Scott McTominay image 39

Scott McTominay Scotland flag

2019-20 Performances


View full 2019-20 profile

6.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
37
Goals
5
Assists
1
Yellow cards
4
Status
Not open for further replies.

Litch

Full Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2013
Messages
10,183
Ole fav so he'll get his chance. Ok squad player but nothing other than that.....
 

Paul_Scholes18

Full Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
13,891
It is a worry under Ole that our players decline after a bright start under them when they play. Not sure what they are doing wrong with coaching players.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

Full Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2019
Messages
7,052
I thought I’d stay out of this thread after tonight‘s game tbh. I’ve already said all I need to say on the matter, I’ve written it a million different ways and now it’s time for whatever will be to be.

My belief has always been that he has been riding on a wave of personal fondness on here. When that wears off, and other talented new kids start emerging behind him that take their emotion, all that will be left is the player. And there’s not much there, in my opinion. In the match day thread I read a lot of people asking what’s gotten into him’ and ‘where’s the old McTominay?’. This is how he’s always played in my eyes. He wasn’t passing the ball well last October either, it’s just that people didn’t care because they were so smitten with their future captain. It was just ‘passing a little sloppy today but what a warrior’. Well he was still a warrior tonight and his passing was still sloppy. It was always just going to stop being okay all of a sudden once certain novelties wore off.

Anyway, this is my own take on things, and I’m not going to try and convince posters their ‘favourite player’ isn’t all that. We’ll just let it run it’s course, and hopefully they turn out right and me wrong.
Pretty much this. I think he's also favoured by Ole. He has character no doubt but he's average. He isn't good at anything when he has the ball.
 

saivet

Full Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
25,111
72% pass completion for him tonight and he was hardly playing difficult passes.
 

SAFMUTD

New Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
Messages
11,787
He has dropped a lot since the reestart. He looks better against top opposition when we dont control the game, there he shows temperament and hunger but when we are the top team he looks out of place, cant make a pass.
 

DarkChild™

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 18, 2019
Messages
65
I thought I’d stay out of this thread after tonight‘s game tbh. I’ve already said all I need to say on the matter, I’ve written it a million different ways and now it’s time for whatever will be to be.

My belief has always been that he has been riding on a wave of personal fondness on here. When that wears off, and other talented new kids start emerging behind him that take their emotion, all that will be left is the player. And there’s not much there, in my opinion. In the match day thread I read a lot of people asking what’s gotten into him’ and ‘where’s the old McTominay?’. This is how he’s always played in my eyes. He wasn’t passing the ball well last October either, it’s just that people didn’t care because they were so smitten with their future captain. It was just ‘passing a little sloppy today but what a warrior’. Well he was still a warrior tonight and his passing was still sloppy. It was always just going to stop being okay all of a sudden once certain novelties wore off.

Anyway, this is my own take on things, and I’m not going to try and convince posters their ‘favourite player’ isn’t all that. We’ll just let it run it’s course, and hopefully they turn out right and me wrong.
Couldn't believe he got an extension. You are 100% spot on about him. Soon enough people will realise this is who he is as a player. It would be really nice to know how many miss passes he had tonight.
 

Annihilate Now!

...or later, I'm not fussy
Scout
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Messages
49,674
Location
W.Yorks
He has dropped a lot since the reestart. He looks better against top opposition when we dont control the game, there he shows temperament and hunger but when we are the top team he looks out of place, cant make a pass.
Yeah, he needs it to be all action around him so he can get stuck in / be all blood and thunder.

A half paced game against LASK when we're 5-0 up is never going to get the best out of him.
 

In Rainbows

Full Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2014
Messages
6,730
I thought I’d stay out of this thread after tonight‘s game tbh. I’ve already said all I need to say on the matter, I’ve written it a million different ways and now it’s time for whatever will be to be.

