Paul Pogba Manchester United

A dig at Mourinho? Pogba says Brighton prepared 'much better' than Man Utd

Paul Pogba has suggested that Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United were under-prepared for the size of the challenge facing them at Brighton.

The Red Devils have faced plenty of criticism on the back of a disappointing showing against the Seagulls which saw them leave the south coast on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline.

Pogba’s late penalty helped to pull United within one goal of their Premier League rivals, but a forgettable showing was littered by errors – particularly from centre-half duo Eric Bailly and Victory Lindelof.

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Mourinho admitted afterwards that his team had made “big mistakes”, but Pogba has claimed the Red Devils were not as well prepared as Brighton following the abject performance.

He told BBC Sport: "I will always try, I know I lost a lot of balls, that shouldn’t happen for a midfielder.

"I try, I keep pushing, that’s my personality. I know if I lose some balls I try to play it simple but sometimes when it’s not your day, it’s not your day.

"I think they prepared [for] the game very well, they prepared much better than us. They really want to press, and stuff like this."

Mourinho has publicly insistsed there is no problem between himself and Pogba, although the Frenchman has previously suggested he would be fined if he spoke about what was on his mind.

The midfielder, who took the captain’s armband again for United against Brighton in the absence of Antonio Valencia, had already questioned the Red Devils’ mentality in their loss to Brighton.

And he reiterated that opinion, suggesting that the team's attitude wasn't right in the defeat on the south coast.

The World Cup winner added: "As well, maybe we didn’t have the attitude to break them, to kill them when we had to kill them, to go through the line and that’s a lesson that we have to keep in mind and play much better next game."

United, who edged out Leicester 2-1 in their season opener, will get the opportunity to make amends for their Brighton humbling when they welcome Tottenham to Old Trafford next Monday.

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