Pogba: Semi display is level we want

Paul Pogba says he and his Manchester United team-mates are determined to carry the level of performance and mentality shown in the impressive Emirates FA Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham into the last matches of 2017/18, including the cup final.

The French midfielder was one of the Reds’ star men at Wembley and it was his cross that Alexis Sanchez headed home for the equaliser.

Next up for Jose Mourinho’s men is a clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday and Pogba insists it’s vital that the performance level remains high.

“It was an objective of ours to be in the final in the cup. We had a very good result and a very good performance,” Pogba told MUTV. “That was the performance we were looking for, and the mentality and the teamwork we are looking for until the end of the season.”

Pogba was asked about what another come-from-behind win says about the squad’s character and attitude and he believes they’re qualities that will continue to stand the Reds in good stead over the coming seasons.

“What it says is that mentally we are strong and it showed that we can be a strong team altogether,” he insisted. “We have shown it during the season against the big teams, most of the time, but we need to keep it up against other teams as well. We need to keep playing altogether with the same mentality.”

Sunday’s clash represents another tough test but December’s superb victory over the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium gives the Reds plenty of confidence going into what will be Arsene Wenger’s last game against United as Arsenal boss.

“It’s a big one. We need points,” declared Pogba. “They have a big game against Atletico so maybe that might help us if they are a bit tired. We know it’s going to be a hard game, it was a very hard game against them earlier in the season. But we had a very good team performance and David [De Gea] was amazing.

“We need that again and we need everybody to be at their best because when that happens it moves the team up [a level]. We’ve been great in the last game with the team performance and against the top teams you always have to produce that.”