This gets overlooked but Bruno should've buried that header. He was really poor.
39
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 10
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
- Status
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
He played very well against Norwich. 2nd best United player after DeGea.
If Donny had the game McT had, the caf would be screaming for Donny to start. Shows the agenda
He might play well in a game here and there, no doubt but the bottom line is he is never a player who should be playing for UTD in middle of the park.
I have nothing against him and he come across a good lad but he is kind of Villa/Westham player to me
I have nothing against him and he come across a good lad but he is kind of Villa/Westham player to me
Why do we need to be screaming when he starts every game anyway?
The fact is these performances are very rare lately for Scott. Let's hope this is a start of a revival for him.
Donny doesn't start every game.
I agree under Ole his performances were very rare but what I have seen under RR is a shift, the back 5 are playing forward. If he takes that performance and builds on it, he can have a good future at United.
We need players like Scott in our squad, not as a starter but to have around in certain games and as a backup.
Not being funny but the performance wasn't that great and it was vs Norwich... lets see if he can keep improving and against better opposition. Regardless we need to add another CM in January and he is the CM who should be replaced in the current starting 11
This doesn't even make sense, and if anything only shows your own agenda.
The vast majority in here are saying Scott had a good game. If he played like that every game he'd have far less detractors and people wouldn't be saying that he needs replacing in the starting 11. It actually shows that there is no 'agenda' against Scott and the criticism is purely based on his performance level. Play well and he gets credit, play poorly and get criticism. Unfortunately he normally doesn't play well enough which is why he's been getting plenty of criticism.
As such, of course if VDB had come in and performed at that level people would be saying he deserves to start more. Just like when he's played well in most of the few games he's had in a midfield two this season and the end of last season people have been saying that they would like to see more of him to see if he can do it consistently. Those few chances he's had during that time he's played better than Scott often has, although of course the level of opposition has been weaker. Perhaps he would come in and be poor (like he was against Young Boys although obviously that was a very badly balanced midfield), perhaps he would be good and retain his place. It's the fact he wasn't even given the opportunity despite every one of our other midfielders struggling for the first couple of months of this season that has frustrated people.
Scott was good against Palace too, yet people were still here trying to say he didnt. Look at the posts before, saying he didn't play well, he is a VIlla player. I don't see where you are seing this "most people" saying he played well.
Even under the new manager, I cannot see him in the 2, Donny isn't good enough in that role, he has not had good performances, unless you are refering to the Watford one where we lost 4-1 and the game was done at half time.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
Scott certainly wasn't 'good' against Palace. Perhaps not quite as bad as some on here made out, but I'm not sure how you could possibly say he was good. Hell, the fact that our starting midfielder had the third lowest amount of passes in our team (behind only Rashford and Ronaldo) and less than half the amount that his midfield partner had immediately means he could not possibly have had a good game. Compare that to how he played against Norwich and it was night and day. And if you don't see most people saying he played well against Norwich then you need to look better, as the vast majority of posts in this thread were saying that.
Off the top of my head, the only two games that Scott has played well in this season while doing the actual job that I want the midfielder to do (helping control the team and tempo of the match, while disrupting the opposition doing the same) was Norwich and Spurs. I may have forgotten a couple but there certainly haven't been many. He's also had the odd game where he's played well as an individual player (such as Leeds), but even in those he's not really helping the team function as a whole. That can be fine for an attacking player, but for a midfielder it's not ideal.
With Donny, he was probably our best player in three of the last five matches that he's played in a deeper position. The two that he didn't play well were the games against Young Boys (one of which is harsh to hold against him since it was a very unbalanced team where he was the only actual midfielder).
The Watford game was not 'done at half time'. We were only losing 2-0, he came on and was comfortably our best player including scoring the goal that got us right back into the game and we were on top before Maguire got sent off.
West Ham in the EFL Cup.
Wolves last season.
Is it enough to say that he's going to be great or even good? Certainly not. Hell, the latter two were pretty much second-string teams in games we didn't care about. But when the midfield as a whole was massively struggling for the first few months of this season it was enough to say that he should have got more of a chance. It's going to be more difficult now though since our midfield does seem to be getting better and Fred looks to have been pushed into a more advanced position instead of being the deeper one. In saying that, if Scott can play more often like he did against Norwich then VDB might be able to partner him in midfield to give Fred a rest.
Love you Scott! 
