- Title: United's Mourinho defends Paul Pogba saying "envy is everywhere"
- Date: 15th March 2017
- Summary: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 15, 2017) (REUTERS) TRAINING SESSION FOR MANCHESTER UNITED PLAYERS, PAUL POGBA (TALL, BLOND-DYED STREAKS IN HIS HAIR) TAKING PART WITH ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC, MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO WALKING AROUND TRAINING EXERCISES SEEN FROM AFAR, MAROUANE FELLAINI SEEN TRAINING/POGBA, IBRAHIMOVIC, JUAN MATA AND MARCOS ROJO MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO SITS DOWN AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO, ASKED ABOUT PAUL POGBA, SAYS: "I feel that the world is losing values and we all know that, and envy is coming into certain levels that I am scared with especially the next generations if things go in this direction. It is not Paul's fault that he get 10 times the money that some players, some very good players, had in the past. It is not his fault that some of the pundits are in real trouble with their lives, and need every coin to survive, and Paul is a multi-millionaire. It is not his fault." WHITE FLASH **CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE** (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO, STILL SPEAKING OF PAUL POGBA, SAYS: "That envy is everywhere. And I am very happy with Paul. The club is very happy with Paul, and I think also a good thing is that because of his personality he doesn't give an ass to what people say." **END OF PROFANE LANGUAGE** WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO, SPEAKING ABOUT SECOND LEG MATCH AGAINST ROSTOV AT OLD TRAFFORD, SAYS: "But we know that the 1-1 result leaves everything open. We know that Rostov is a very good team. I know the way they played so many matches away, and some of them big matches against big opponents, so they have experience of Champions League matches away, plus some in the Europa League. So they are coming also to discuss the result. And the result 1-1 is obviously a very doubtful result." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO, ASKED ABOUT FA CUP DEFEAT EARLIER IN THE WEEK AT HANDS OF CHELSEA, SAYS: "The first gift was to play Monday night. The second gift was to play with 10 men. And then the third gift was to have a promenade in the M6. But we are professionals so the next morning we were here, we were here to train and today the same, and tomorrow we go with everything we have." MORE OF TRAINING WITH PAUL POGBA, MARCOS ROJO AND ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC/TRAINING WITH MAROUANE FELLAINI
- Embargoed: 29th March 2017 16:40
- Keywords: Manchester United Jose Mourinho Europa League Rostov
- Location: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001682M05B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:**CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE** (USE OF THE WORD "ASS")
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has leapt to the defence of Paul Pogba after the under-fire midfielder came in for further criticism following a below-par performance in Monday's (March 13) FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Chelsea.
Pogba, who returned to United from Italian champions Juventus for a world record fee of 89 million pounds in August, has struggled to live up to his hefty price tag, scoring seven goals in 40 appearances this campaign.
"I feel that the world is losing values and I am scared about the level of envy coming in. It is not Paul's fault that he gets 10 times the money some players did in the past," Mourinho told reporters.
"It is not his fault that some pundits are in real trouble with their lives and need every coin to survive, while Paul is a multi-millionaire.
Despite Pogba's performances often dividing opinion among supporters and pundits, Mourinho said he was pleased with the Frenchman's performance in this campaign and was sure that the midfielder turned a deaf ear to all the criticism.
"I am very happy with Paul ... The best thing is that because of his personality he doesn't give an ass to what people say about him," Mourinho added.
United host the Russian side FC Rostov at Old Trafford on Thursday and will hope to book their place in the quarter-final of the Europa League following the 1-1 first-leg draw last week.
However, United will be without injured duo Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial for the clash.
In the opening leg, at Rostov-on-Don, United's manager Jose Mourinho complained about the condition of the pitch. On Wednesday FC Rostov was banned from hosting league games at the Olimp-2 Stadium due to poor pitch conditions.
UEFA, European soccer's governing body, had deemed the pitch playable for the first leg match, which United drew 1-1.
Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini agreed that the pitch at Rostov was in poor condition. "I think it is true that the pitch was difficult at Rostov," the Belgian said, but added the team had played and drawn so it was a good result. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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