day one, since he come to the first team training sessions step by step with a lot to learn and a long way to go even now, after I would say maybe eight starts, something like that, he has a lot to learn.
“But since the first moment he was learning that is the way to perform and of course he will have bad matches and make mistakes and be on the bench and not be selected, but I know when I want him to play, I know the kind of mentality, the player I am developing, I know the qualities that will make him a really good player.”
Mourinho did, though, praise Pogba for his professional display in Spain.
“You saw the game against Seville, it’s always more difficult to come from the bench than to start,” he said.
“A player when he is starting the game has a different kind of preparation for it, to be on the bench and to come on without warming up and getting to the pace of the game is not easy and I think he had a very positive game for us.
“Some details are details and some players take five minutes to be ready to play, they don’t have shinpads, strapping, the shirt, but he took 10 seconds to be ready to come to the pitch, to show the professionalism and show he was ready to help the team.
“He responded very well in a professional way both times, he was on the bench against Huddersfield in the Premier League and he responded in a professional way and he was on the bench in Seville and did the same.”
Source:www.express.co.uk