Mourinho confident World Cup heroics will lift Pogba

Jose Mourinho is confident that the euphoria of lifting the World Cup will provide

a boost to Paul Pogba ’ s club career at Manchester United .

Pogba was the subject of criticism from some quarters for his United performances

last season and found himself relegated to the bench at times during the second

half of the campaign.

However , the 25 - year - old was instrumental in France’ s triumph in Russia,

particularly in the final , when he netted the third goal for Didier Deschamps ’ side

against Croatia .

Although Mourinho now

expects to be without Pogba for

the start of the Premier League

season next month , the United

boss believes the midfielder will

inevitably be in an exuberant

mood when he does report back

for club duty .

“ To win the World Cup can only

be a positive thing. It ’ s difficult

to say that to win the World Cup is not good for a player ’s career. It ’s amazing ,

fantastic ,” said Mourinho in Los Angeles, at the start of United ’s US pre - season

tour.

“ So many good players have never had the chance to be world champions or their

country is not strong enough .

“ For Paul , I think it ’s the first World Cup that he has gone to and to be a world

champion can only be fantastic .

“ It ’s a young team , apart from ( Hugo ) Lloris, they have more Euros and World

Cups together . So I think the future for him in the French national team can only

be brilliant .

“ I hope that he understands why he was so good . That ’s the point about his

performance level and his contribution to a winning team .

“ It ’s important for him to understand why he was so good in the second part of

the competition . In the final , he was absolutely brilliant .”

– Mourinho quiet during World Cup

–

Mourinho sent Pogba a

congratulatory message after the

World Cup, yet had no input into his

performances when the tournament

was underway.

“ I did with Paul what I did with all

my players. I sent a nice message

before the World Cup ( but ) during

the World Cup, I decided not to

disturb anyone, ” he said .

“ When they are with the national team , especially the World Cup, they don ’t need

their club manager to be on their shoulders saying yes , well done, happy not

happy . They just need to focus on the job .

“ Then , after the World Cup, I obviously sent a different message to the other guys

because he won the competition . ”

However , the absence of Pogba and United ’ s other World Cup players at their US

training camp is a major concern for Mourinho .

– ‘ Pre - season is vey bad ’ –

Nine first - team players will miss the entirety of United ’s fortnight stay in the

States and it won’ t be until next week that the trio of Nemanja Matic , David De

Gea and new signing Fred link up with the squad.

“ Pre - season is very bad , I have to say that . The only positive thing of pre - season is

for the young boys that have a fantastic opportunity to train with us and know

what it is to be a Manchester United first team player , ” Mourinho said .

“ I ’ m worried because I ’ m not training and then go to the Premier League without

lots of players.

“ But we have to try to make the best out of it and work with the players we have

here . Maybe it ’s good for Luke Shaw , Eric Bailly , Andreas Pereira. ”

Mourinho , who is unsure if United will bring in any further players this summer ,

has seen his numbers further depleted by the absence of Alexis Sanchez and £ 19

million new signing Diogo Dalot .

Sanchez has been unable to secure a visa to travel to the States , although the club

continue their efforts to resolve the issue , while Dalot will miss the start of the

season through injury .

“ If Alexis is not working with us for 15 to 20 days , it will be very bad, ” Mourinho

said .

“ I know the club is making the effort . I have to respect the US authorities in their

process and selection of visas. ”

On Dalot , he added : “ We knew he was injured , a small injury , a small surgery .

“ He ’ s recovering really well and we think he can start training when we go back

to England. Not ready for the start of the season , but I think ready for September . ”