On paper, with Manchester United getting Jose Mourinho to coach and bringing back Paul Pogba in 2016, the club looked to be in great shape when it came to returning to glory and contending for the biggest of prizes. How could the club not be on the right path with one of the world's highest regarded managers and the most expensive player in the world at the time when it comes to transfer fee?

But that success never really came. Mourinho was shown the door in December of last year and Pogba never really managed to string together quality performances for the club, lacking confidence. But now with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer running the show, United is on a role with a 7-0-0 record and Pogba is playing the best soccer of his United career. Pogba has five goals and four assists in his last six matches.

So what was the problem? If you ask Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, he'll tell you that two egos was two too many.  It all appeared to start with the the weird training feud in September and ended with the club parting ways with Mourinho. Rooney said Pogba likely found it difficult to play under Mourinho, indirectly criticizing the coach. 

 "Well I think with Paul, I watched him come through the academy at United and he's got a lot of ability, but the difficult time he was going through is, if you don't have a good relationship with the coach, then it's difficult to be at your top if you feel like the coach is scrutinizing every decision you make, every pass you make," Rooney told ESPNFC.

"Paul Pogba will give the ball away, he'll try passes [and] it won't be the right pass at times, but you have to let him do that because two or three of them will create goals, will create opportunities. I think he found it difficult under Mourinho. I think a player and a manager with big egos clashed and the outcome was never going to be great."

That sounds pretty spot on, and from someone who knows both well, it's likely that he saw some of this during 2016 when his role was limited. Getting rid of Mourinho seems to have been the smart move considering the success quickly found after he left, with Pogba playing well and increasing in confidence with each minute he plays. He scored from a penalty kick on Saturday in the 2-1 win over Brighton as United moved within three points of a Champions League spot.

Select Manchester United Premier League matches can be viewed on fuboTV (Try for free). 

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