My belief has always been that he has been riding on a wave of personal fondness on here. When that wears off, and other talented new kids start emerging behind him that take their emotion, all that will be left is the player. And there’s not much there, in my opinion. In the match day thread I read a lot of people asking what’s gotten into him’ and ‘where’s the old McTominay?’. This is how he’s always played in my eyes. He wasn’t passing the ball well last October either, it’s just that people didn’t care because they were so smitten with their future captain. It was just ‘passing a little sloppy today but what a warrior’. Well he was still a warrior tonight and his passing was still sloppy. It was always just going to stop being okay all of a sudden once certain novelties wore off.

Anyway, this is my own take on things, and I’m not going to try and convince posters their ‘favourite player’ isn’t all that. We’ll just let it run it’s course, and hopefully they turn out right and me wrong.
Pretty much been my thoughts since the start of his career. I rarely post in his threads for the same reason. I've just been thinking, whatever McTominay is in their head, Ben Pearson is actually more fitting of that image. And James Garner is the next evolution of Ben Pearson, which is whatever image they have for Scott. Because making the step up is so hard and unpredictable (Ex: I thought Thorpe was better than Keane), I didn't want to claim Garner will eventually make Scott obsolete, but I've been waiting sitting on this thought.
 

Raees

Pythagoras in Boots
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
29,464
I've never been a fan of his, so I won't pile on today when he was pretty poor.

I just think our midfielders for the most part should be of the quality that they help us control the game.

I don't want the type of midfielders that are best when they negate the opposition midfield from controlling the game. That's McTominay's game. I'd rather we move away from that.

I am pretty sure @Rozay or @Raees share the same opinion.
I’ve always quite liked Scott but never thought he’s regular starter material. I see him more as a Darren Fletcher type who you can throw in against certain opposition or come off the bench to do a job... a very handy tactical weapon against anyone in the right moment but not someone you build your midfield around.
 

Grande

Full Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
6,205
Location
The Land of Do-What-You-Will
Pretty much been my thoughts since the start of his career. I rarely post in his threads for the same reason. I've just been thinking, whatever McTominay is in their head, Ben Pearson is actually more fitting of that image. And James Garner is the next evolution of Ben Pearson, which is whatever image they have for Scott. Because making the step up is so hard and unpredictable (Ex: I thought Thorpe was better than Keane), I didn't want to claim Garner will eventually make Scott obsolete, but I've been waiting sitting on this thought.
I’m not going to try to predict mote than that Scott will be useful at least a couple of years I’m sure.
I do hope someone other than me noticed the difference in his display first vs second half today. First half Linz did a very good rendition of high team press, and whereas Fred was hit, miss, hit, nice hit and terrible miss, Scott cut a frustrating figure in the first half. The second half I think he solved almost all situations impeccably.

We have four CM’s that are vulnerable to aggressive pressing, for different reasons. For Scott, it’s a matter of needing to be one step a head of the game in his mind. When he can do that, he’s a veryuseful and safe foil to more creative players. I think mny people underestimate how that part of the game is possible to develop a lot further for a man of his age.
 

AshRK

Full Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Messages
12,097
Location
Canada
I like him but he has to improve his passing. He is good as a destroyer by winning back the ball but struggles after that.
 

Skills

Snitch
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
42,010
I thought I’d stay out of this thread after tonight‘s game tbh. I’ve already said all I need to say on the matter, I’ve written it a million different ways and now it’s time for whatever will be to be.

My belief has always been that he has been riding on a wave of personal fondness on here. When that wears off, and other talented new kids start emerging behind him that take their emotion, all that will be left is the player. And there’s not much there, in my opinion. In the match day thread I read a lot of people asking what’s gotten into him’ and ‘where’s the old McTominay?’. This is how he’s always played in my eyes. He wasn’t passing the ball well last October either, it’s just that people didn’t care because they were so smitten with their future captain. It was just ‘passing a little sloppy today but what a warrior’. Well he was still a warrior tonight and his passing was still sloppy. It was always just going to stop being okay all of a sudden once certain novelties wore off.

