[VanGaalyTime]

Scott can finish too, given the opportunity:
I think this season he'll be told to do the simple things right. And then next season he'll get more opportunities to create and score, particularly at home against lower teams.

 

[elmo]

He was definitely a prospect without a shadow of a doubt but he was never someone who had 'obvious' ability like say a Ravel or Pogba who I place as being hot prospects. Even Giuseppe Rossi imo was a bigger talent who almost joined Barca later in his career only for injury to stop that from happening...

Fletcher was best off the ball and on the ball he was reminiscent to many young hopefuls trying to make the grade. His qualities were never imo as obvious as the players I've mentioned. It was a testament to his hard work and tough mental state that he forged a very good career with us and became a very good player for us. @JPRouve pretty much nails it when he says, "He is bad at nothing, great at nothing" when he makes the the McTominay comparison imo..

Fletcher was so talented that Fergie wanted to play him in the league when he was still on a schoolboy contract...

Bad luck with injuries robbed us of how great Fletcher could have been if he was able to stay fit and develop when he was 16-20 years old.

 

[iluvoursolskjær]

I love that he’s steely, combative even when it’s scrappy, and is trying to play the ball forward more.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Needs an upgrade on fifa.

 

[Android1974]

And has been bloody shit this season

And still he was mighty fine in one of our best games, Everton away.

 

[Carolina Red]

Needs an upgrade on fifa.

Ain’t that the truth

 

[Mr PG]

People forget that Sir Alex always had players who fit the dependable workmanlike mould around too. We played Phil Neville in midfield at times!
Occasionally Nicky Butt played ahead of Paul Scholes in big games. It's a team game, so having players who are willing to play a supporting role allows a team to be greater than the sum of it's parts.

liverpool midfield is full of workman like players and look where it's gotten them.

 

[meninred]

Never heard of this guy before few weeks..i didnot see him being mentioned in this forum of players from acadamy like pogba and so.

 

[f_to_z]

This guy is only 21 and he already is more mature than a lot of our experienced players. Composed, confident, brave and strong mentally. He does not seem affected by the scoreline nor by the teams performance. He is steady, does what hes good at again and again. Simple yet very effective. Although I am sure he will have a dip in performances and media will be critical and that will be the make or break moment in his development. Will he cope with the pressure of making a terrible mistake? Lets just give the kid time with no pressure on him and see what he can be? He actually reminds me of the class of 92 with his confidence.

 

[Gazza]

Hopefully he'll learn even more about his position from having Michael Carrick as a coach next season.

Also he already speaks very well in interviews, seems very mature for his age.

 

[matherto]

Still maintain he should've played in the City game.

Even if he just does the absolute basics he gives a bit of balance to the team and frees up Pogba.

Can never have too many numbers in midfield in big games.

 

[AP88]

I see this lads name floated around quite a-bit, but I feel he's below the standard required and also, he'll cost a pretty penny. He found it hard to break into the Bournemouth team and has only really become a starter this season. I think it's best for him staying put for another couple of seasons to really establish himself. He's young and has potential, but right now, he's not good enough for a top team.

He’s 20, and he found himself on the bench at Bournemouth initially because they got the chance to sign Wilshere on loan just after signing Cook - but by the end of the season he’d worked his way into the team, benched Wilshere and ended their interest in retaining JW.

He’s shown enough as a baby at Leeds, this season and for England youth to suggest he’s going to be a star; he’d upgrade Herrera, his passing range is already more impressive. Ferguson would have taken this kid by now. He could play on the right of a three, or one of two sitters in 4-2-2-2/4-2-3-1.

Liverpool are already looking to acquire him, while all of the other top clubs will be keeping an eye on him too; it’d be naive to allow him to join a rival when the midfield ranks here are going to be depleted come the summer.

 

[AP88]

Hopefully he'll learn even more about his position from having Michael Carrick as a coach next season.

Also he already speaks very well in interviews, seems very mature for his age.

He’s got a very similar simplicity about his game; it’s almost underwhelming at first glance, almost frustrating when you’re watching a game live and imploring him to ‘do something’ but with retrospect you see how important he is to knitting the game together and providing a platform for the more mercurial players to perform upon.

He already looks better than Dier to me, less erratic.

 

[Robbie Boy]

He’s 20, and he found himself on the bench at Bournemouth initially because they got the chance to sign Wilshere on loan just after signing Cook - but by the end of the season he’d worked his way into the team, benched Wilshere and ended their interest in retaining JW.

He’s shown enough as a baby at Leeds, this season and for England youth to suggest he’s going to be a star; he’d upgrade Herrera, his passing range is already more impressive. Ferguson would have taken this kid by now. He could play on the right of a three, or one of two sitters in 4-2-2-2/4-2-3-1.

Liverpool are already looking to acquire him, while all of the other top clubs will be keeping an eye on him too; it’d be naive to allow him to join a rival when the midfield ranks here are going to be depleted come the summer.

