Jose Mourinho thinks Paul Pogba players better for France than Manchester United because he is in an environment to "focus just on football."
Pogba recently stated it was a "breath of fresh air" to be away with the French national side after a tough start to the season with United.
Advert
Many fans were left confused by his comments but Mourinho summed up why the midfielder plays his best stuff for 'Les Bleus.'
Speaking to ESPN after the 2018 World Cup, which Pogba won, former Red Devils boss Mourinho explained: "I think the World Cup is the perfect habitat for a player like him to give [their] best.
"Why? Because it's closed for a month, where he can only think about football.
Advert
"Where he's with his team on the training camp, completely isolated from the external world, where they focus just on football, where the dimensions of the game can only motivate.
"During a season, you can have a big match then a smaller match, then one even smaller, then you can lose your focus, you can lose your concentration, then comes a big match again.
"In the World Cup, the direction of the emotion, of the responsibility, of the big decisions is always growing up.
"You are in the group phase, you go to the last-16, to the quarterfinals, to the semi-finals, to the finals. This feeds the motivation. This feeds the concentration of a player."
Pogba has less than two years left on his United contract but Fabrizio Romano claims the club are keen to offer a fresh deal.
Advert
He started in France's last two games, a 2-0 defeat to Finland and 1-0 victory over Portugal respectively.
"This is a period, the kind of which I have never experienced in my career. The French national team is a breath of fresh air... We are very happy to come here and all very happy to see each other again," the 27-year-old told RTL.
"It is not the same as with the club... We all group together, it is magical. We realise that everyone is happy to come and that makes a difference."
National team manager Didier Deschamps believes Pogba isn't happy at Old Trafford right now.
Advert
"Paul, I know him well and he knows the group well. He is in a situation with his club where he cannot be happy, neither with his playing time, nor with his positioning," he said.
"Like all the players who have a situation in a club that is not positive, beyond the athletic aspect, they are also impacted on the mental level."
Topics: Paul Pogba, Football News, Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United, Man U, Man utd, France