Scott McTominay

[Loominous]

Rangnick has been running the rule over the Manchester United players, getting the lowdown on who is worth keeping, who is worth selling and who the troublemakers are and he will pass that information on to Ten Haag.

Rangnick seems to likes McTominay based on his complimentary remarks in press conferences and so I don't think in the short term there will be an issue for McTominay, particularly with his contract running until 2025 and Ten Haag likely to have 1 or 2 years grace to rebuild the team. In that time McTominay will have to prove he can make the standard under Ten Haag.

[accies1874]

There's a really good rundown here from Tifo:
Essentially he plays a 'back 3' but it is highly fluid drawing in players from the back four and a holding mid (i.e. CB-CB-LB or HM-CB-RB or whatever). It might actually suit McTominay really well with his ability to transition between CB and HM/CM. He is best suited to a role where he can cover a lot of ground IMO so this system might allow him the freedom to do that.
Of course Ten Hag might set up his united team in a completely different way so we'll have to wait and see.

If he can find a wacky middle ground between always dropping into RCB in buildup and roaming free higher up the pitch then we're sorted. I suppose the fluid nature of it means that he would be asked to take up other positions building from the back which he obviously isn't good at.

I wonder if a club will ever go with him at RCB on a regular basis.

[TheScarf]

Was reading yesterday that McTominay is one of the players Ten Hag wants to work with closely next season.

[albagubrath]

2 hours ago, accies1874 said:

If he can find a wacky middle ground between always dropping into RCB in buildup and roaming free higher up the pitch then we're sorted. I suppose the fluid nature of it means that he would be asked to take up other positions building from the back which he obviously isn't good at.

I wonder if a club will ever go with him at RCB on a regular basis.

I'm not sure I agree with that. He is sometimes a bit rash with the ball in posession in phases of play when building out from the back but is generally a very good distributer. I would say he is an above average distributer for a CB, average for a CDM/CM. He is very poor when out of posession when his team are building from the back though, often taking up position in the shadow of an opposition player thereby essentially taking himself out of the game. That should be very easy to coach out of him by a good coach though.

[accies1874]

I'm not sure I agree with that. He is sometimes a bit rash with the ball in posession in phases of play when building out from the back but is generally a very good distributer. I would say he is an above average distributer for a CB, average for a CDM/CM. He is very poor when out of posession when his team are building from the back though, often taking up position in the shadow of an opposition player thereby essentially taking himself out of the game. That should be very easy to coach out of him by a good coach though.

That's what I was meaning. Apologies if unclear

[The Moonster]

18 hours ago, TheScarf said:

Was reading yesterday that McTominay is one of the players Ten Hag wants to work with closely next season.

You see loads of idiot fans hoping he'll be first out the door (and idiot sports pages too seemingly removing him from any potential Ten Hag team) but every single gaffer that works with him seems to love him and trust him in big games. I really don't think he'll be going anywhere any time soon. 

[TheScarf]

5 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

You see loads of idiot fans hoping he'll be first out the door (and idiot sports pages too seemingly removing him from any potential Ten Hag team) but every single gaffer that works with him seems to love him and trust him in big games. I really don't think he'll be going anywhere any time soon. 

Guys like Goldbridge just hate any United player who isn’t young and English, or Ronaldo. Same with a few Nigels I follow on Twitter who have United leanings. He’s an easy target to blame as he’s Scottish and rarely scores. 

[2426255]

17 hours ago, albagubrath said:

He is very poor when out of posession when his team are building from the back though, often taking up position in the shadow of an opposition player thereby essentially taking himself out of the game. That should be very easy to coach out of him by a good coach though.

I saw this analysis on a video a while back. Is your view based on that video alone (linked below) or is it an independent view?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9rNF_1bBE4

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by 2426255

[John Lambies Doos]

Mctominay will continue to be a mainstay in the team. He is a decent baller who gives 100% every game, this does not go unnoticed.
The issue with Man U currently is they have too many players who have lost interest and not giving 100%, these players are an absolute disgrace. Mctominay is not one of these and he oozes what loyal club players should.
Really think he will come on leaps and bounds under the new regime due to his correct attitude, and I expect him to be their captain within the next 3 years.

[Theroadlesstravelled]

Elneny destroyed him and Matic today.

He's decent for a battling midtable EPL side but he's not in the same class as Rodrigo, Keita or Neves.

 

[ArabFC]

16 minutes ago, Theroadlesstravelled said:

Elneny destroyed him and Matic today.

He's decent for a battling midtable EPL side but he's not in the same class as Rodrigo, Keita or Neves.

 

WTF?

Whoever compared him to any of those players? Rodrigo?

For what it’s worth I thought he had a good game today - as far as you can have a good game when you get beat.

Can’t see him playing under Ten Hag long term though.

