[Mcking]

He was decent by his standards. Didn't expect much more from him tonight. We have more quality in the team now, so he is not going to look so good coming into the XI.

 

[shahzy]

I don't mean clones, I mean of the same level. Someone who is useful to the team in a variety of situations.

I don't think any team with mctominay level bench players in various positions is challenging for anything. Look at all the best teams and they can bring on proper game changers. Someone who gives you something different but also is knocking on the door of the first xi

 

[RooneyLegend]

Yet to understand why some think he's good enough for the club. Not even better than the likes of Billing.

 

[Rozay]

This essentially means that you don’t expect anything from him.

Well I probably have lesser expectation than his ‘McSauce’,’McTominator’ personal fan club - but I don’t think he did much wrong. Got around the pitch and put challenges in. This, to me, is the player he has always been. I’ve never thought he was as good as most others seemed to think, but of you’re not that good, then at least be disciplined and don’t let yourself or others down. Which I think is anstandard he met tonight.

 

[DarkXaero]

Not sure why McTominay is getting preference over Fred for that role, if Matic isn't going to start. Fred was probably our best player pre-lockdown, and McTominay has shown me nothing to prove that he deserves a starting place ahead of Fred. Matic wasn't even very good today as a sub, but you could see the immediate (positive) difference in our play after Matic came on. Just because McTominay has the look of someone who could be a defensive/deep lying midfielder doesn't mean that he's good at playing one. I think McTominay is naturally a box to box mid, but that means he has Pogba ahead of him. Fred has more versatility and generally is more tidy with the ball.

 

[Kag]

Well I probably have lesser expectation than his ‘McSauce’,’McTominator’ personal fan club - but I don’t think he did much wrong. Got around the pitch and put challenges in. This, to me, is the player he has always been. I’ve never thought he was as good as most others seemed to think, but of you’re not that good, then at least be disciplined and don’t let yourself or others down. Which I think is anstandard he met tonight.

But that standard isn’t acceptable, is it? I think we’re on the same page here.

 

[BehemothTerror]

He was fine, not sure why some people are targeting him. Bruno and Pogba for all their class had reasonably off games. Afew nice flashes of skill and some good tracking but didnt really impose himself on the middle of the park at times.

 

[Bastian]

I don't think any team with mctominay level bench players in various positions is challenging for anything. Look at all the best teams and they can bring on proper game changers. Someone who gives you something different but also is knocking on the door of the first xi

I think for what he is as a player, he's a great squad player. If we had two wingers who offer as wingers what he does as a midfielder (provision: he's getting used to the new setup), I'd consider that good strength in depth. For example.

 

[spiriticon]

This place really has no patience for young players

It seems you need to be excellent at 18 and world class by 22 or you're done by the caf standards.

 

[Alemar]

He was bad today. Very bad really, and Pogba played with less efficiency due to his inability to control the midfield. McTominay is not a CDM

 

[Mcking]

He was fine, not sure why some people are targetting him. Bruno and Pogba for all there class had reasonably off games. Afew nice flashes of skill and some good tracking but didnt really impose himself on the middle of the park at times.

He was fine. As Scott McTominay, he was fine.

Palace had Milivojevic, McCarthy and McArthur in midfield today. Going into the game against such level of opposition, it would have been harsh to expect McTominay to perform much better than he did.

 

[Rozay]

This place really has no patience for young players

It seems you need to be excellent at 18 and world class by 22 or you're done by the caf standards.

Would you prefer there be no bar at all? We only introduce a standard when a player turns 25 or whatever you feel is appropriate?

 

[spiriticon]

Would you prefer there be no bar at all? We only introduce a standard when a player turns 25 or whatever you feel is appropriate?

Just a bit of patience with form is all I ask. I mean, yes he's off form since he's been dropped but some of the comments here sound like he's never been a good player for us. That's inherently false.

 

[Idxomer]

That was a good game by his standards.

 

[passing-wind]

It was a boarderline disgusting performance. How anyone can see differently makes no sense. His job role was to shield the back four and his awareness was absolutely shocking. What I can't stand is how fans can back McTominay to be a decent player but completely dismiss the likes of Rice who is twice the player and younger.

Scott is a good option for rotation but he shouldn't be playing ahead of Fred. He was decent before the break so I don't think he's utterly useless but I'd certainly be interested in us getting Rice as a viable Matic replacement.

 

[Rozay]

But that standard isn’t acceptable, is it? I think we’re on the same page here.