Anyway, this is my own take on things, and I’m not going to try and convince posters their ‘favourite player’ isn’t all that. We’ll just let it run it’s course, and hopefully they turn out right and me wrong.
Good post.
 

arthurka

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
18,664
Location
Rectum
Ole’s bias towards him is frustrating. Fred is much better.
You know Fred started this game right.. that said he looks like he has stagnated, before the lockdown he was really promising and was playing like a man on a mission.
 

Dominos

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
6,959
Location
Manchester
I thought I’d stay out of this thread after tonight‘s game tbh. I’ve already said all I need to say on the matter, I’ve written it a million different ways and now it’s time for whatever will be to be.

My belief has always been that he has been riding on a wave of personal fondness on here. When that wears off, and other talented new kids start emerging behind him that take their emotion, all that will be left is the player. And there’s not much there, in my opinion. In the match day thread I read a lot of people asking what’s gotten into him’ and ‘where’s the old McTominay?’. This is how he’s always played in my eyes. He wasn’t passing the ball well last October either, it’s just that people didn’t care because they were so smitten with their future captain. It was just ‘passing a little sloppy today but what a warrior’. Well he was still a warrior tonight and his passing was still sloppy. It was always just going to stop being okay all of a sudden once certain novelties wore off.

Anyway, this is my own take on things, and I’m not going to try and convince posters their ‘favourite player’ isn’t all that. We’ll just let it run it’s course, and hopefully they turn out right and me wrong.
There's some real dishonesty to suggest tonight's performance was the same as those he was being praised for earlier in the season.

Maybe he was playing above himself earlier in the season, but to suggest he was actually playing poorly and everyone who thought he was playing well was deluded is clearly wrong.
 

Rozay

Master of Hindsight
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
27,025
Location
...
There's some real dishonesty to suggest tonight's performance was the same as those he was being praised for earlier in the season.

Maybe he was playing above himself earlier in the season, but to suggest he was actually playing poorly and everyone who thought he was playing well was deluded is clearly wrong.
It isn’t clearly wrong. It’s wrong to you. It’s right to me, hence why I was saying the same things about his performances last year as people are saying tonight. In fact, a lot of what people are saying tonight was also said earlier on. Just glossed over.

Did Scott McTominay become a poor passer of the ball in the last few weeks? Or was he giving it away regularly right from the first game of the season against Chelsea, and then again at Wolves the next game and so on and so forth? It’s the perspective you choose to look at it from. He was some sort of great hope going into the season. Many were quick to rubbish off Matic and they had found a new player. Of course, in the midst of that, the things people are pulling him up for tonight were explained away, overlooked, mitigated - with a deliberate choice to focus on the things they liked, like his character, leadership, strength. His fans were NOT calling him a good passer of the ball even back then. They just cared a lot less in October that he can’t pass than they seem to care now.

Also, it hasn’t helped that we have had an opportunity to see better. While Pogba was injured, Bruno was in Spain, Matic was out of the team - people had put McTominay’s best as the standard, until it has been clearly shown in recent months that it is not the standard, which now makes the contrast obvious. If he was still the best we had (although I personally think Fred was better this season anyway), and started every game, I struggle to imagine the majority would be criticising his performances of recent months in the same way. When he plays the odd game in rotation for Matic/Pogba - there is no hiding from the clear drop in ability.

The fact is, some people were saying the things that are being said tonight many months ago. Others didn’t want to hear it. Unless you think that Scott was, in fact, so much better with the ball a few months back and was a player who we could leave in possession to probe and break teams down. This is who he was.
 

Cabin Clown

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Feb 4, 2019
Messages
283
Scott has looked awful the last few games. A far cry from what we know he's capable of. Some regular game time could be very beneficial for him here.
 