Feel like we were finally seeing some "vertical passing" after eventually getting some quality training from a proper coach
Feel like we were finally seeing some "vertical passing" after eventually getting some quality training from a proper coach
The game wasn't done at half time, Van de Beek made it 2-1 after he came on, it was Maguire getting sent off in the 69th minute that fecked things up. He's played his best games for us in that position so you're making things up to fit your..
This is the problem with this club, and actually the forum, a player has been consistently shite for months and months, infact nearly all of their time at the club, but as soon as they have one decent game all of a sudden anybody who was doubting him has agendas or we've been wrong about him this whole time. The same thing happened with Lingard until he went to pot again, same thing will happen with McTominay, certainly has a great game or 2 in him every now and again, but majority of the time he's garbage, get rid in the summer for an upgrade, tired of this crap.
Mctominay is not going anywhere - Rangnicks vertical passing tactic was great to finally see in a player in our team, just like we are seeing Fred get better playing his more natural game - we are seeing Mctominay improve doing his version too.
Acting like this was just that "one off good performance" just moaning female dogs wanting to moan acting like what we think has any influence on how our club is run.
Acting like this was just that "one off good performance" just moaning female dogs wanting to moan acting like what we think has any influence on how our club is run.
I am not saying Scott is WC or anything, I feel that sometimes he is treated harshly, he is a good squad player, shouldn't really be starting week in week out however; I get why we do because we don't really have anyone else in that position.
With Donny, I can't see him deployed in that position long term, Wolves at the end of the season, league cup games and lesser games.
Alot of games that Donny has been deployed in the CM position we have lost, West Ham in the cup, Leicester in the cup, Istanbul away etc.. I don't think he suits the position.
We just need someone who can control the game, we actually need someone like Veratti, Modric, someone of that quality in midfield.
I definitely agree with you on the bolded, although probably a Veratti more than a Modric. Veratti could partner Fred IMO, while we would have to buy another midfielder to partner Modric as none of our current ones would suit. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing but it would require more work, money and increased chance of one of them not working out.
It's a bit harsh to blame VDB for losing games when he's been our best player or one of our best players on the day. I also think there has been a noticeable difference in his aggression levels and eagerness to get involved ever since the Wolves game at the end of last season. Up until that moment I'd have agreed with pretty much everything you've said, but in most of the games that he's played in the midfield since then I've seen a far more interesting player. I still haven't been impressed at all when he's played in the more attacking positions though.
Exactly. Its just a bunch of moaners.
Mctominay is a good decent squad player who has been used by many managers during his time.
People point at him because he is being used in the important Gaps in the squad.
The intellectual can see that Mctominay is not there as our choice for these gaps - that he is simply being chosen to cover them whilst we try sort them out.
Like the haters start looking at Scholes and wondering why the hell Mctominay is our replacement for him.
People then start remembering Carrick and again start pointing at Mctominay for being nothing like him.
He is a good squad player that needs to be put back on the bench not because he is crap - but because that indicates we have better players in those positions he plays at that we currently do not have.
This season he's had three excellent performances. Leeds, Tottenham and Norwich. If he's able to start producing those sort of performances on a much more consistent basis, I think most people wouldn't have a problem with him at all.
Every other game he's been mediocre, though. An absolute passenger, which is backed up by all stats. I really hope Rangnick can grow him as a player
Every other game he's been mediocre, though. An absolute passenger, which is backed up by all stats. I really hope Rangnick can grow him as a player
He's been a dead cert starter for nearly three seasons and we've seen very little development from him. He's 25.
Sensible United supporters don't expect him to be Scholes or Carrick, we expect him to play like he belongs at this level at the very least. He doesn't do that for me to be starting week in week out.
McTominay wasn't deployed by Solskjaer and Mourinho in the manner you're speaking, to 'plug gaps'. Both managers were full of praise for him and Solskjaer once said McTominay was pretty much un-droppable back in 2019! Solskjaer clearly saw him as a leader
Solskjaer: McTominay undroppable
Mourinho was also a huge fan.
It is also interesting that Rangnick has already praised his performance. I’m quite sure he will face more competition the next year or so. And I’m also quite sure he will improve when he do.
Right so Mctominay not being a squad player is his fault or the managers fault?
He is a good enough player for our subs bench - him being picked consistently is not his fault, it's the managers.
People then start pointing out as Mctominay is the problem because he is getting picked too much for fans like yours liking.
Two bottom three sides and a spurs performance SO bad they sacked their manager immediately afterwards.
I like Scott but I’m a realist, he’s not good enough to be starting every week in midfield for Manchester United, let’s stop kidding ourselves.