It depends on the job description. I wouldn’t cry if Scott left, but I can see that he can be useful in a squad. He’s had bug games for us, and if we want to be back at the top of world football, we will have more games and need more performances like those.

He’s no ‘future captain’ or whatever other hyperbolic nonsense that was trotted out about him. My suspicion is that at some stage, he will be replaced by Garner in the squad and probably leave anyway. But for now, he can play when people need a rest, or to come on and tighten things up.

 

[Chinchy98]

Think Mctominay excels in a side without the ball where his energy can force opposing midfielders to play horizontally, but once we have the ball, his inability to pass through a press or create is none existent. I think we need to look at other options should we continue to play expansive football, the "footballing" deficiencies are too great for him to develop into a 6 that we need.

Shame as he is a red through and through and we have had some great games with Scott, but his game time should be limited moving forward if we want to be a top 5 European side

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Not good enough on the ball. Massive downgrade on Matic.

 

[Idxomer]

I'm probably one of the few who thinks he's more average without the ball.

 

[E-mal]

Alot of people including me have said we need to move on one of Scott or Fred to get a genuine quality number 6 going forward. It is as important as the right wing or central defence.

 

[#07]

What I've been saying as well even during the green patch with Fred. He's very limited with his technical ability and therefore relies more on athleticism. That screams for a counter attacking style. Shouldn't be anything more than a backup going forward. I'd prefer a new CDM was bought and have Fred rotate for Bruno and Pogba

This is on the right track.

The Fred vs McTominay as holding player posts are redundant to me. Both are box to box players, whose best attributes are harassing players in position when we're camped in two banks of four ready to spring the trap. When we're set up like that it doesn't matter that they go chasing after players because our lines are so close together it doesn't leave any space. However, when we are trying to play more expansively and players are moving ahead of the ball to create more options their jackrabbit like tendencies just leave big gaps in midfield. This is something we've seen from both Fred and McTominay and its one of the reasons why pre-Bruno we were losing to teams like Palace.

McTominay could be a decent back up for Bruno in that he is physical, gets into the box and strikes the ball well and Fred could be a decent rotation option for Pogba. However, neither is a good option to fill the defensive midfield role in a set up like the one we're currently using. They don't have the positional sense and discipline to do the job.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Typical performance. He’s a big game player when you want to play a defensive game and need a defensive 8 to put in a shift. But against a weaker side with the majority of possession he’s a nothing player, he offers nothing with the ball. Crystal Palace’s midfield are better with the ball. And he still isn’t a holding midfielder and never will be. Just 5 minutes of Matic and you see everything he has needed for the role, Scott has none of it.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

He was fine, not sure why some people are targeting him. Bruno and Pogba for all their class had reasonably off games. Afew nice flashes of skill and some good tracking but didnt really impose himself on the middle of the park at times.

Yep I agree. A few good passes between the line too. Like you said, he wasn’t the physical dominating CM we saw earlier in the season and that’s because he was starting week in week out. This is his first start since the Spurs game in the league so of course he won’t be in top form.

He’s still only 22 so of course he’s not going to show the same positional sense in the DM role like Matic does. Fun fact, at McT age Matic was playing even further ahead of McT as an attacking midfielder - so that ability can and will be taught if evidence is proven correct with Scott’s general improvement this season.

 

[RedSky]

Not good enough on the ball. Massive downgrade on Matic.

The problem I have with McTominay is that I don't really know what he excels at. It isn't his passing or vision, but I don't think he's good at destroying either. Needs to be doing better if he's going to make it at United as the bar is being raised again.

 

[Mcking]

I'm probably one of the few who thinks he's more average without the ball.

Yes, he's just as mediocre without the ball. He doesn't offer enough protection, discipline, or control, and neither does he win the ball an awful lot. He's solid at best.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

I think he showed tonight why he isn’t a DM. We looked miles better when Matic came on and mostly because McT spent most the game out of position Leaving Pogba alone. As soon as Matic came on the difference was obvious. Maybe can’t get around as much but he just free’d Pogba and always seemed in the right place.

McT along with poor positioning just didn’t seem that involved in the game.

 

[paulscholes18]

Been championship standard since the restart, really, really poor

 

[Web of Bissaka]

I'm still disappointed.

Ever since he came back from the injury, his performances are just consistently fine. The goals before the restart will make some people say his performance is good, but not me. His all-around performances (back from injury and then the restart) are so boring.

Need to step-up.
Upcoming series of big games offer him the chances to do just that.