Dominos

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
6,959
Location
Manchester
It isn’t clearly wrong. It’s wrong to you. It’s right to me, hence why I was saying the same things about his performances last year as people are saying tonight. In fact, a lot of what people are saying tonight was also said earlier on. Just glossed over.

Did Scott McTominay become a poor passer of the ball in the last few weeks? Or was he giving it away regularly right from the first game of the season against Chelsea, and then again at Wolves the next game and so on and so forth? It’s the perspective you choose to look at it from. He was some sort of great hope going into the season. Many were quick to rubbish off Matic and they had found a new player. Of course, in the midst of that, the things people are pulling him up for tonight were explained away, overlooked, mitigated - with a deliberate choice to focus on the things they liked, like his character, leadership, strength. His fans were NOT calling him a good passer of the ball even back then. They just cared a lot less in October that he can’t pass than they seem to care now.

Also, it hasn’t helped that we have had an opportunity to see better. While Pogba was injured, Bruno was in Spain, Matic was out of the team - people had put McTominay’s best as the standard, until it has been clearly shown in recent months that it is not the standard, which now makes the contrast obvious. If he was still the best we had (although I personally think Fred was better this season anyway), and started every game, I struggle to imagine the majority would be criticising his performances of recent months in the same way. When he plays the odd game in rotation for Matic/Pogba - there is no hiding from the clear drop in ability.

The fact is, some people were saying the things that are being said tonight many months ago. Others didn’t want to hear it. Unless you think that Scott was, in fact, so much better with the ball a few months back and was a player who we could leave in possession to probe and break teams down. This is who he was.
So I take it you don't believe in a thing called form or variance? You seem to be of the opinion that since a player's technical abiltiy never varies, then their performances can't vary either. They can't for example, keep the ball well in a good game and lose the ball more often in a bad game.

Whilst it's true that a player's performance will be looked at more favourably by the fans when they're on a positive wave of momentum, it's also true that if they're out of favour with the fans then their performances will be judged a lot more harshly than they would be otherwise.

Some of the loose balls and errors from Matic in the last few games would have had him crucified earlier in the season when everyone was on his back, but they pretty much got overlooked on here because he was in a spell where the fans were riding his dick. Matic has experienced both ends of the spectrum this season and the truth is he wasn't as bad as made out early in the season and wasn't as good as made out in the 2nd half of the season.

Many fans make their minds up about players and refuse to judge their performances on the merits of what they actually do on the pitch. If you don't think he's good enough to be starting in midfield for us, fine, perfectly valid opinion. The idea that he's never played well though is just absurd.
 

AltiUn

likes playing with swords after fantasies
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
23,494
It is a worry under Ole that our players decline after a bright start under them when they play. Not sure what they are doing wrong with coaching players.
It's really not. McTominay's never been an amazing player, he was good earlier on in the season but he was given time to play himself into form due to injuries, he doesn't have that luxury anymore because our better midfielders are back from injury. It's not surprising to see fringe players look sluggish, they're lacking match sharpness.
 

limerickcitykid

There once was a kid from Toronto...
Joined
Oct 3, 2012
Messages
14,051
Location
East end / Oot and aboot
His “good form” earlier in the season wasn’t much good either. There is a reason his “good form” had us sitting in 14th place a quarter way through the season and 8th halfway through. We were nothing but a mid table side playing dog shit football and regularly getting outplayed in midfield. So desperate for positives that people clutched on to him trying hard as if that makes him a good footballer, completing ignoring the fact we were sitting in 14th place because we were outplayed in midfield every match.
 

Rozay

Master of Hindsight
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
27,025
Location
...
So I take it you don't believe in a thing called form or variance? You seem to be of the opinion that since a player's technical abiltiy never varies, then their performances can't vary either. They can't for example, keep the ball well in a good game and lose the ball more often in a bad game.

