[Champ]

Yet another good performance.

And still people criticize him.

 

[Cassidy]

Fair play played well, hope for him yet

 

[arnie_ni]

When compared to Leicester's defensive midfielder its not dreadful. Mct's role in the team isnt to be a playmaker or controller of play.

Watch how casemiro plays the same role.

 

[Fortitude]

Mixed bag. His graft and defensive actions have actually been invaluable, but his use of the ball has to be more considered. He plays a fair amount of decent forward passes, but he also struggles in short passing and retention aspects - he’s more an asset than liability as he is these past few games, and to be fair to him, is doing his utmost to impress the manager and justify the faith being placed in him.

Will definitely feature against Arsenal in some capacity, and we’ll need him. Whether he starts or comes on, his athleticism will be important.

 

[Siorac]

Yet another good performance.

And still people criticize him.

Because the problems are still there. As has been said repeatedly in the thread: Casemiro who played 30 minutes versus McTominay's 90, made 27 successful passes compared to McTominay's 34. A central midfielder with that little quality on the ball will always be an issue.

He's a reasonable stopgap for now but we must hope that Casemiro will take his place soon and that we reinforce the midfield further next summer. It's still an urgent need.

 

[Chief123]

He played a lot better the last couple of games. Fair play to him. It doesn't take away from the fact he's not the level he needs to be at for us to be where we want to be. He's not a long term starter. Will be ok as a squad option.

 

[kunal18]

That's not enough for a top team. Scholes suffers from not knowing why he was so good, look at anybody in the City, Liverpool teams, or our old great teams. All midfielders were at the very least capable and threatening on the ball. A DM's job is not just to break the play up and pass to somebody next to you, its to reverse the direction of the game as quickly as possible. That means stop an attack, and quickly change it to your own attack. You can't carry somebody who is as poor and reluctant on the ball as McTominay. Look how short the compilation @Lu Tze posted is, for a centre mid who played a full game.

He is playing now because we don't have anybody else who can break up an attack, and thats the first priority, but it's not ideal and Casemiro should be taking over soon to do both jobs.

I don''t think anyone is claiming McTominay to be Scholes, Carrick, Casemiro level talent but we have to utilize the resources we have at our disposal right now and make them function at their optimum. I think his role is similar to Fletcher/Park during Fergie Era wherein he provides tactical options to the manager especially in big games. He was brought in specifically for the Liverpool game to do a job and once we won ,ETH dint want to change the winning combination, we have persisted with him added to his good performances. Were Fletcher/Park on Scholes/Carrick/Giggs level? No. Were they important to our winning sides during the Fergie Era. Definitely. If we want to have an apples to apples comparison I'd say his job is similar to Henderson, Milner, Ramires, Matuidi. And all these players have played for title winning sides. You cant expect him to be the savior or the main man of your midfield but he can be useful tactically for the manager. Now that he has better players around I think we will see him putting in more assured performances than we have seen over the past seasons. Of course we can sign better players like FDJ who can provide more control and we develop into a more possession based team but since we haven't done that yet, there is nothing wrong in making he best of what we have.

 

[harms]

Carrick too. Even Scholes at some points of his career was given shtick. Our fans are notoriously bad at understanding midfield play.

I'm sorry, but if you compare him to Carrick or Scholes, it's not others who don't understand midfield play. They criticism they've got was because people weren't getting the importance of defensive positioning or a midfielder being constantly available as a passing option, something that can be missed if you're not specifically looking for that kind of thing. McTominay's biggest (and, sadly, only) strengths are extremely highlight-friendly — tackles, goals and clearances, while his questionable positioning or lack of understanding of possession play and his inability to create passing options for his teammates is something that can be easily missed if you're not following him throughout the game.

Fletcher is, perhaps, the only relevant example but even he was significantly better on the ball than McTominay — the difference was, we were consistently challenging for the league & CL and the player he was unfavourably compared to was Roy Keane.

 

[diarm]

I'm sorry, but if you compare him to Carrick or Scholes, it's not others who don't understand midfield play. They criticism they've got was because people weren't getting the importance of defensive positioning or a midfielder being constantly available as a passing option, something that can be missed if you're not specifically looking for that kind of thing. McTominay's biggest (and, sadly, only) strengths are extremely highlight-friendly — tackles, goals and clearances, while his questionable positioning or lack of understanding of possession play and his inability to create passing options for his teammates is something that can be easily missed if you're not following him throughout the game.

Fletcher is, perhaps, the only relevant example but even he was significantly better on the ball than McTominay — the difference was, we were consistently challenging for the league & CL and the player he was unfavourably compared to was Roy Keane.

Where did I compare him to Carrick or Scholes?

