Man United: The Pogba vs Mourinho narrative can have no positive ending

It’s hard to remember quite when it started, and in a sense it has probably always been there. Ever since Paul Pogba returned to Old Trafford for a world-record transfer fee in summer 2016, the debate over whether the Frenchman should be showing the consistency and discipline Jose Mourinho’s philosophy demands of him, or whether the Manchester United boss should be creating a platform that better allows the midfielder’s more impulsive style to thrive, has continuously rumbled on.

Everybody from Paul Scholes to Chris Sutton, Graeme Souness to Mino Raiola, has had their say somewhere down the line.

But the Pogba-Mourinho narrative has now reached unprecedented territory in what feels like its closing chapters. Developments along the way – Mourinho repeatedly hauling off Pogba, often for Marouane Fellaini in a substitution that symbolises his preference for substance over style, the Frenchman helping drive his country to World Cup glory, the allegations of Raiola offering United’s most recognised entity to Manchester City and Barcelona – have somehow generated the current climax, where the manager and his match-day captain seem to have almost equal power within the United structure.

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Indeed, for every Mourinho statement, Pogba is now given the chance to retort in public, as if he represents the Leader of the Opposition and the British media are suddenly devout to the ideals of impartiality. Perhaps that’s an indictment on the way journalism has devolved; sticking a quote under someone’s nose in the hope of getting an outraged response and subsequently an irresistible headline is becoming a disappointingly overused dirty trick.

Jose Mourinho argues with Paul Pogba on the touchline

But even so, the case with Mourinho and Pogba is a particularly extreme one and creates the perception that there are at least two clear divisions within the club. Whereas Mourinho represents the official authority, Pogba vocalises the true underlying power – the many supporters disillusioned by style of play that want the team to move in a more ambitious direction, the board and owners who continue to reap the benefits of his commercial impact.

That’s how it’s subconsciously been billed anyway, and in some senses Mourinho only has himself to blame. Making Pogba matchday captain has further encouraged the press to interview him at every opportunity, and created an environment where he’s asked to respond to everything Mourinho’s said publicly and vice versa. The comment about being fined was certainly ill-advised, but perhaps that was the United gaffer’s thinking all along – give the 25-year-old enough rope and eventually he’ll hang himself, talk his way into Mourinho having justifications for dropping him.

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But that logic only highlights the real danger of this increasingly destructive narrative – that it can have no happy conclusion, no compromise which allows both player and manager to settle their differences. It feels like the point of no return happened some time ago and the collision is now inevitable, like a self-destruct sequence that can’t be overridden. It’s just a case of when, rather than if, that moment comes to set the bomb off and shoot debris into every direction, probably causing a healthy supply of collateral damage in the process.

Jose Mourinho gestures towards Paul Pogba

And that’s much worse news for Mourinho than Pogba, because the France international is becoming the much greater force in the United power structure. It’s rather incredible to think Sir Alex Ferguson once dispensed of David Beckham because he had grown into a greater commercial than footballing entity, such has been the dramatic transformation of the landscape of English football.

In a business sense, Pogba is worth far more to United than Mourinho – he’s the glamorous face of the brand, the social media influencer, the personality that convinces young children to demand United merchandise from their parents at Christmas – and the value of players in the transfer market has reached such a point that it’s so much easier and cheaper to replace the man in the dugout than the players who won’t listen to him, even if that man is indeed one of the best managers of his generation.

Once again, Pogba is one of the most extreme cases of this, but that only makes the dangers more extreme as well. Even in the modern era, it’s hard to think of any instance where a single player has appeared to have as much power as the manager at a Premier League club and it’s hard to think of any instance where journalists have subsequently pitted captain against manager so easily, both seemingly willing to follow the script on the most-part.

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It has become impossible to envisage a peaceful outcome that benefits both parties – this isn’t so much a case of underlying tensions, rather reality-tv-style vox pop spats – and the real concern isn’t who eventually wins this civil war (although the smart money’s on Pogba) but how much damage is done to United in the process.

Neither Pogba nor Mourinho will be able to wipe their hands clean of that once the dust finally settles.

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