Whilst it's true that a player's performance will be looked at more favourably by the fans when they're on a positive wave of momentum, it's also true that if they're out of favour with the fans then their performances will be judged a lot more harshly than they would be otherwise.

Some of the loose balls and errors from Matic in the last few games would have had him crucified earlier in the season when everyone was on his back, but they pretty much got overlooked on here because he was in a spell where the fans were riding his dick. Matic has experienced both ends of the spectrum this season and the truth is he wasn't as bad as made out early in the season and wasn't as good as made out in the 2nd half of the season.

Many fans make their minds up about players and refuse to judge their performances on the merits of what they actually do on the pitch. If you don't think he's good enough to be starting in midfield for us, fine, perfectly valid opinion. The idea that he's never played well though is just absurd.
I didn’t say he’s never played well. He’s had good games, in big games where we’ve been up against it. But other than that, I wouldn’t say he’s ever really played well by what I would consider to be a universal standard of a midfielder playing well. I think he’s had many games where he’s played well for Scott McTominay. He can’t play well by any standard because he’s not capable of playing like Frenkie De Jong or Marco Verratti is. So earlier in the season when he was getting rave reviews, it was not because he was simply a top class midfielder, it was because fans were pleased with his performance in relation to expectation and context in my opinion.

I’ve never seen him have a game where he’s controlled the match, spread the play, played quick one-two’s and all the stuff the top midfielders do. In this respect, I don’t see much change from then to now. He was never a top midfielder even then, and he isn’t now. He won the ball back a lot then, and he’s still winning the ball back now, post lock down, even tonight. But then Matic and Pogba are doing much more than that, and it’s showing him in a poor light. It is of no surprise to me that the period of his rave reviews was not a period where we were also seeing the best of Matic and Pogba. If that were the case, as has been recently, his performances would not have been so celebrated.

To me, the reality is that he has never been that good. He’s been over-celebrated, but this period was always going to come, because we can’t live in delusion forever. At the time of him playing well, what would you say McTominay was doing particularly better than he is now? Because I can dig up many a post from his most ardent fans who clearly had every intention to praise a given performance, but even then, admitted that his passing was poor. If his passing was poor back then, what is this massive post-lockdown change? Is it that he’s just stopped winning the ball too? Not from what I’ve seen. Or is it just that it is becoming increasingly clear that his best isn’t good enough for the team, especially now we have better and are generally of a higher standard?

May I remind you that we tried to counter attack even rubbish teams and it was regularly said about us that we ‘struggled to break teams down’. Within that, we won some games. Our strategy of counter attack worked, and Scott was praised. Then we got better players and we controlled games, and broke teams down. Then Scott comes back into the side and is suddenly criticised more than before. It’s because the team has moved on from his limitations. That can’t be mitigated solely by the fact that he ‘played well’ in a different time. He has never consistently played well in a team like this, that controls football matches and breaks teams down, and his good form, even back then, offered no indication that he could be a top player in such a controlling team - as evidenced by him passing the ball poorly even then.
 

Infra-red

Full Member
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
13,387
Location
left wing
He can't really pass the ball. That's not something that he's suddenly going to learn how to do.

He's big and strong and gets up and down the pitch really well, so there is a role for him off the bench in closing out games, but he's not a starter at a club that wants to challenge for titles.
 

shahzy

Full Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
985
His “good form” earlier in the season wasn’t much good either. There is a reason his “good form” had us sitting in 14th place a quarter way through the season and 8th halfway through. We were nothing but a mid table side playing dog shit football and regularly getting outplayed in midfield. So desperate for positives that people clutched on to him trying hard as if that makes him a good footballer, completing ignoring the fact we were sitting in 14th place because we were outplayed in midfield every match.
Basically agree with this sentiment although i wouldnt have put it as harshly. People wanted to look for positives when there wasnt any. A guy running around, trying his heart out, defending with pride was all there was. So people thought that actually made him a skillful player. Id still keep scott as a 2nd choice backup as he's from the Academy and got him on fairly low wages and signed a long term contract just this year
 

KennyBurner

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
4,673
Location
ATL
There's some real dishonesty to suggest tonight's performance was the same as those he was being praised for earlier in the season.