 

[Olecurls99]

I don''t think anyone is claiming McTominay to be Scholes, Carrick, Casemiro level talent but we have to utilize the resources we have at our disposal right now and make them function at their optimum. I think his role is similar to Fletcher/Park during Fergie Era wherein he provides tactical options to the manager especially in big games. He was brought in specifically for the Liverpool game to do a job and once we won ,ETH dint want to change the winning combination, we have persisted with him added to his good performances. Were Fletcher/Park on Scholes/Carrick/Giggs level? No. Were they important to our winning sides during the Fergie Era. Definitely. If we want to have an apples to apples comparison I'd say his job is similar to Henderson, Milner, Ramires, Matuidi. And all these players have played for title winning sides. You cant expect him to be the savior or the main man of your midfield but he can be useful tactically for the manager. Now that he has better players around I think we will see him putting in more assured performances than we have seen over the past seasons. Of course we can sign better players like FDJ who can provide more control and we develop into a more possession based team but since we haven't done that yet, there is nothing wrong in making he best of what we have.

Well said

 

[M16Red]

Please get rid.

Awful player.

Opened the thread, this was the first thing I saw.

You still thinking the same way?

I think having a real system has helped him, you can see his positioning is much better because our teams positioning is better.

Also dropping Maguire helps, because he likes to go on a wonder and is caught out way way to much.

Really interesting to see how he copes with Xhaka and Martinelli on that side, Sunday.

 

[lefty_jakobz]

Great against Leicester.

 

[harms]

Where did I compare him to Carrick or Scholes?

I expected this response as you didn't compare him directly but the "they criticised Carrick & Scholes hence they can't be trusted with their criticism of McTominay" argument does draw a parallel between them and it is a logical fallacy as the criticism they were getting has nothing to do with the criticism McTominay gets (because they were completely different players, let alone the enormous gap in talent between them).

 

[Bondi77]

Good game again from Scott.
Fact is that he is the best player we have when it comes to being physical and getting stuck in and Erik recognises this.
I think Fred could be a bit worried with it being a World Cup year.

 

[diarm]

I expected this response as you didn't compare him directly but the "they criticised Carrick & Scholes hence they can't be trusted with their criticism of McTominay" argument does draw a parallel between them and it is a logical fallacy as the criticism they were getting has nothing to do with the criticism McTominay gets (because they were completely different players, let alone the enormous gap in talent between them).

You expected the response because it was a lazy insinuation designed to discredit my argument and add credence to your own. People who can't help but slate McTominay even when he's playing well, are suddenly grasping around for whatever they can find to hold onto because he's stringing multiple good performances together and they're worried they're starting to look silly.

It didn't draw any parallel between the players or what types of players they are, other than that they are midfielders. It draws parallels between the criticism they received by so called fans who don't understand that midfielders take time and the right sort of systems around them to develop.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

He has great feet at times, thought he was brilliant in the first half

 

[andersj]

41 attempted passes in 90 mins? That's fecking dreadful from a CM.

13,6 % of the teams total. That is normal. Rodri, for instance, on average attempted approx 13 % of Citys passes last year.

 

[lysglimt]

Watch how casemiro plays the same role.

Thats not really the issue - in an ideal world, we have world-class players in every position - but no team in the world has that. The question isn't whether McTominay is on the same level as Casemiro (clearly he isn't - there are maybe 2-3 midfielders in the P.L who are) - the question is if McTominay is as bad as people make him out to be. He isn't - used correctly, he is a highly capable midfielder. So it annoys me that there ar idiots who attack him after every single game regardless of how he has performed. He has been crap in a lot of games - just like Bruno, Rashford, Maguire, Shaw, Martial etc have been - but he is not a crap footballer. And it is Fletcher all over again

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

It was another very solid performance. I find it quite sad that some people are seemingly allergic to giving this guy any form of credit.

There are aspects of his game that still need improvement, absolutely. He still doesn't show for the ball nearly as well as he should, and he's not the most refined passer of the ball you will ever see. However, when you have Christian Eriksen as the other deep-lying midfielder, these facets become less important and your ability to physically impose yourself on the opposition's midfield and disrupt their play become markedly more so. McTominay did these things really well yesterday.

To be frank, I think McTominay's importance dwindles substantially when you add Casemiro to the side, but last night he did a solid job of disrupting the opponents in the centre and generally putting in the leg work which allows our other midfielders to be slightly more adventurous.

 

[Sylar]

He has great feet at times, thought he was brilliant in the first half

Its truly bizarre. At times he looks really composed with the ball and can spread the ball, or run out with it.
other times he tries this and its so bad like hes never played football at this level before.

Hes done well last few games. Hes gonna be used this season so hopefully when he is,he keeps it up at this level. Think he will be more useful against the 'better' teams.

 

[romufc]

13,6 % of the teams total. That is normal. Rodri, for instance, on average attempted approx 13 % of Citys passes last year.

You know you will never win with some posters.

If he makes double the passes, they will say, "But how many are progressive passes" so it shows how people think, its always looking for reasons to criticise.

 

[GregM40]

I hold my hands up, I criticised him after the last game, but he was very good against Leicester. He's got Casemiro breathing down his neck, goes to show what a little competition can do for some players.

 

[poleglass red]

did well last night, kudos to him. He rightfully gets stick a lot of the time but last night he stood up. