Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville says Paul Pogba looks
confused at the club but insists manager Jose Mourinho is the right man
to return the glory days back to Old Trafford, despite Sunday's drubbing
at Chelsea.
All eyes were on Mourinho for his return to Stamford Bridge but there
was nowhere for the ex-Chelsea boss to hide as United suffered a
humiliating 4-0 defeat in the Premier League.
Neville has pointed to the midfield as a particularly problematic
area of United, with Pogba struggling to justify his transfer fee.
"Pogba is no doubt confused," the former defender told Sky Sports .
"He has been signed for such a huge fee and I look at him and it was a
difficult day for him. It was difficult for him at times at Anfield as a
No.10 so, at the moment, I think Jose Mourinho is trying to find a way
to incorporate him and when you sign a player for that level of money,
you somehow have to make it fit."
Determined to prove a point to his former employer after being sacked
in December last year, Mourinho was left stunned after Pedro opened the
scoring inside just 30 seconds.
Some more poor defending saw Gary Cahill double Chelsea's lead in the
21st minute before Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante completed the rout in
the second period.
The defeat, United's third of the season, left Mourinho's side six
points off the pace in seventh position, however, Neville has urged calm
as the Portuguese tactician continues to rebuild the team.
"There will be a massive over-reaction to the game, Jose Mourinho
will come under huge pressure and it will be ramped up ahead of the
derby on Wednesday. I am quite relaxed," Neville.
"When you are a Manchester United fan for 30 years, for 50 years, you
are going to have difficult times like these and you have to accept
when they come along and be mature about it.
"They have got a fantastic manager who has been proven in every
league in Europe nearly, and they have to allow him to do his job
methodically over the next two to three years, get it right.
"There has been some poor management, some poor recruitment decisions
and there have been players signed who are not Manchester United
players. I am not talking about talent, I am talking about profile.
"Pogba and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic are more Manchester United players in
my mind in terms of personality and the physical aspect, so I do think
ultimately Mourinho is on the right track in terms of recruitment.
"They have got to continue to do that and they have got to move away
some of the previous, which will be difficult because they are on big
contracts, but he doesn't panic in the transfer market."
Neville added: "I have to say when I look at United I still don't
know what their best XI is. Mourinho is still early in his reign, he is
identifying his best players, his best XI, his best partnerships.
"To be fair, United have to trust him and will trust him to get it
right over the next couple of transfer windows, because if you look at
their midfield, they have Pogba, [Morgan] Schneiderlin and [Marouane]
Fellaini; that is £170 million spent on central midfielders in the last
three years and I still don't know which is the best pairing. Mourinho
has got to try and build a pair or replace them.
"There is a lot of work to do for United, but as a United fan I am
not alarmed. I thought that they would be better at the start of the
season. Maybe that was a thought of Mourinho having a massive impact,
but when you look at it today, that's not a Jose Mourinho team at all.
"He has got to work with them, he's got to get more out of them. He
can't do anything over the next three months and it will be difficult in
January."
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