Maybe he was playing above himself earlier in the season, but to suggest he was actually playing poorly and everyone who thought he was playing well was deluded is clearly wrong.
His passing stats are similar to those games you believe he was good in. Mctominays limitations are showing very well now because we are a team that now demands the ball. Most games he gets praised for we are usually the counter attacking side which requires less of the ball and more reactionary football. Now that he actually has to be more inventive he is struggling. There is no reason why he should have a 72% passing rate against such weak opposition. His partner fred had 89%.

I for one am not wriying him off because he has his uses but he will soon need to improve on his general passing if he wants to have a career here. Our current brand of football doesn't require his current strengths. There are many players out there that can do what he does and still manage to make consistent accurate passes.
 

KennyBurner

New Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
4,673
Location
ATL
He can't really pass the ball. That's not something that he's suddenly going to learn how to do.

He's big and strong and gets up and down the pitch really well, so there is a role for him off the bench in closing out games, but he's not a starter at a club that wants to challenge for titles.
Its not really that he cant pass but that his touches/movement with the ball dont give him the opportunity to do so. Its like sometimes he cant turn quick enough and also release a pass under pressure. Carrick knew how to manipulate his body frame in order to pass in all directions because he had a great first touch. Mctominay can move quickly with the ball but doesnt have the consistent touch to follow through as he moves. You would usually see him either kick the ball to far or like today in the 9th minute miscontrol the ball. Its somewhat a technical issue.
 

jem

Full Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
9,257
Location
Toronto
I don't care what anyone says, I think McTominay played very well during the early parts of the season, often one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dismal autumn/winter. That being said, he just hasn't been at the races since the restart. He's still young, so he deserves patience, but his form has been worrying.
 

TsuWave

Full Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2013
Messages
14,128
My belief has always been that he has been riding on a wave of personal fondness on here. When that wears off, and other talented new kids start emerging behind him that take their emotion, all that will be left is the player. And there’s not much there, in my opinion. In the match day thread I read a lot of people asking what’s gotten into him’ and ‘where’s the old McTominay?’. This is how he’s always played in my eyes. He wasn’t passing the ball well last October either, it’s just that people didn’t care because they were so smitten with their future captain. It was just ‘passing a little sloppy today but what a warrior’. Well he was still a warrior tonight and his passing was still sloppy. It was always just going to stop being okay all of a sudden once certain novelties wore off.
Rozay spilling that truth lean.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

Full Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Messages
16,977
I don't care what anyone says, I think McTominay played very well during the early parts of the season, often one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dismal autumn/winter. That being said, he just hasn't been at the races since the restart. He's still young, so he deserves patience, but his form has been worrying.
He played well during counter attacking set-ups. When we faced teams that sat back, he was poor. I'd rather have a midfielder that can play well in both set-ups.

He has the worst passing accuracy of our midfielders by far and he doesn't exactly attempt many penetrating passes. It's a concern.
 

jem

Full Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
9,257
Location
Toronto
He played well during counter attacking set-ups. When we faced teams that sat back, he was poor. I'd rather have a midfielder that can play well in both set-ups.

He has the worst passing accuracy of our midfielders by far and he doesn't exactly attempt many penetrating passes. It's a concern.
You’re likely correct. I think he can be a valuable squad player for us, but not good enough to start.
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,336
Location
india
Can't pass.
That's definitely his issue which isn't ideal for a central midfielder. He's one who needs to impress next season. Clearly useful when it comes to imposing oneself through sheer physicality and effort on opponents, but for one of the main 4/5 CMs at United let's see if he can display the necessary all round quality especially passing.
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,336
Location
india
I don't care what anyone says, I think McTominay played very well during the early parts of the season, often one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dismal autumn/winter. That being said, he just hasn't been at the races since the restart. He's still young, so he deserves patience, but his form has been worrying.
He was very good. But I think we've up a level as a team and he has to move with it. For example, he needs to show that he's not merely that physically strong CM who especially in big games gives us a bit of an edge and drive, but a quality midfielder in general. As has been said by others next season I'd like to see him improve his passing.
 

