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Cape Town — Wayne Rooney reckons Manchester United should do everything in their power to bring Tottenham United boss Mauricio Pochettino to Old Trafford.
Caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done a fantastic job since taking over from Jose Mourinho, leading United to six straight wins in all competitions, but even though Rooney acknowledges his former team-mate has done a great job, he still believes Spurs’ current boss should be the man for the job in the long-term.
“First of all, you have to give Ole an opportunity and that’s a discussion that has to take place with the Glazers,” Rooney told ESPN.
“But if I had the opportunity to appoint someone, I’d go all out for Pochettino.
“I think Manchester United – certainly over the last 20, 30 years, since Alex Ferguson – have based themselves on youth players, young players, bringing players through.
“I think [Pochettino] gets the best out of his players whether they are younger or older.
“You see some of the young players he has brought through at Tottenham, at Southampton that have gone on to play for the national team, so I think he ticks every box in terms of his quality as a coach, but also his willingness to give youth a chance.”
Meanwhile, United’s record signing Paul Pogba appears to be flourishing under Solskjaer, and Rooney believes United suffered because of a clash of egos between the World Cup winner and Mourinho.
“Well I think with Paul, I watched him come through the academy at United and he’s got a lot of ability,” he said.
“But the difficult time he was going through, if you don’t have a good relationship with the coach, then it’s difficult to be at your top if you feel like the coach is scrutinising every decision you make, every pass you make.
“Paul Pogba will give the ball away, he’ll try passes [and] it won’t be the right pass at times, but you have to let him do that because two or three of them passes will create goals, will create opportunities.
“I think he found it difficult under Mourinho. I think a player and a manager with big egos clashed and the outcome was never going to be great.”
Meanwhile, Former Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has lifted the lid on the frosty relationship between Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba.
The Swede revealed that Paul Pogba never had the confidence of Jose Mourinho during their time together at Old Trafford which affected their relationship.
Ibrahimovic also pointed to Mourinho’s tactics as a reason for stifling Pogba’s performances that even led to the Frenchman failing to make the starting line-up in the latter stages of Mourinho’s tenure.
“There are these players that need to be free, they need to feel free to do what they are able to do under the disciple of the coach,” Ibrahimovic told ESPN.
“Obviously, he has his tactics, he has that, but some players they go above these limits, and you need to let them be free, and I think Paul [Pogba] is one of them.
“Paul didn’t feel confidence from the coach, and the coach didn’t feel confidence for Paul.
“It’s difficult to perform as a player if you don’t have confidence from the coach and you don’t have that energy, that motivation, and Jose felt the same thing about Paul.
“These things happen, and that is part of the game also; I mean, not everybody can go among each other and do well together.
“I feel like you come to a moment where it is too blocked and one goes or the other one goes. At this moment, the coach left, and Paul is more free now.”
Since Mourinho’s departure Pogba has netted five times and assisted four in his past six Premier League outings, which are, coincidentally, the six games for which Solskjaer has been in charge.
The 25-year old has equalled his best return in a single season in the top five European leagues – he also scored eight goals for Juventus in 2015-16 and 2014-15. – Sport24.
— Sport24.
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