Jose Mourinho has challenged Paul Pogba to give his best for Manchester United after winning the World Cup with France as he questioned the Frenchman’s focus at Old Trafford.
Pogba has struggled for consistency at United but the star midfielder played a key role in France’s World Cup triumph in Russia.
The 25-year-old – who has been linked with a return to Italian champions Juventus – scored in the final as France accounted for Croatia 4-2, capping a fine individual campaign at the World Cup.
Pogba’s performances came after a difficult campaign in Manchester, where he was benched for both legs of United’s Champions League last-16 defeat to Sevilla, while he was substituted in Premier League losses against Tottenham and Newcastle United.
“I don’t think it’s about us getting the best out of him, it’s about him giving the best he has to give,” Mourinho told ESPN FC.
“I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give [their] best.
“Why? Because it’s closed for a month, where he can only think about football. Where he’s with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate.
“During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a big match again.
“In the World Cup, the direction of the emotion, of the responsibility, of the big decisions is always growing up.
“You are in the group phase, you go to the last 16, to the quarter-finals, to the semi-finals, to the finals. This feeds the motivation. This feeds the concentration of a player.
“So I think it was the perfect environment for him.”
Pogba scored six goals and tallied 10 assists as United finished second in the Premier League last season.
United legend Rio Ferdinand had eralier laid the challenge at Mourinho’s door and claimed he must get the best out of Pogba now that he has proved himself on the biggest stage.
Ferdinand, speaking on BBC, said: ”He’s had a tough season in terms of the media and people within the game, but for this World Cup he was responsible, and he stood up to a lot of hard tests.
“It’s down to Jose now to unlock the Pogba we saw at this World Cup. He was the talisman of this team.
“When he played at Juventus he was affecting games, maybe United aren’t getting the ball to him in the right areas.
“At United he’s not receiving a ball off a player like [Andrea] Pirlo, the balls aren’t getting to him quick enough in the right areas.
“He maybe isn’t being put in the right positions at the start of the game. And this is the manager’s job to figure it out