[Fratelli]

He's been put in a difficult position here. He really should be the type of reliable player who comes in as injury cover or slots in to do a job for 20 odd games a season - in the same way Ferguson had a cast of fairly unremarkable players who would do a cracking job over the course of a season yet likely wouldn't start for any of their direct rivals. Every successful team has them, and he'd do a good job in that role - but he's now been expected to be Man United's main holding midfielder in the league/CL which, combined with playing in a shambolic system - has only set him up for failure. As a result he's turned into the poster boy for Man United's mediocrity - amongst their online (plastic) fanbase anyway. 

Folk like Goldbridge aren't to be listened to - he's playing a character (very well i should add) that requires him to go way over the top with his opinions. Hating McTominay is basically his showpiece at this point. Unfortunately there are thousands of international fans who cling to folk like Goldbridge in an attempt to feel some sort of connection to *actual* United fans and subsequently parrot his opinions which are usually just Talksport/Piers Morgan engagement bait attempts in the first place. As others have said, the fact that so many managers seem to like him speaks volumes. 

[albagubrath]

On 23/04/2022 at 09:38, 2426255 said:

I saw this analysis on a video a while back. Is your view based on that video alone (linked below) or is it an independent view?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9rNF_1bBE4

 

Definitely heavily influenced by Tifo (and others) who have been pretty strong on that view.

[Captain Saintsible]

Named as one of the 5 players Ten Hag wants to build his side around

McTominay’s critics on this forum are utterly clueless. They’ve dismissed him from the very start and he continues to prove these imbeciles wrong. 

[2426255]

On 28/04/2022 at 19:36, albagubrath said:

Definitely heavily influenced by Tifo (and others) who have been pretty strong on that view.

I can't remember him not showing for the ball when playing for Scotland. I have the full recordings of the games where he played in similar midfield roles to his role in the Manchester United team. Specifically against the Czech Republic where he was the single pivot until Jack Hendry was substituted and the WCQ in Israel where he played as the right pivot alongside Callum McGregor for a large part of the 90 minutes.

I'll have to look them over again and see if I can spot that kind of behaviour.

Edited May 1, 2022 by 2426255

[davidmcc]

On 28/04/2022 at 19:57, Captain Saintsible said:

Named as one of the 5 players Ten Hag wants to build his side around

McTominay’s critics on this forum are utterly clueless. They’ve dismissed him from the very start and he continues to prove these imbeciles wrong. 

I did think this was another random bluff BUT

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/apr/21/erik-ten-hag-appointed-manchester-united-manager-ajax

[HuttonDressedAsLahm]

49 minutes ago, davidmcc said:

I did think this was another random bluff BUT

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/apr/21/erik-ten-hag-appointed-manchester-united-manager-ajax

It should hardly be surprising, but the vocal (somewhat moronic) minority, do seem to have it in for him.  That’s despite his youth, connection to the club, relative inexperience, much lower wages, work ethic, and very clear and consistent dislike for the current Man Utd position.

If you were a new manager coming in, why wouldn’t you want a Scott McTominay to be central to your planning?  His salary will be low, there are no outrageous transfer fees to recoup, he completely buys into the Man Utd values, he’s as accomplished an athlete as they have at the club, and by all accounts he’s exactly what you want in the changing room.  He also happens to be fast, strong, and young enough to develop and shape.

There are any number of other players, perhaps more talented, who you’d absolutely want shot of.

The most successful teams at Old Trafford over the years have had 3 or 4 players exactly like McTominay that do an honest game well.  It’s not like Butt, Neville(s), Irwin, Fletcher, Silvestre, Park, Berg, Brown et al would have played at that level for anyone else, but they were an integral part of an exceptionally successful side.  Part of the reason for their relative collapse has been the purchasing of problem players with egos too big for the club, or with a work ethic completely incompatible with a squad that is struggling.

Football fans these days just want World XI players in every position, forgetting that it’s the quiet squad players who keep their clubs ticking.  If any of the other big English clubs were in a similar position, you know fine that half their squads would be up for execution, including any number of very talented and, currently, integral players.

 

[Theroadlesstravelled]

Against Chelsea he didn’t make a successful pass until the 84th minute.

[Tartan Dave]

Talk of him going to Barca. We are massive time

[2426255]

On 22/04/2022 at 15:41, albagubrath said:

He is very poor when out of posession when his team are building from the back though, often taking up position in the shadow of an opposition player thereby essentially taking himself out of the game. That should be very easy to coach out of him by a good coach though.

I wanted to see how true this is, I haven't finished looking at it but I've started.

That's the brief. I will also look at Scott McTominay in the game away to Israel where he played as both double pivot and 20 minutes or so as a single pivot. I don't have enough footage from the Austria game in March 2021 or the Faroe Islands in October 2021 to use video from those games or any recorded footage from Manchester United as I don't follow them. 

The video from the Scotland v Czech Republic 1st half. There are two instances that aren't included from the footage in order to keep the file size below 500MB and they were removed as they weren't significant part of the footage and occur at:

• 00:00 - Scott McTominay was available but not used shortly after kick off.
• 01:32 - Scott McTominay was returning to his position from an attack upfield and wasn't immediately available.

McTominay wears #4 and is wearing pink boots so not hard to pick out.

Edited May 2, 2022 by 2426255