We are short of defensive midfielders , probably told by Ole to keep it simple and stay focused on holding . There are plenty of others on the pitch to be a bit more adventurous . Who else do we play as a holding midfielder in these important games trying for top 4 ? Pereira , Fred , Garner or Greenwood ? I think he`s doing a great job for the gaffer in the circumstances .
McTominay: so rare for a youngster to come through an academy and straight into the PL as ready made
- Thread starter Fortitude
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Exactly while I'm satisfied with his contribution, I don't understand how it's supposed to be rare, every teams with an academy has players like that and a club like United have a lot of them, the only issue for us is that we have not allowed players to be that type of contributors in the last 3 years. I know that he has disappeared but Borthwick Jackson was solid under LVG, Rashford has become a pretty good player, I feel that Tuanzebe and Fosu Mensah should be given the same opportunities.
United is a club with a good and productive academy, the likes of McTominay are valuable but not rare for us, at least until he becomes a far better player.
Where I differ is that I don’t think his performances can be summarised as him simply not being adventurous enough. I’m not sure it is some sort of given that he has been solid defensively and done the simple things right. I don’t think he’s been particularly great defensively either. In any sort of physical duel, he is often pushed off the ball I think. I’m sure I’ll see some stats that will contradict me, but I don’t see him running and tackling everything of blocking shots etc. If he were JUST doing that, I think I’d be more content with his contribution given his profile and role he’s supposed to have. If anything, I think he fact that he’s tall makes people think he’s a great defensive asset. I don’t see it.
I agree I think we have lots of players who can do this kind of job, under LVG we probably had too many being thrown in and under Mourinho too few. Hopefully Ole can find the middle ground, every so often we would get someone who kicks on which is what everyone wants to see.
I actually think key for Mctominay is to make sure he doesn’t go on loan. Could easily see him going same way as CBJ and others if he dropped into Championship. He wouldn’t stand out and he could easily struggle for game time at most clubs in the division and other players from the academy could overtake him as well.
No risk of that. He wins a decent amount of aerial duels but other than that his stats are hugely disappointing when you compare him to Matic, Herrera and Pogba. He makes the smallest defensive contribution per game in terms of tackles and interceptions (yes Pogba contributes more) and bizarrely has the lowest pass completion. Obviously his offensive stats, including key passes (0) are no existent.
Won 5 tackles today, he is really stepping up this season.
We should be proud of having such a youngster developing from our academy. The mentality strength he has is equal to someone who is in his 27-28 and playing his 100th game in CL. The boy is incredible in his mentality. Maybe he's not a show maker or dribbler but he gets everything to play as a DMF in a big club like us.
He was a absolute beast tonight. Him and Fred stood up to be counted.
All three in MF worked their socks off. Ole told him to put pressure on Verratti. He paid very close attention to him.
Put in so many tackles.
Put in so many tackles.
Real Madrid need to rebuild their side. Sorry lads but no chance you get Scotty he’s red through and through.
Great game. Bit of a ‘our cnut’ feel about him, which has been a while.
Solid. Love his aggression and love how he is constantly chipping away at players. Top performance tonight.
Can't fault his effort. Not his biggest fan by any means but he put in a massive shift tonight
Another very good match from him.
They done to veratti what verratti did to pogba in first leg
Marquinhos did a job on Pogba, not Vettatti, but the point stands.
What a reliable squad player for us. Not just for PL, he is ready made for UCL, too. Very solid. I love his elbow to marquinhos.. Must be painful. 
Not sure whether it's unprecedented, haven't honestly tried to dig up all the stats, but I do think there are lots of youngsters out there who could make it to the first team without being, let's call it "world class"; most end up outside the PL where they play to the standard around them, a few stand out (although how many of us knew much about Rashford before LVG brought him into the first team?) and a few enjoy a decent career with us even though we may think others in the youth team are better players. The best don't always just float up the top naturally, and I'm sure we've lost some better players because the circumstances weren't right for them at the time.
