Mourinho benched Paul Pogba to Win Man’U clash with Liverpool – Nelson Mandela

Jose Mourinho says he left Paul Pogba out of his Manchester United starting XI to face Liverpool on Sunday to bring more aggressiveness and intensity in midfield.

The Frenchman has lost his place in the United team in recent weeks and was benched for their last two Premier League matches against Arsenal and Fulham, while he did little to impress in the Champions League in midweek against Valencia.

Mourinho has previously said his midfield lacks ‘mad dogs’ and he reiterated the need for more aggression to stop Liverpool – something Pogba patently lacks.

Asked to explain his decision to leave Pogba on the bench, Mourinho told Sky Sports: ‘I made many decisions. I made many decisions with starting with 11 players and leaving others on the bench.

‘I always try to choose what I think is best for the team. I think the team lately with [Ander] Herrera, [Nemanja] Matic and [Jesse] Lingard lost some qualities.

Mourinho has previously criticised the effect Pogba sometimes has on United (Picture: Getty)

‘But at the same time we become more aggressive, more simple, more intense without the ball and that’s what I think we need to play against such a fast team like Liverpool.’

On United’s approach at Anfield, Mourinho continued: ‘I think a very difficult match for both teams. I don’t believe in a difficult match for us and an easy match for them. I think a difficult match for both teams.

‘And we are going to try to hide our fragilities, we are going to try to expose their little fragilities. We are going to try to explore our good qualities and we are going to try to stop their fantastic qualities.’