Yeah, to be honest, I just don't see that much with him when I've seen him. He signed from Leeds after seriously impressing in the Championship when he was 17/18 and found it hard to break into the team at Bournemouth. Now with Wilshere gone, he's made himself a starter. I feel, he's miles off being ready for a top club and he should really stay put for another season or two at the very least. He has potential, but I don't feel he's what we're looking for. Any centre mid we sign, should be ready to slot in straight away and Cook isn't at that level.

 

[kouroux]

He's young and so raw but a very interesting player from a tactical POV. He gives Mourinho opportunities to man mark certain players while keeping his football rather when on the ball.

 

[Varun]

He brings excellent balance to our midfield. Helps both Matic and Pogba do their jobs better, an underrated quality. He's doing what people hoped Herrera would this season.

 

[BenjaminP]

The unsung hero.

 

[Adnan]

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Keane didn't rate Fletcher much if the quotes in the piece by Luckhurst are to be believed.

 

[Stobzilla]

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Keane didn't rate Fletcher much if the quotes in the piece by Luckhurst are to be believed.

There could be a multitude of reasons for it, but there would be little that Keane could do to fault Fletch circa 2007 - 10 when he really started coming into his own. Keane never got to see THAT first hand on the pitch.

You could speculate further and say he possibly harboured a bit of resentment owing to Fletch always being seen as SAF's lad. But that would be dumb unfounded spackulation.

 

[Krits]

Really impressed with him. Yes, I don't know if he can run a midfield himself (haven't seen him in the youth level and he hasn't had a chance to show it in the first team) but he gives our other players the ability to play with more freedom. He looks calm and assured. His touch is great, always in control of the ball. Which means he is a good option to pass to when opposition press us. Pogba is going to benefit a lot from having him as a partner in midfield. Football after all is a team game and McTominay is a great team mate to have.

McTominay ----- Matic
Pogba

Thats the way to go for the rest of the season for me. It is what Herrara with Matic should have been.

 

[Adnan]

There could be a multitude of reasons for it, but there would be little that Keane could do to fault Fletch circa 2007 - 10 when he really started coming into his own. Keane never got to see THAT first hand on the pitch.

You could speculate further and say he possibly harboured a bit of resentment owing to Fletch always being seen as SAF's lad. But that would be dumb unfounded spackulation.

Keane is someone who has always called a spade a spade... He also saw Fletcher daily in training sessions so his opinion is quite valid considering he was one of our greatest players and leaders...

 

[Super Mokh]

Said it a few weeks ago, people who were being very critical to him for some nonchalant reasons will eat their words . The kid has been very good so far and may long it continues.

 

[Yagami]

I think down the years we've had some great youth that haven't made it for whatever reasons. Scott has the pro for being still relatively unknown - even to many United fans. I watched the reserves and I think one time he played up top? But could be wrong. That ball for lukaku was top drawer. Played to steer away from the defender, that would have been one scholes would have been happy with. I think today we were not expansive enough. If this lad can do these kind of passes then he's got a good chance. Even though opponents will know him more and more, someone that can come in and do a job is VERY useful. He's a good size and am delighted. Next season it could be pereiras time to shine but for right now, we needed a bit more stability in the midfield and we stood firm as did he.

He played up top quite a lot last year but that was because we had no recognised forward in the team.

 

[Garethw]

People forget that he’s only 21. He’s showed incredible maturity since breaking into the team and he’s only going to get better as he mature further.

Is he going to be a world beater? Probably not, but he will certainly make our squad stronger and will provide a good rotation option with the new midfielder(s) we will buy this summer.

As things stand, if all of our squad were fit, I’d have him starting over both Herrera and Fellaini. That’s an incredible achievement for a lad from the youth ranks that 95% of fans hadn’t heard of before this season.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I'm delighted.
Nice to get a CM in the team, 21, youth product. Mourinho seems to have a lot of faith in him too. A few players have said that they feed off the enthusiasm off the youth players that come through too.

 

[RedEM10]

Buzzing for the young lad! Has the basics right, gets about the pitch with desire in his game. Love how after only a few games now he has grown in confidence. I noticed during the last 2 starts he was doing the same thing that he wouldn't have done prior to that. Instead of just passing to the player on his side V Chelsea he would check back to the other side and spray it. Moving Chelsea around and not making it easy.

McTominay epitomises discipline which we have been lacking

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Reminds me of Keane. Does the simple things very well, great engine, top class mentality, great passer, can tackle, and looks for forward balls. He's years away from that peak level yet (and might not get there), but that could be his potential.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Reminds me of Keane. Does the simple things very well, great engine, top class mentality, great passer, can tackle, and looks for forward balls. He's years away from that peak level yet (and might not get there), but that could be his potential.

What on earth!

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

What on earth!

Style of play.

 

[KM]

Reminds me of Keane. Does the simple things very well, great engine, top class mentality, great passer, can tackle, and looks for forward balls. He's years away from that peak level yet (and might not get there), but that could be his potential.

For people who'll undoubtedly see this as "Zomg United fans overrating the academy talent", he doesn't mean that he's as good as Keane. He just says that they're similar style wise which I disagree with btw.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Style of play.

