Paul Pogba: Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho says midfielder is 'different class'

Last updated on 18 November 2017.From the section Man Utd217

Paul Pogba: 'If I didn't believe we could win, I would stop playing football'

Paul Pogba was labelled "different class" by Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho after returning from injury with a goal and an assist.

Pogba set up Anthony Martial for the equaliser and scored the third goal as the hosts came from behind to beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford.

The France midfielder had missed the past 12 league and cup games with a hamstring injury.

"It was a great performance from him," said Mourinho.

The Red Devils had failed to win three of their previous seven league games without Pogba as he recovered from injury.

However, the 24-year-old produced a man-of-the-match performance as his side set a club record of 38 games unbeaten at Old Trafford to beat the Magpies and stay in touch with leaders Manchester City.

Mourinho pleased with dominant Man Utd reaction

"Paul Pogba is different class - Paul and Nemanja Matic grew up together at the start of the season and are the engine of the team," added Mourinho, who replaced Pogba after 70 minutes with Marouane Fellaini.

"It was in Paul's hands, how many minutes to play until he began to feel fatigued."

Graphic showing that Manchester United's Premier League win record with Paul Pogba in the team is 57.6% compared with 37.5% without him since the start of the 2016-17 season — Manchester United's Premier League record with Paul Pogba starting (left) and without the midfielder (right) since the start of the 2016-17 season

On a positive day for Manchester United, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic also returned to action with a 14-minute appearance as a substitute.

Former Sweden international Ibrahimovic, 36, was making his first appearance since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury on 20 April.

"To see him back is a great emotion," added Mourinho. "His was such a dramatic injury.

"You recover some players and you lose others. Some teams are luckier.

"We have had to go through difficult matches without important players. Let us see if we can go through the Christmas period with all the players available at our disposal.

"The more players we have, the better for me."

Five reasons why Zlatan has been missed

.view-comments-button-wrapped-component {display: block !important;} .view-comments-button-wrapper {display: none !important;}

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

217 comments

Comment posted by Highrised, at 10:41 19 Nov 2017
Pogba seems to have an infectious spirit, always looks like he is having fun. Lukaku will also get the kick up his arse he needs in the form of Ibrahimovic forcing his way back in, all good with those two back.
Comment posted by User0561687666, at 11:03 19 Nov 2017
That Ibra has came back to a top side after a cruciate injury is amazing. Those can be career-enders even for younger players. He is something special.
Comment posted by U16681038, at 11:18 19 Nov 2017
Pogba is no doubt a talent but still has a lot to prove. He owes the club big performances and was missing in his first season. A few good games do not make him a great player and he needs to produce his quality consistently. When he is good he is good but not consistent enough. I am a Utd supporter so this is a realistic, and not a haters comment. He will find his level without the hype.
Comment posted by User0338497287, at 11:18 19 Nov 2017
13) The Citizen

Great to see you on yet another United HYS... This guy never misses a Utd story, he doesn't always come across that well. But easily the biggest United fan on the BBC website; follows all our headlines! Fair play to you kid, you love it!
Comment posted by User0338497287, at 14:39 19 Nov 2017
I love the Citizen... There is no logic to his words, child-like almost in the grammatical layout of his sentences. You might even begin to think he's repetitive & lacks insight, But when you read between the lines of his amazing humour managing to remould words like Man Utd to 'manure' it's pure comedy gold & shows true depth in understanding the game.
Your are the Man U super fan! Thank you..
Comment posted by Gl, at 11:13 19 Nov 2017
@11 - I’ll accept that Zinedine is a cracking first name especially side by side with Zidane. BUT Diego??? and Lionel?????? You must be joking, I’d rather be called Paul....
Comment posted by next year will be our year, at 11:13 19 Nov 2017
Whatever u sad trolls say he’s a quality footballer, it’s not up for debate. If he was available any of your teams would have him and he’d walk in

Great to have him back but I hope it’s not to late for the league
Comment posted by Erics collar, at 18:51 19 Nov 2017
@163 Manchester City was formed in 2008 son never forget it
Comment posted by Wawnered, at 10:52 19 Nov 2017
Aye the old green eyed monster rears its head! Keep it going Abu's. Hide your heads as the trophy's stack up. Jose is the real deal. It is a long time until May!
Comment posted by MikeM, at 13:22 19 Nov 2017
I dont usually get personal on these threads, but some of the comments here seem to come form some seriously mentally challenged individuals.

Why are they even reading and commenting on a team they claim to hate.
Comment posted by U16805692, at 11:16 19 Nov 2017
10. Posted by ForestForever
"Over rated, over priced and overpaid"

So like the first Million pound footballer then?
Comment posted by GSC38BW, at 11:43 19 Nov 2017
41: What a ridiculous thing to say. United should and did beat Newcastle who are a mostly championship squad, as the stingy owner wouldn't get his wallet out for new players. It's condescending, plastic, airheads like you people think of when they need a laugh. I presume you're a mancunian with a season ticket?
Comment posted by Stef74, at 13:29 19 Nov 2017
@70 MikeM

Unfortunately these HYS’s are full of the same sad individuals, sat in their mothers basement, just waiting for the next article to troll. They think they’re clever & witty, when in reality they just make themselves look utterly stupid.

I used to think football Twitter was bad, but it’s got nothing on the drivel spouted by the clowns in these threads.
Comment posted by PeteD, at 10:30 19 Nov 2017
Gotta love Mourinho - he bigs up a player he paid E100Mil for when the best player in the PL is one he let go - KDB
Comment posted by Mancunia, at 18:31 19 Nov 2017
Hah hah City “fans”. Please never stop showing your inferiority complexes to the world.
It makes my day!
Comment posted by next year will be our year, at 12:12 19 Nov 2017
@47 united scored 4 goals how can u say that’s parking the bus. If that’s not want u want to see I’ve no idea what your looking for. We have the second best scoring scoring and best defense. Sounds like Jose is doing a good job to me
Comment posted by BiteMe, at 14:03 19 Nov 2017
The boy Pogba is class for his tender years. At half pace he ran the show, a consummate performance. With everyone fit, Utd are a major force.
Comment posted by SimplyTed, at 11:51 19 Nov 2017
FC United of Manchester getting bigger growing stronger, owned and run by supporters. 😈
Comment posted by next year will be our year, at 11:22 19 Nov 2017
@28 agreed last year he was frustrating with his inconsistency but this year he’s come good. He’s had a positive influence on every game he’s played this year in the league
Comment posted by Bird, at 14:48 19 Nov 2017
With apologies to those that keep it sensible - There are a lot of very immature people posting on here.

Regardless of which team you support there is nothing wrong with acknowledging the quality of a player that plays for another team.

Shame really, HYS could be such a good place. It is only a good place to go if you want to see silly childish names like 'Man Ure' , 'Moaninho' and the like.