“You don’t talk about it”: Pogba talks about depression during Mourinho’s time

“You don’t talk about it”
Pogba opens up about depression during Mourinho’s time

“If you don’t have a thick skin mentally, you’re dead in this sport.” Soccer pro Paul Pogba judges so harshly. At the same time, the French world champion reveals that he suffers from depression. It all started when José Mourinho was the manager at Manchester United.

French soccer world champion Paul Pogba has opened up about depression during his career. “I experienced it, but nobody talks about it,” said the midfielder of the English Premier League club Manchester United in an interview with the French newspaper “Le Figaro”.

The mental problems started with him “when I was at Manchester under José Mourinho. You ask yourself questions. You wonder if you are wrong because you have never experienced such moments in life,” said the extroverted Pogba. In September 2018, Pogba criticized the no less extroverted Mourinho. The Portuguese star coach had then deposed him as vice-captain. Pogba switched from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016 for the then record transfer fee of 105 million euros. There he played under Mourinho until December 2018, who was eventually replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ralf Rangnick has been the club’s coach since December 2021.

“Sometimes you don’t know that you have depression, you just want to isolate yourself, to be all alone. These are signs that don’t deceive,” said the 29-year-old. You are judged every three days, you always have to be good, “although like everyone else, you have concerns about whether it’s with your partners, with the coach or in everyday life,” said Pogba. “But you can’t say it, at least not publicly. If you don’t have a thick skin mentally, you’re dead in this sport.” All competitive athletes would know such moments, “but few talk about it.”

In addition, the argument that professional footballers with their sometimes exorbitantly high million-dollar fees have to endure the pressure is not correct. “We earn a lot and we really don’t complain, but that doesn’t prevent us from going through difficult moments like everyone else. Because you make money, you should always be happy? That’s not how life is. But in football it doesn’t go through . We’re not superheroes, we’re just human,” Pogba said.

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