Reports: Jose Mourinho expects the board's backing amid Paul Pogba feud

What's the news?

The Sun reports that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is expecting Ed Woodward and the United board to be entirely behind him in the battle against Paul Pogba. He wants them to provide support as they gave to Sir Alex Fergusson during his tenure.

Recent footage showed a training ground bust-up between Mourinho and Pogba where the manager has been saying 'Get Out' to the player. It's believed that Mourinho was livid after the match against Derby where Paul Pogba was seen laughing from the stands.

In case you didn't know...

Paul Pogba arrived from Juventus in 2016 at a world record fee of €105 million. The Frenchman left United after struggling to find game time under Sir Alex. He moved to Juventus at a free transfer from where he became one of the sought-after talents in world football.

Paul won four Seria A titles, two Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana during his time with the Italian giants. When Mourinho appointed as the United manager in 2016, there was a dire need of a word class midfielder in the squad and in came Pogba after a transfer battle with Real Madrid.

In the second tenure at United, Paul has so far won the Europa League, the League Cup and the Community Shield. He has played 66 games in the Premier League scoring 13 goals and providing 15 assists in the process.

The heart of the matter

Paul Pogba played in a three-person midfield with Juventus which he played for France as well. But at United, Mourinho played him in two-person midfield which somehow didn't give him the license of going forward. The defensive aspect of the game made him vulnerable which resulted in inconsistency to creep in.

Mourinho defended Pogba in the initial stages of his life at United, but gradually situation started to worsen, and Jose criticized his star man's attitude and even stripped him off from vice-captaincy recently. On the other hand, Pogba has also made his frustrations felt with comments like playing more attacking football at home, shutting his mouth in fear of getting fines. All these have increased the tension between these two which has put the bard in the dilemma of choosing between the manager and the player.

Rumor Rating - 7/10

The recent footage had all but confirmed their broken relationship, and it looks like a matter of time before one of them gets the sack. Based on the pieces of evidence, the rumor seems genuine, and there could be some truth behind it.

What's next?

No matter how much the tension rises between the two, Manchester United has to perform and win games which they are not doing at the moment. If the on-field performances are not good, all these rumors will keep on rising gradually. Both the manager and the player are true professionals who should try to solve the issue between them and look forward to the next round of fixtures that are coming up.