Mourinho risks losing '40 per cent' of Man Utd's dressing room in row with Paul Pogba

Jose Mourinho could lose "40 per cent" of Manchester United's dressing room if his problems with Paul Pogba continue, Mido has told Sky Sports News.

Pogba was left out of the United squad on Tuesday night as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup in the third round on penalties against Derby, and Mourinho confirmed he had relieved Pogba of his vice-captaincy duties ahead of the game.

The decision came just two days after Pogba urged United to adopt a more attacking approach in the wake of their 1-1 draw with Wolves.

Despite being sympathetic with the Portuguese manager, Mido says Mourinho could isolate almost half the United dressing room if he does not resolve the situation with the France midfielder soon.

"If you saw Mourinho's first comments on Pogba after the World Cup you can understand a little bit the type of relationship they have," Mido told Sky Sports News.

"The first thing he said was 'the reason Pogba did really well for the national team was because it was a short time so it's easy to focus, but now he needs to do that in a full season'.

"As a player you would expect your manager to be more supportive if you win a major tournament. The World Cup is the biggest thing you could ever win. You can smell from last season that the relationship has not been great.

"But Mourinho has played him in every game, he bought him in the first place for massive money and he made him vice-captain.

"So Mourinho tried to get everything right with Pogba because he knows if he loses him, he loses 40 per cent of the dressing room. Pogba has a big effect on the younger players, he's close to Lingard and all the young English players.

"They see him as an idol even if he is not much older than them. By losing him he knows he will lose 40 per cent of the dressing room."

The Egyptian says Mourinho has made the mistake of using old management techniques on a new generation of player who will not give him the reaction he is looking for.

He continued: "I feel sorry for Mourinho. I know he has made mistakes and he didn't deal with the media in the best way especially in tough times.

"The way the Chelsea players played in his last seven or eight games there, I'm sure the players wanted him out because straight away after he left they started to play better. Now I can see the same thing happening.

"A big part of it is his fault because he didn't know how to deal with the dressing room at tough times. Sometimes he is dealing with situations in the old school way but players are not the same anymore.

"Ten years ago if you come out and criticise Zanetti, Maldini or Stam - the next day, the next match they work to prove you wrong. This generation thinks differently, you cannot get the same reaction from them.

"This is the area where Mourinho is struggling, he is still dealing with players the way he did at Porto or Chelsea but hee is getting reactions which he did not expect."

Mido expects Pogba's agent Mino Raiola, who also represents him, to defend the midfielder publicly in the coming days and warned United of the influence the so-called super agent could wield at Old Trafford.

Mido said: "Mino is one of the greatest agents around. He has done great for all of his clients. You are talking about big names, Ibrahimovic, Balotelli, Pogba, Nedved, Maxwell. He's loyal that's why players love him, he stands by them.

"He had his problems with Pep Guardiola and Zlatan and he had a big fight with Barcelona. He doesn't care if he has no more deals with the club anymore.

"He had big problems with Sir Alex Ferguson as well. If things carry on the same way I'm sure he will come out soon and criticise Mourinho. He won't think twice.

"It's not good for the game but by signing his players you know you are taking that risk. There is history there. United signed Pogba, Zlatan, Mkhitaryan and Lukaku - four of his players.

"When you have an agent who has four or five players in your team, he is controlling the club really, controlling the dressing room."

Credit: Skysports.com