JOSE MOURINHO has tipped Paul Pogba to be his new version of Frank Lampard as Manchester United ramp up their pursuit of the leading pack against Liverpool.
The world’s most-expensive player started his second attempt at a United career slowly. But the last few weeks have seen him hit his stride and he’s now found the net six times.
Mourinho admits that he has fine-tuned his formation to get the best out of the French midfielder’s goal potential, much as he did when he first came across Lampard at Chelsea.
“I remember when I arrived in 2004, and in my first matches I played 4-4-2, where Lampard was the inside player on the left,” says Jose.
“It took me maybe a couple of months to understand that, he had so much potential to score goals, I had to change the team for him.
“I’ve done nothing to change Paul’s mentality because he has strong psychological qualities. But maybe tactically I’ve helped him.
“I’ve tried to make a dynamic in the team where he can be dangerous.
“He can arrive in certain positions where he has the potential to score, or he’ll have a free-kick or a shot from 20-25 metres.
“I don’t want to set a target for him but I feel that in every match he can score without necessarily being a goalscorer.
“At the moment, Paul is very happy with the way the team plays and how they allow him to play.”
If Mourinho’s most-expensive signing has taken a while to click, free transfer Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit the ground running and has already scored 18 times in all competitions.
But is it feasible to ask a 35-year-old to replicate a sensational first half of the season in the second?
“I honestly think it is,” says his manager. “But if we go on in the cup competitions and we have to postpone League matches, I think April and May will be difficult for everyone and not just a 35-year-old.
“It might be possible to leave him on the bench for a game. But I have to go match by match and see what the team needs and how other players are individually.
“When I rest players, I have to keep a certain balance in the team because we need to win matches.
“Zlatan has a top-team mentality. He’s never happy. He wants more from himself and more from the others.
“He wants important results and important challenges and he’s a good influence for us.”
United have now gone 15 games without defeat, the longest unbeaten run since the Sir Alex Ferguson era, and Mourinho’s longest since he was manager of Real Madrid.
“I’m not chasing records,” he says. “I don’t like them.
“I didn’t even know that it’s my best run since Real. But I showed at Chelsea that you don’t need these runs of results to be a champion.
“But because the beginning of our season had so many draws, especially at home, we needed these results.
“It’s an amazing championship. Last season the top clubs under-performed, but this season you have weekends where all the top six are winning.
“To drop points, sometimes you’ve needed two of them to play against each other.
“The top teams are really strong yet the others are also really good. There are many good teams.
“I think the best team has to win it. That’s what always makes me happy.
“Even when I look to Spain, France or Portugal, I’m happy when the best team during the season is the one that wins the trophy.”
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