Paul Pogba has been criticised by Micah Richards for his 'disrespectful' comments made while on international duty with France this week.
The World Cup winner stated representing Les Bleus was a 'breath of fresh air' amid one of the toughest periods in his career.
Although Pogba didn't talk negatively about United during the interview with RTL, nor did he make a direct comparison between the atmosphere in the France squad and the atmosphere in the United squad, Richards saw the comments as an opportunity to take aim at Pogba.
"He needs to have a little bit of respect for Man United because I've backed him to the hilt so many times," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "We've come out before and said he shouldn't have his agent saying things for him, which we all agree on, but going away with your national team because you're playing well with your national team, then sort of creating problems in the team that has shown a lot of faith in you and put a lot of trust in you.
"I think it's disrespectful. I'm not the one to jump on any bandwagon with Pogba, I still believe he should stay, I still believe he's good enough to take the team where they need to go to if he's fully focused.
"But I lost a bit of respect for him when he said that because he knows how big he is, not just on the field but off the field, he knows there have been so many problems surrounding him playing, then being on the bench, so to make that comment when you're away, this is the first time I have to criticise Pogba.
"He should know better than that and if he wants to send a message, how many times has Ole come out and protected Pogba? So he should show a little bit of decency, even if he feels that way, just go and speak to the manager and tell him how he's feeling. Don't do it on international duty."