Scott is a lucky lad in that way, particularly with the recent injuries. For Ole, I'm sure he's more of a known quantity than the youngsters we're now seeing. So I'm not baffled, just think on his current form, and after his performance against PSG in Paris, he's in the first team and earned his chance, and don't think that means every academy player should or will get a chance. With the high number of overseas players in English football (including our youth teams), it's a lottery anyway.
Wouldn't, incidentally, regard Weir and Love as especially promising and Wilson has been a disappointment, but thought Borthwick-Jackson and McNair were promising at the time, also Reece James, Blackett and Varela, but appreciate none has gone on to great things.
Anyway, as you say, topic probably exhausted for the time being!
There has to be a bump. He is clearly a competent, controlled asset for us.
Showed some excellent touches tonight with a sensible use of the ball.Play him now til the campaigns end.
I love this man. Fearless, courageous, not as talented as some of the other Prima donnas we have at the club but plays his guts out and wears his heart on his sleeve. He has the mentality of a proper United player. Others could learn a lot from him.
Reminded me of Darren fletcher for some reason
Looks far better in Herrera’s role than he does coming in for Matic.
I remember when I used to say hes better than Pereira and got crucified by some on here. Tonight, along with the PSG game and others, showed what a good player he can become for us.
Another superb performance tonight.
Another superb performance tonight.
I really like this player
Was impressed with how press-resistant he is. Looks far better as an 8 than a 6.
@Sir Scott McToMinay nicely chosen username. Our most improved player this season.
Brilliant performance by the youngster again.
I didn't think I'd be saying that I'd much rather see his name on the team sheet than most of our midfield.
I didn't think I'd be saying that I'd much rather see his name on the team sheet than most of our midfield.
Was a joy to watch tonight. Did he feed that great pass to Martial that he had that awful 1st touch....I thought that was 1-1
But, but... People dismissed him as just a political player Jose used to hit Pogba. Where are all those people now? 
Interesting question: If he came through another team's academy (Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool...whatever) and pulled through such performance for them against teams like PSG/Barca, would you guys still want him? And how much would you want Manchester United pay to get the current McTominay?
Interesting question: If he came through another team's academy (Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool...whatever) and pulled through such performance for them against teams like PSG/Barca, would you guys still want him? And how much would you want Manchester United pay to get the current McTominay?
Wait until he becomes our manager, then we’ll be rocking.
Knew he’s a player when he played a super composed game away to Seville in a CL KO match and then bossed Liverpool at OT.
He’s in good form but no doubt he’ll go back to being a limited donkey on here after a few quiet games or if he makes any mistakes. getting all these lads playing well together is what we can’t seem to do. Pogba lingard and Rashfords form has dropped off... lukaku was good for 3 weeks... martial was better under Jose... why can’t our players sustain decent form over a decent period of time ?
Yeah that was him. Beauty of a cross field pass around that time too. He was so composed coming out of our box at times.
He was excellent tonight, he stood up more than most. It's not as simple as being stuck in, way more to it. Deserves big credit, want fellas committed like Scott. I'll leave it like this... If you don't want to be at Man United, leave. Scott and Fred where up for it. Not over yet , let's see
He was our silver lining for the Barca match.
Watch out for James Garner. That kid is very very good. Ready for PL match.
We need to keep developing this boy. I really hope he becomes a permanent fixture in our team next season, so fun to watch and always nice to have a homegrown player excel.
His highlight yesterday for me was how calmly he picked ball in our penalty box when Vidal tried to slide tackle him and just run away with it. It reminded me of Carrick.
Hopefully he continues to develop and we'll have some player on our hands.
Hopefully he continues to develop and we'll have some player on our hands.
Play him every match. His the real deal imo.
Schooled Verratti and Busquets in 2 CL games. Might save some cash on that DM next summer and go for a forward instead, he is now my favorite player, though I already liked his commitment even during Mourinho's time.