He has made on 0.6 tackles per 90 minutes so far in the PL this season! Ndidi makes the most with 4.2 per 90 (he's a player we should be looking at BTW)

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

For people who'll undoubtedly see this as "Zomg United fans overrating the academy talent", he doesn't mean that he's as good as Keane. He just says that they're similar style wise which I disagree with btw.

Yeah, thought that would be self evident tbh (never know here sometimes).

Spoiler

I'm not talking about caliber of performance, which is light-years away and may never happen, I just mean their styles of play. Like a young Keane at Forest, if restricted tactically by Mourinho.

Spoiler

 

[Classical Mechanic]

He barely makes any probing passes either. The crowd were groaning at him on Sunday for his safe passing at times. He made one good long pass that led up to a goal and people think he has good passing range. He has poor passing range IMO.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

He barely makes any probing passes either. The crowd were groaning at him on Sunday for his safe passing at times. He made one good long pass that led up to a goal and people think he has good passing range. He has poor passing range IMO.

that pass to Lukaku out wide right was very similar to the type Keane attempted consistently.

 

[el3mel]

Mourinho said he has more in his locker than he's showing but he doing what he's instructing him to do? His simple passing is mostly due to Mourinho's instructions, to keep it simple and not losing possession much. His long pass to Lukaku was excellent with perfect weight on it so nothing that suggests his passing in general is poor.

 

[devips]

What's this obsession about tackles? Tackles have to be the absolute last resort of a defender, as Xabi Alonso said once. McTominay's tackles or lack of them doesn't really make a difference. It is his ability to anticipate and thus blunt potential attacking moves which should count.

 

[NinjaFletch]

He barely makes any probing passes either. The crowd were groaning at him on Sunday for his safe passing at times. He made one good long pass that led up to a goal and people think he has good passing range. He has poor passing range IMO.

He's played two lovely balls in two games. That delightful clip over the top for the goal on Sunday and a similarly lovely ball out to the left against Seville towards the end of the game.

Certainly haven't seen as much evidence of it as we might like, but I'd say we've seen enough to suggest that he's got something in his locker there.

 

[NinjaZombie]

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Keane didn't rate Fletcher much if the quotes in the piece by Luckhurst are to be believed.

I remember one time, Fletcher misplaced a pass for Keane and Keane gave him a piece of his mind, saying "You call that a pass?!", face looking like thunder.

Keane.

 

[kundalini]

Written about 15 months ago but goes a long way towards explaining McTominay's unusual route into the first team, without ever impressing in the U18s or U23s.

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-F...n-from-Jesse-Lingard-and-Marcus-Rashford.aspx

I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago, featuring Duncan Castles, in which he discussed the Pogba situation and suggested that Mourinho was considering using McTominay to balance the midfield, since Pogba wanted to focus his energies on attacking; which turned out to be surprisingly accurate.

I suspect if you add the contents of the old article on the official website, with Castles' insider info from either Mourinho or one of the coaching staff, you can perhaps get a sense of the development that is obvious to those who get to see the players train.

When various U23 players joined first team training towards the end of last season due to the injury situation, it is clear from the team selections that Axel Tuanzebe was miles ahead of the others, then came Scott and Demi Mitchell, as both were on the bench for several PL games prior to the Palace game.

Axel, Scott and Demi all went on the pre-season tour. It would appear that the original plan was for Scott to go on loan, with several articles suggesting Wolves were close to arranging a loan deal. Then Andreas Pereira decided that he was unlikely to get sufficient playing time here and would rather go on loan to Valencia, so Scott stayed.

Scott's first appearance this season came as a sub against Burton in the League Cup in late September. The team selections show that he was behind Herrera, Fellaini and Carrick. Then he started against Swansea away in the League Cup and Benfica at home in the CL, largely so we could rest the few fit midfield players we had. That pattern, of McTominay featuring in the easiest fixtures, continued until Sevilla away.

Now a risk averse manager like Mourinho does not select an inexperienced youngster in such a match, unless something has happened behind the scenes; McTominay has forced his way into contention, through his performances in training and his ability to follow instructions in matches.

 

[Isotope]

Snippet of Cruyff biography on Guardiola:
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Cruyff managed Guardiola at Barcelona during his eight-year tenure as boss at the Nou Camp between 1988 and 1996 but the Catalan giants’ hierarchy were unimpressed with the midfielder’s progress during the early years of his career at the La Masia academy.

“As a player at Barcelona, they wanted to get rid of Pep because they thought he was a lanky great beanpole who couldn't defend, who had no strength and couldn't do anything in the air,” he wrote.

“So he was blamed for all the things he wasn't good at, while I thought they were all things he could learn to do well.

“What all those people didn't see was that Guardiola had the fundamental qualities needed at the top level: speed of action, technique, insight. Those are phenomena that very few people exhibit, but in his case they were present in spades.
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source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...f-manchester-city-bayern-munich-a7343966.html

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Not saying the young Scott is Guardiola, but some players career are just so dependable to the managers need and vision, without being "remarkable" previously. This might explain McTom lack of recognition on his early youth competitions.