Paul Pogba's injury is no excuse for Man United's lack of creativity given money spent in other positions

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  • Paul Pogba has been out of action since injuring his hamstring against Basel

    It may not take much for Jose Mourinho to blow his top but, after almost two months of what must have felt like unbearable pressure, the ‘P’ word finally erupted from his mouth.

    “I think any other manager would be speaking about Pogba every day,” said Mourinho earlier this week, before mentioning Paul Pogba another five times.

    ‘Oh I don’t have Pogba. Oh, when I have Pogba. Oh, 10 matches without Pogba. Oh, all the Champions League group phase without Pogba. Oh, all the big matches against Liverpool, against Chelsea, against Spurs without Pogba.’

    And breathe. To give Mourinho credit he has indeed kept shtum on Pogba for the most part since that hamstring injury in September – and he would have found very few sympathetic ears outside the corridors of Carrington if he hadn’t.

    That United have the creativity of tracing paper without their record signing is no excuse given the millions they have chucked at other areas of their attack. United scored two goals in three Premier League games last month, a number even rudderless Everton managed to beat.

    Mourinho’s tactics have come under fire – although it’s rather bizarre that anyone was surprised by his trademark pragmatism against Liverpool – and now he has lobbed a verbal grenade at the fans who have questioned Romelu Lukaku’s form.

    Mourinho is right to leap to Lukaku’s defence even if he was wrong to go on the attack. The Belgian has in fact been United’s biggest creative outlet of late, whipping in the cross that gave them hope against Huddersfield before his superb flicked header helped Anthony Martial down Tottenham.

    Behind the big man is where the dysfunction lies. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has lost his head, and frequently possession, since his early spurt of form. Juan Mata elicits nothing more than a faint shrug when he’s in the team – a pretty player lacking substance.

    Henrikh Mkhitaryan in action against Benfica has struggled for form

    Henrikh Mkhitaryan in action against Benfica has struggled for form

    Marouane Fellaini may be the least pretty of them all but he was certainly make things happen before his injury and the replacement of Pogba’s replacement, Ander Herrera, looks utterly bereft of form as his contract standoff drags on.

    Ultimately there will always be a disconnect between the swashbuckling tradition of the club and Mourinho’s percentage game but in Pogba, the Portuguese has a player that bridges the divide.

    Pogba is so talented that Mourinho enables him to play just a little outside his structure, as he twirls around his markers and makes improbable passes seem impossibly easy.

    If Manchester City are powered by Kevin De Bruyne, and Tottenham lean on Christian Eriksen, then it stands to reason those teams would feel the loss of their entertainer-in-chief too.

    It is fitting that the fan disgruntlement boiled to the surface just ahead of Mourinho’s return to a Chelsea, a place he insists still loves him no matter the enmity that has since arisen from managing the world’s most ‘hated’ club.

    When the Stamford Bridge support think of Mourinho’s cherished Chelsea sides they summon images of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba. Perform the same thought experiment with United and do you yet credit him for the rise of Marcus Rashford? Has he turned Phil Jones into a titanic Terry-like figure? Not quite.

    You instead may think of the man with many haircuts and the easy-going smile who softens Mourinho’s rough edges. For both his and the fans’ sake, Pogba’s return could not come soon enough.

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