Darren Fletcher has warned that Paul Pogba’s ego could be the next problem for Manchester United to tackle after the exit of manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday.
The Red Devils announced that Mourinho had left the club with immediate effect on Tuesday, with the club to appoint a caretaker until the end of the season.
Former United midfielder Fletcher has now expressed his concern about key figure Pogba, first saying he needs a “kick up the backside” before explaining why he is such a worry for the club.
Speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport, Fletcher said: “That’s another concern to me – everyone talked about ‘Who’s going to go? Is it going to be Pogba, is it going to be Mourinho?’.
“Now, if Pogba starts thinking that he’s bigger than Mourinho, there’s your next problem. Somebody needs to get control of Paul Pogba and say listen ‘This hasn’t been a battle between Mourinho and Paul Pogba and you’ve won. You’ve got to go and prove yourself now.’
“And a manager has got to come in there and demand more from him to lead this team forward.”
"Pogba hasn't conducted himself well & he needs a kick up the backside from the new manager"
Darren Fletcher says #mufc face another major problem if Pogba is allowed to think he has "won" after Mourinho's sacking.
*Mourinho special Football Daily* ? https://t.co/OTd7pmaxuF pic.twitter.com/P7RF5DQHuG
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) December 19, 2018
OPINION
It is no secret that Pogba and Mourinho did not see eye-to-eye at Old Trafford, with the two at odds for a long while now. Pogba’s continued exclusion from the starting team in recent weeks was evidence of that, with United quite clearly needing a player of his creativity in the middle of the park. Now that Mourinho is gone it will be interesting to see how Pogba reacts, especially under a caretaker manager whom he knows will not be around for a long time. This will be a big test of Pogba’s commitment to United, and will illustrate whether his problem was with Mourinho or is with himself and his ridiculously big ego. Fletcher is spot on in highlighting this as a problem for United, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has now been confirmed as that caretaker boss, will have his work cut out in fixing it over the course of the season.