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24th July 2018
12:17pm BST

However, Pogba put those difficult months behind him to star in Russia. In the semi-final, he put in a disciplined performance as France crept past Belgium. Pogba went one step better with his display against Croatia in the final when he scored as Les Bleus won their second World Cup. United fans are hoping that the 25-year-old can carry his form into the new Premier League season, but Mourinho doesn't seem convinced that he can.
The United manager has said that Pogba was suited to the nature of tournament football, as the intensity and high-stakes nature of the World Cup enabled him to maintain his "concentration."
"I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give [their] best," Mourinho told ESPN.
"Why? Because it's closed for a month, where he can only think about football. Where he's with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate. During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a big match again."In the World Cup, the direction of the emotion, of the responsibility, of the big decisions is always growing up. You are in the group phase, you go to the last-16, to the quarterfinals, to the semi-finals, to the finals. This feeds the motivation. This feeds the concentration of a player." Mourinho also said that it is not his job to "get the best out of him", but the responsibility is on Pogba to try his best for the team. Hopefully, for his sake, the optimism, confidence and joy Pogba experienced at the World Cup will carry him through the tough winter months and Mourinho dropping him for Scott McTominay. It could be a long season for United.
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