- Mourinho refuses to admit claims he is responsible for Pogba's under-performance
- The France international has been benched in the last two Premier League games
- However Mourinho has revealed the Frenchman will be starting against Valencia
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho angrily refused to answer questions from journalists on why Paul Pogba is yet to be at his best this season.
The 25-year-old will return to United's starting XI when they face Valencia in their last Champions League group game at the Mestalla.
The £89million midfielder was benched in two consecutive matches for the Red Devils but Mourinho has challenged the Frenchman if he can retain his place ahead of their visit to Liverpool on Sunday.
READ ALSO: Carragher comes hard on Pogba, calls him the most undisciplined player
However the Portuguese gaffer he debunked suggestions he is responsible for Pogba's inconsistent form this season.
When asked why he thought he had not got the World Cup winner to perform, Mourinho replied: “I don’t think your question goes in the direction of what I want to answer. I don’t like your question.”
The question was rephrased and he was probed as to why Pogba had not been at his best, he snapped: “You can put the question from another direction, but I don’t like the direction you put the question.”
Mourinho also refused to open up on whether or not he has spoken to Pogba one-on-one like he did with Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian striker Lukaku revealed after United's 4-1 victory over Fulham that his manager had “told me what he wanted from me” during “good conversations”.
But Mourinho responded that some players respond better to advise than others - in what seemed a pointed reference towards the Frenchman.
Mourinho said: “Romelu was not the only player I had meetings with.
“I have meetings when I feel I can have a positive impact on the players. I have them when I feel that the players are open to it.
“I do it when the players give me all their indications they want to improve and are really open for somebody with more experience than them to speak to them."
Pogba will playing alongside a weak side with United having already secured their passage to the last-16.
The Special One said: “I'm looking for Paul to play well and have a good impact in the game, and a good impact in the team.
“It is a team with many players that don't have many miles on their legs, a team with some players that are not playing a lot.
“So I hope that people like Paul have that number of miles that players need at that top level and have a good impact on the team.”
His Spanish teammate Juan Mata, 30, said: “Paul is looking forward to playing and trying to perform at his best.
“We all know that when he does that he is a fantastic midfielder.
“As a team-mate, obviously what I want is that he can play at his best level because if he plays well the team will improve a lot.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba believes Jose Mourinho is trying to "humiliate" and "make an example" of him to other flops in the squad.
It is understood that the 25-year-old acknowledges he is being used as a scapegoat by the Portuguese gaffer.
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