Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho spoke to the media on Friday and addressed various topics but wouldn’t be drawn on Paul Pogba’s performance for France.
The 25-year-old provided an assist for Kylian Mbappe to open the scoring against Russia before scoring with a delightful free-kick of his own as he put in a confident display.
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Naturally, he’ll be hoping he can now replicate that for the Red Devils between now and the end of the season, but Mourinho seemingly wasn’t open to the discussion of Pogba’s performance for France which perhaps could have led to questions over his form for Man Utd.
“I don’t comment on my players’ performances in national teams,” he responded to reporters, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
It could be argued that it wouldn’t have hurt him to throw a little praise at his star man, but Pogba has struggled to impress in a Utd shirt recently on a consistent basis and so perhaps Mourinho genuinely isn’t looking too much into his efforts with France.
Meanwhile, much has been said about Luke Shaw’s future at Old Trafford over the last fortnight, particularly after he was substituted at half-time in the win over Brighton in the FA Cup earlier this month.
The Daily Mail suggested that a confrontation in the dressing room was then followed by a heated meeting between the left-back and Mourinho during the week, and so it remains to be seen whether or not he is selected in the coming weeks before a question will be asked over his long-term future in the summer.
Mourinho seemingly dismissed the entire situation, insisting that picking Shaw in his line-up wouldn’t be an issue for him regardless of all the speculation surrounding him.
“If he’s available, Luke Shaw is always an option. Ashley Young wasn’t available to play against Brighton so I started with Luke Shaw, so that’s not a problem,” he added.
There was better news as far as the injury front was concerned though, as the Portuguese tactician was pleased to reveal that Young, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo would be in consideration, albeit Daley Blind and Sergio Romero are ruled out.
At this stage of the season as they continue to battle for second place in the Premier League and the FA Cup, Mourinho will be desperate to have as close to a fully-fit squad as possible in order to compete on both fronts and enjoy a strong finish to the campaign.