Carragher: United should change system to suit Pogba

Joe Williams

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho should consider changing his system to suit star signing Paul Pogba, according to Jamie Carragher.

Pogba left Juventus in the summer to link up with new Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford in a deal worth a world-record fee of £89million.

The France international has yet to have a serious impact on any games after returning to Manchester, with no assists or goals in his four appearances so far.

Despite it only being early on in the season, former Liverpool defender Carragher believes Mourinho’s tactics are hampering Pogba.

“The Pogba I saw for Juventus was able to run free and wreak havoc because he had Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio chaperoning him, giving him protection and guidance, but I was a little bit disappointed with him when I saw him play in a two for France at Euro 2016,” Carragher wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.

United made it back-to-back defeats with their Europa League loss to Feyenoord on Thursday and Carragher was hoping to see Pogba grab the game “by the scruff of the neck”.

“There were flashes of brilliance but he seemed more interested, at times, in doing the flicks and dribbles you would associate with a No 10. That’s very unusual for a central midfielder. I never saw him grab a match by the scruff of the neck and stamp his authority on it.”

Carragher thinks Mourinho may have to move away from his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation to accommodate Pogba – even if other players have to suffer.

“If he reverts to 4-3-3 there will be ramifications for other players, notably Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Wayne Rooney, who is currently playing as No.10,” Carragher added. “But should a manager have to change to fit in one player? If they cost £90million, then the answer is yes.”