Under Pressure: Pogba and Mourinho must impress over Christmas

During Paul Pogba’s supension, Manchester United probably didn’t actually miss him all that match. They would likely have lost to Manchester City whatever line-up they had chosen, and wins over West Brom and Bournemouth were a bit of a struggle, but wins nonetheless.

United have got no chance of reeling in City above them, but with no especially difficult games to come until the end of January, when they play Spurs, this is their last chance to make a proper go of things. For Pogba and Jose Mourinho, how they get through this batch of games could have enormous influence on the rest of the season and beyond.

Should United fail to narrow the gap, or at least keep it at 11 points, then there is no real possibility that any kind of slip-up from City will leave them vulnerable. Dragging in a team from above requires more than just form, it requires the psychological disintegration of the team above.

As well as that, it needs the chasing side to believe that there is hope, and a reason to keep going. Such is Pep Guardiola’s confidence that it seems unlikely that he will be particularly bothered by Mourinho’s needling.

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What this means is that United have to make sure that they finish with performances that give them optimism for one more season under Mourinho. Mourinho is in his second season at United, and from his comments about his players lacking commitment against Bristol City, there is no guarantee that he will stay on any longer than May. He has form for quitting when things aren’t to his liking, and won’t be short of suitors. Paris Saint-Germain will gladly give him the money he thinks he needs to achieve success if Ed Woodward isn’t willing to provide it, after all. The players, too, will tire of a manager who is openly disappointed in them if there is no reason to think that he doesn’t, on balance, know best.

For Pogba, he is in his second season as a proper United player, and there is a World Cup to look forward to in the summer. Pogba is not lacking in confidence or ambition, and the chance to win a world cup with France will excite him enormously. The chance to then go on and become a serial winner domestically will probably start to weigh on him. Serie A titles are one thing, the Premier League is another. Beyond that, Champions League trophies are now the only European titles that really mean anything to the best players. You won’t become a five-time Ballon d’Or winner if the best you manage is a Europa League win.

A third season for United, with both Pogba and Mourinho in tandem will likely only occur if there is something to look forward to. That will mean that this winter that United will have given Mourinho yet more money to stock the rest of his squad with superior players to some of the dross they currently have to make do with. It will mean that Pogba believes that United have a real chance of European and domestic success following an impressive second half of the season. And it will mean that Mourinho has decided to swallow his predilection for aggro and tension in order to build something meaningful at Old Trafford, as he claims he actually wants to do.

That is the medium term. After two short-term failures from David Moyes and then Louis van Gaal, United can’t afford another stumble. But if City are allowed to extend their lead yet further at the top of the table over Christmas, then it gives a chance for Woodward to deny his manager funds. It gives Mourinho the temptation to blame his players for not meeting the levels he expected of previous squads. And it gives players the chance to down tools yet again, safe in the knowledge that Woodward is so bird-brained as to indulge them with another sacking, and that Mourinho is too full of his own conviction to turn it into anything other than internecine aggression.

United showed at the start of the season that they can batter the rubbish in the league, and later they demonstrated that Mourinho doesn’t have the confidence that they can do enough against the better sides. There is a tension and a balance to be found between what the players can be relied upon to do, and vulnerable all but City are. So, for Christmas, Mourinho and Pogba have the chance to find their rhythm again, and to point towards the second half of the season not just with optimism, but with arrogance and evidence, and to achieve a momentum that makes the next season something to look forward to. There has been enough consternation at Old Trafford for the best part of half a decade now – it is up to Mourinho and Pogba to lead them towards a serious improvement.