Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba sent a rather unexpected message of thanks to former manager Jose Mourinho after today’s win over Cardiff City.
The France international had a superb game as the Red Devils looked back to their best to thrash Neil Warnock’s side 5-1 in the Welsh capital.
Given how badly things seemed to be going under Mourinho, it is little surprise that much of the narrative this week has surrounded the players’ reaction to the Portuguese’s exit.
The Sun reported of Pogba mocking Mourinho in training in reaction to his sacking, but the 25-year-old was very civil when speaking after today’s game.
Asked about Mourinho, who has been replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer until the end of the season, Pogba would not be drawn into criticising his old boss and instead paid tribute to the work he did in his two and a half years at Old Trafford.
Pogba was particularly keen to thank him for helping him win trophies in their first season together, saying it improved him as a person.
“I know you’re waiting for something about Jose, about the result today,” he told reporters, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.
“Obviously, we are very happy with the result. We played well, the performance of the team was great and I know you want to ask me but, ‘Oh yeah with Jose..’
“With Jose, we won trophies and I want to thank him for that. Not everything worked well but things went well, we won trophies. Winning trophies makes you improve as a person as well and that’s it. That’s the past. I want to thank him for that.
“I’m sure all the players are now looking to the next game, the points, and we have to go back into and we want to go back to the top of the league. That’s all I want to say. The performance of the team was great.
“We are happy the first game with the manager starts like this and the important thing now is to carry on like that. We cannot play like this and score five goals and then lose. That’s it.”