Scott comes alive when it’s a scrappy end to end affair with little control in the game, he can put himself about physically, people notice this and think it’s a big positive but in reality we need players that can control the game… not ones that thrive in chaos.
I think he's probably a hard worker in training who probably follows instructions well. That alone is not enough though, he simply doesn't have the overall skillset needed for a team of this magnitude
When Rangknick brings in his midfield reinforcements I think he'll be ruthless as he's been at the Red Bull clubs in the past. McTominay will have to drastically improve to keep his starting place. One thing McTominay hasn't faced in his time as a senior player is real competition. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to it. Worked wonders for Shaw. However, he's not a Rangknick midfielder. He's being given a chance to impress before reinforcements come in
This is such a bizarre take. So what you're saying is McTominay should be immune to constructive criticism over his performances because he doesn't pick himself? Okay. Does the same logic apply to everyone else on the squad?
And your 'constructive criticism' has come from an era where every fan was complaining about the quality of training- and for some reason only some really can see how that might effect players who need that coaching and training.
For example,
We have seen McFred been played their whole career in the wrong way under Ole - with Fred deep and Mctominay going forward.
What happens when we get a coach like Rangnick? He puts them in the right positions - with Fred allowed to go forward and to press further up the pitch with Mctominay being the one who sits deeper.
We have seen Rangnick's influence on Mctominay's game already - with Scott having good performances with some calling him MOTM if it wasn't for the Goalkeeper.
We can see Rangnick's Vertial Passing being better than ever, doing some passes we never saw him do before - almost helping our long distance passing from deep.
Like sure - complain about him, but why not focus complaints on him under a new manager with a higher level of coaching and training ability?
What is the point of complaining about players under Ole? A manager that failed. A manager with bad tactics. A manager with bad coaching?
Do you not see how that can affect a player?
Instead, now let's see who does and who doesn't fail under a more experienced coach in our first type of modern football. Give them a clear thought in your head that under this more influential modern manager if Scott is good enough then he just might be good enough.
It's how I've treated all these players since the arrival of Rangnick. A new slate, yet if they fail under him, or don't don't try ot get chosen like Martial and Pogba, or even struggle to perform under him (like wan bissaka, who I kind of like) - then maybe they are not right for our club.
How is McTominay "not a Rangnick midfielder"?
These are the best players Rangnick has ever worked with.
Too sensible
I think the argument here would be that Leipzig have largely opted for quicker, smaller deep midfielders like Fred and not bigger, less nimble types like McTominay. Guys like Demme, Haidara, Laimer and Kampl are more about linking up in tight space and being able to change directions quickly.
If I may quote myself, like a psycho or Jose Mourinho:
December 2020
NoPace said:
People (including me) get too up and down on McTominay. He should and probably will be the backup DM here for a long time and maybe get some time at CB depending on the manager and how much we play 3 at the back.
VDB and Fred fighting for the 8 shirt and an elite holding mid backed up by McTominay next to them (and we can play both together if we need to kill games off with parking the bus and countering fast instead of with possession).
No, its a case of players being given a clean slate under a new manager.
I think everyone wants one or two new DMs (a starter and a young backup to replace Matic). No reason that would require McTominay to be sold.
In the next year or so we will probably lose Pogba and Matic, and some people actually want us to get rid of McTominay too? Leaving us with only Fred as an experienced PL midfielder, and maybe Donny (not sure he is an experienced PL midfielder), before any new players coming in? They expect us to bring in three new midfielders?
Newcastle 1:1 Man Utd
I thought he was one of the few who performed reasonably well tonight, did a lot of the dirty work to keep us in it, headers, tackles, interceptions. His passing was not quite as crisp as against Norwich but hopefully no serious injury there as we don't have the options in deep midfield. Donny, for the 3rd manager, does not appear to be in consideration to play there outside of emergencies and Pogba might not play for the club again.
Was decent compared to the other shit that was out there tonight, probably get lumped in with the rest of them but thought overall he did alright.
Yeah he was alright today, would give him a 6
Forward passing has improved since Rangnick came in. Was a one man midfield, even when Fred was on the pitch, which didn't help him.
He was okay tonight. Fred was terrible in the first half and he was left with a near impossible job in the 2nd half, having to play midfield on his own.
Yeah I also thought he was sort of OK compared to the absolute dross surrounding him
He at least tried to be progressive.
He at least tried to be progressive.
Ok is not good enough.
He was rubbish Joelinton schooled him and Fred
He was one of the best of a very bad bunch. Fecking maddening how often he gets passes slightly wrong though. They go down as a completed pass but the recipient is almost never able to take it in their stride.
- Status