Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba had different takes on Manchester United’s penalty debate on Friday night.
Pogba eventually dispatched the spot kick in the opening minutes of United’s Premier League clash with Leicester but teammate Alexis Sanchez clearly felt like he should have been given the opportunity.
The pair of big personalities went back and forth before Pogba, who was the captain on the night, pulled rank and stepped up.
A stuttering run-up ended with the French midfielder guiding the ball into the top corner of the Foxes net and, after the match, Pogba insisted that there was no designated penalty-taker.
“We don’t really have one,” Pogba said on Sky Sports. “The manager has names but after, it’s how we feel.
“I decided to take it, I was one of the names and in the next game, I can leave it for Alexis next time, it’s not a problem.
“It is just the win that is the most important.”
But when he took to his post-match press conference, Mourinho insisted that he did have a pecking order in mind if his side happened to be awarded a penalty on the opening day.
The United manager revealed that Pogba was always first in line to take the spot kick.
“The thinking was that he is a very good penalty taker and he likes the responsibility of it and he’s the first choice,” Mourinho said, via the Mirror.
“Of course on the pitch we have a second and third choice, in case of not confidence or for some reason does not want to take, but he was ready.
“And of course he trained lots of penalties during the World Cup – because it’s something that, in a competition like that, every player trains a lot – and he was very confident. [Kasper] Schmeichel is very good on penalties but no chance.”