 

[Mindhunter]

Think Mctominay excels in a side without the ball where his energy can force opposing midfielders to play horizontally, but once we have the ball, his inability to pass through a press or create is none existent. I think we need to look at other options should we continue to play expansive football, the "footballing" deficiencies are too great for him to develop into a 6 that we need.

Shame as he is a red through and through and we have had some great games with Scott, but his game time should be limited moving forward if we want to be a top 5 European side

He was poor even when we had the ball, especially when we were playing the ball out from the back under pressure from the Palace forwards. He was largely absent and Pogba was the deepest midfielder for most of the time till Matic was subbed in. McTominay spent the day as a filler, basically drifting around in midfield and offering himself for a sideways pass from time to time. Either his role wasn't explained to him or he doesn't have the intelligence to get it and execute the role.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I like Mctominay, he has time to develop but the difference between he and Matic playing 6 is like Bruno and Lingard in AM. Mctominay just doesn't know how to position himself as a 6, both defensively and in build up play. What exactly does he add when we are in possession? Very very little. We can't go into next season with Mctominay as back up for an ageing and easily fatigued Matic

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Hasn’t got going since the restart neither has Fred, bit weird considering how well they were playing before lockdown. Hopefully just down to lack of game time.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Can people stop saying he will learn the Matic's role? Mctominay is not a DM or to put it this way, he is not a DM like Matic and does not offer what Matic offers in that role and he doesn't have the ability to. Ole should stop trying to use him like he is Matic because he doesn't have the ability to do what Matic does

 

[DarkChild™]

Maybe he can be reinvented into a CB. Seems like he would be immense there. He's too cautious for midfield. Hides from passes most times unless he is completely free of a man. Hope to see him coached into a CB, he would be very intimidating and has a decent pass.

 

[Revan]

Not a holding midfielder, at least not for now. Still a decent player and prefer him to Fred.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Can people stop saying he will learn the Matic's role? Mctominay is not a DM or to put it this way, he is not a DM like Matic and does not offer what Matic offers in that role and he doesn't have the ability to. Ole should stop trying to use him like he is Matic because he doesn't have the ability to do what Matic does

There's no way Matic could have played the full match tonight, or even 60 minutes. Scott did exactly what was needed tonight; get us through enough of the match where we could bring Nemanja on to settle things down. Job done.

 

[mariachi-19]

Not a holding midfielder, at least not for now. Still a decent player and prefer him to Fred.

This. He's a box to box. You could see in the second half before he got pulled when he and Pogba swapped that he was far better suited to playing in the channels and pressing the midfield, rather than sitting deep and trying to dictate play. If anything, he needs to be Pogba's replacement and we need to get Fred in to be rotation for Matic.

My feeling is that Ole is hoping he can turn him into a Matic style midfielder (except more mobile) but that's not going to happen for a few years.

 

[Strelok]

Hasn’t got going since the restart neither has Fred, bit weird considering how well they were playing before lockdown. Hopefully just down to lack of game time.

It's not because he's worsen mate. It's because we changed tactic and he can't play as a holding.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Don't get all this "he's still young give him time to learn the holding role or Matic and Carrick started as an AM" comments. Mctominay is a box to box and plays better in that position so let him play in his best position and develop there. We are basically shoehorning him in a role that he has the size for but not the ability and saying he can eventually come good in that position because he's young and developing.

 

[zenith]

I hope he gets more game time and we see him start on the semi final on Sunday. He's very much a big game player.

 

[SambaBoy]

This is on the right track.

The Fred vs McTominay as holding player posts are redundant to me. Both are box to box players, whose best attributes are harassing players in position when we're camped in two banks of four ready to spring the trap. When we're set up like that it doesn't matter that they go chasing after players because our lines are so close together it doesn't leave any space. However, when we are trying to play more expansively and players are moving ahead of the ball to create more options their jackrabbit like tendencies just leave big gaps in midfield. This is something we've seen from both Fred and McTominay and its one of the reasons why pre-Bruno we were losing to teams like Palace.

McTominay could be a decent back up for Bruno in that he is physical, gets into the box and strikes the ball well and Fred could be a decent rotation option for Pogba. However, neither is a good option to fill the defensive midfield role in a set up like the one we're currently using. They don't have the positional sense and discipline to do the job.

This. McTominay and Fred are both decent players in their own right but a Matic replacement who always balance to Pogba and Fernandes they are not. I would be happy to sell Fred this summer and get a player similar to Matic in.