Paul Parker: Pogba's fee isn't the risk - having Mourinho as his manager is the big problem
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Updated 10/08/2016 at 12:33 GMT
Paul Parker believes Jose Mourinho's treatment of Juan Mata and Bastian Schweinsteiger at his former club Manchester United places huge doubts over his ability to handle Paul Pogba properly after his world-record £89m move from Juventus.
Paul Pogba has joined Manchester United from Juventus.
Image credit: Eurosport
I really hope Jose Mourinho doesn't try to interfere with the way Paul Pogba likes to play the game.
We all know the Manchester United manager likes a certain style of play, but that won't work at Manchester United. And trying to stifle Pogba's attacking instincts won't go down well with the United fans.
We've seen again at the Community Shield on Sunday that Mourinho doesn't really know how to treat players like adults when they don't fit in with his vision of the game.
The Juan Mata episode was just embarrassing when he subbed the subbed saying he needed a taller bloke. How you can do that to such a player just doesn't make any sense at all.
And neither did Mourinho's excuse claiming he needed more height. It felt and looked like an unnecessary dig at the player.
United fans like Mata, and he is a player who has done relatively well in a fairly mediocre United side over the past few years.
Mourinho embarrassed him, and those things come back to haunt you because other players lose trust in you as a manager.
Players will quickly lose trust in a manager when they see such conduct because they are worried he might try to belittle them in front of millions on TV.
Take it from me, a dressing room quickly learns not to trust a manager. Players these days are not as mentally strong as years ago, when they used to stick a finger in the face of managers if they were unhappy.
You should just be honest with players when you are a manager, and tell them you don't fancy them. We all suspect Mourinho wants rid of Mata, so why not make it easy on the player and the club without people wondering if you are up to your old tricks?
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Paul Pogba - Manchester United
Image credit: PA Photos
His treatment of Bastian Schweinsteiger is another lesson on how not to treat players.
The man is a World Cup winner and a seasoned professional. He is living overseas, away from home and should be put him around fellow professionals until he moves, not made to train with the kids.
You don't do that to people because other players quickly become suspicious.
When Mourinho says he has a happy squad that is not true, because I know from experience players will be concerned about his treatment of Mata and Schweinsteiger.
We have to wait to see if Pogba really wanted to play for Mourinho. He said he does, but what else would he say when the money on offer is so big?
How can you really trust such a manager when you don't really know what is going to happen next?
We've seen that at Chelsea last season. Mourinho lost the dressing room and had issues with certain individuals.
That happens for a reason. You can't keep blaming players.
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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho celebrates after winning the FA Community Shield as Sir Geoff Hurst applauds.
Image credit: Eurosport
Sometimes you have to look at yourself. You must be willing to change and that is why the younger, more enthusiastic managers appear to be doing well.
Look at Slaven Bilic at West Ham, Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and Antonio Conte at Chelsea. You wonder why managers who had success suddenly become stubborn when it isn't going their way?
Mourinho has been busy calling Arsene Wenger stubborn, but he should look at himself in the mirror, and realise that he is suffering from a similar problem.
When he went back to Chelsea he said he was a changed man, but he proved beyond doubt in the second season that he couldn't change.
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Juan Mata - Jose Mourinho - Community Shield
Image credit: Reuters
United are hoping he will be a good fit for the club, but it is merely hope: hope for a return of the Fergie era, of an attacking brand of football, full of free spirits.
But that hope is absurd. Mourinho didn't deliver that style at Porto, Inter, Real Madrid or in either stint at Chelsea. What makes them think it will all change at Old Trafford?
He needed United more than they needed him. He took a huge hit to his ego after his Chelsea exit, in how he was viewed as a man and a manager.
He needs good things to happen for him to be judged well again as a manager. He has to stop calling himself the 'Special One' too. United and Chelsea are bigger than him, because he's shown he'll never hang around long at any football club. United as a club are the 'Special Ones', not him.
I would say to him, let Pogba play like Pogba. He already leads by example with the way he gets around the pitch. He knows what he is doing, and must be treated properly.
He can't be told to get back 90 yards and then asked to run forward 90 yards. Let him play in behind to support the forwards; or else allow him time and space to sit a little deeper.
If you are going to make him a footballer who is only there to obey orders, it is a complete waste of £89m.
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‘I didn’t finish what I started at Manchester United’
Image credit: Eurosport
As for that fee? Of course, it is a lot of money. And United have now shelled out half a billion on players since 2013.
They let Pogba go almost for nothing and now they bring him back for a world record fee.
Everybody is looking at Manchester United to see if they can prosper with all this money spent, because they haven't prospered since Sir Alex left the club.
It puts pressure on United to succeed. They have to succeed. If they were spending that level of money on Lionel Messi, nobody would be bothered about it.
But Paul Pogba? People can see he has done well in a Juventus side over the past few years, but he had a fairly mediocre Euro 2016,.
People feel a bit underwhelmed by him, and there are a lot of people out there hoping he will fail. Everyone is waiting to see if he will deliver for Manchester United.
There might be a method in the madness because Juventus are certain to improve after Pogba. I'm sure that is a club that will do well in the Champions League.
And you do wonder why Real Madrid weren't interested in Pogba? Manchester United need him to do well on the pitch, but they also know they are going to do well out of the merchandising.
And there's a bigger issue at work. Because when it comes right down it, having Mourinho as manager presents a greater risk than Pogba's fee.
Paul Parker
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