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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Callum Vurley

Mauricio Pochettino's comments on Paul Pogba show what he thinks of benched Man Utd star

Mauricio Pochettino has already given his thoughts on Paul Pogba's situation at Manchester United.

It comes as the Frenchman adapts to a new role where he is deployed as an impact sub rather than a star of the show.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prefers Bruno Fernandes in the more advanced position in midfield.

And instead of Pogba, the likes of Fred and Scott McTominay have become key as defensive midfielders.

It has left the Frenchman sitting on the bench, while his performances of late have hardly impressed the manager.

But this is not the first time Pogba has found himself on the peripherals, with Solskjaer's predecessor Jose Mourinho also sidelining the former Juventus star.

Paul Pogba has found himself benched more regularly this season (PA)

Pochettino offered his thoughts on the situation last year, just weeks before he was sacked by Tottenham.

"There is not one solution. Nobody is going to teach you, it's not in a book," he said in September 2019.

"It's like in a game. Every single action needs a reaction [using] your intuition, experience.

"When something wrong happens in the dynamic of the group it's always about your experience, how you are going to manage. But there's no clear way to behave.

"I think everything is different and you are going to react depending on your emotional state, whether you are in a good or a bad mood."

Pogba has not been at his best this season (Pool via REUTERS)

When Pogba is at his best, he is almost unplayable - as exhibited during the World Cup in 2018 where he played a starring role in Didier Deschamps' winning team.

In January 2019, Pochettino was enthralled by the £89m man and compared him to then-Chelsea star Eden Hazard.

"When you play in this Premier League, every weekend, or every three days as we've been playing in the last few months, always it's about the opponent have a few players that can make the difference," Pochettino said.

"Like last Tuesday it was Hazard, and now Pogba. Pogba is a very talented player, a great player of course. But it's not only Pogba or Hazard, there are different players around.

"Of course they are special players. Manchester United have a great squad with great players with a lot of quality.

"We are not going to be only focused on Pogba, we need to be focused on the whole team not just one player."

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