Jose Mourinho Talks Paul Pogba Incident, Says Star Will Play vs. West Ham

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has addressed reports that he has stripped Paul Pogba of his vice-captaincy by saying "no player is bigger than the club."

During a press conference on Friday, he also said video footage of a perceived incident in training was nothing more than a discussion and revealed the France international will start against West Ham United on Saturday.

As Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News shared, Mourinho said he has to defend the club's reputation:

Speaking about the video that surfaced of the two apparently having an argument at the club's training ground, the tactician denied it was a serious incident, per the M.E.N's Richard Fay:

“No, I cannot tell you [what was said]. The training session was open, you had some cameras with some potential to get some of the words, maybe you have to change the potential if you want to know everything that is said because I'm not going to comment, it was a conversation."

He also said it wasn't a confrontation and didn't disrupt United's preparations for the trip to West Ham, stating the entire incident was created by the ensuing coverage:

"Disruptive? I think for you was amazing because you made a story, an incredible story out of 15 minutes of open training session, maybe is your fault [Karen Shotbolt, United press officer], we should have 15 minutes of training session open because what happened the other day happens many days, conversations with players I have many, many, many times.

"Was not the case but loud critic, loud instruction happens every day, coaching is about that but you make story about it, so I'm happy the rules are only 15 minutes once a month and situations like that are not going to change, there is no chance you will watch a session."

The Red Devils suffered through a rough week, with Mourinho and Pogba soaking up most of the headlines. 

It all started on Sunday when the France international criticised the club's approach, saying the team has to play more attacking football at home after the 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers, per James Ducker of the Telegraph.

On Tuesday, Rob Dawson of ESPN FC reported Mourinho had told his players Pogba would not captain the team again, further deepening the divide.

As BBC Sport's Simon Stone shared, Mourinho said it was a decision he thought long and hard about:

One day later, this video of the two started doing the rounds:

Pogba didn't feature in the Carabao Cup third-round penalty-shootout loss against Derby County, but he wasn't the only regular starter who missed out, as Mourinho rotated his squad.

During Friday's press conference, Mourinho was insistent the Derby game was a draw, not a loss, and discussed the team's run this month:

West Ham are unbeaten in their past three outings and thrashed Macclesfield Town 8-0 on Wednesday, setting up what could be another difficult encounter for United on Saturday. In their most recent Premier League outing, West Ham ended Chelsea's perfect start to the season, recording a 0-0 draw.

The two sides will meet at London Stadium at 12:30 p.m.