Rajma

Full Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2012
Messages
8,571
Location
Lithuania
Been awful since lockdown , done nothing to deserve the new contract
As usual with us we rush out give a new contract to players after a few months of good form and hype, it’s laughable. Then we wonder why we’re stuck with our deadwood for so long as no one can afford to take it off our hands.

Also, Ole having a soft spot for such a limited player is a bit concerning.
 

GailSpaceWynand

Yes, I signed up with this name.
Joined
Sep 20, 2016
Messages
1,888
So I take it you don't believe in a thing called form or variance? You seem to be of the opinion that since a player's technical abiltiy never varies, then their performances can't vary either. They can't for example, keep the ball well in a good game and lose the ball more often in a bad game.

Whilst it's true that a player's performance will be looked at more favourably by the fans when they're on a positive wave of momentum, it's also true that if they're out of favour with the fans then their performances will be judged a lot more harshly than they would be otherwise.

Some of the loose balls and errors from Matic in the last few games would have had him crucified earlier in the season when everyone was on his back, but they pretty much got overlooked on here because he was in a spell where the fans were riding his dick. Matic has experienced both ends of the spectrum this season and the truth is he wasn't as bad as made out early in the season and wasn't as good as made out in the 2nd half of the season.

Many fans make their minds up about players and refuse to judge their performances on the merits of what they actually do on the pitch. If you don't think he's good enough to be starting in midfield for us, fine, perfectly valid opinion. The idea that he's never played well though is just absurd.
Great Post.

He was poor today though. Dire.
 

Godfather

Full Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
29,803
Location
Austria
That's definitely his issue which isn't ideal for a central midfielder. He's one who needs to impress next season. Clearly useful when it comes to imposing oneself through sheer physicality and effort on opponents, but for one of the main 4/5 CMs at United let's see if he can display the necessary all round quality especially passing.
He hasn't even put in much effort since the restart, casually strolling around in the middle of the pitch even. No idea what happened to him.
 

The Red Thinker

Full Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
4,149
Location
Knowhere
I've been a huge fan of Scott since his induction into the team. I always believed that despite the lack of great talent, the boy had phenomenal heart and courage. His attitude was top class and he gave it his all.

Ever since he's signed that contract and been essentially relegated to the bench, he's not looked the same.

Every time he's come on he's looked sloppy and has made loads of passing errors when passing forward and has shown a propensity to wander away from his position. Scott McTominay might believe in his head he's box to box. But, he needs to resign himself to be a DM. He will never make it as box to box at United. He's needs to be Darren Fletcher 2.0. Sit deep, keep the ball, get stuck in and do a job on opposing creative players.

Scott is trying too hard to be Roy Keane. Stop it Scott.
 

Skills

Snitch
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
42,010
Just wondering, if we can attribute his alleged poor form to him signing a new contract, something about thinking he's already made it and bad attitude in general.

Or is that type of criticism exclusively reserved for our black players. Just wondering for future reference.
 

Litch

Full Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2013
Messages
10,183
Ole has a blind spot about certain player like most managers but I don't get it cause inadvertently they let him down. He gives Jones and Pereira contract extensions and often they are not even on the bench due to injury or not producing. I get the Scott thing for lots of reasons but part of the problem is Scott starts to believe it too and thinks he's Pogba's equivalent. Ole will learn the hard way that his loyalty is misplaced with some players....they are bang average, and if he was in a Southampton shirt, there is not a single fan on here that would say, he a Utd player!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.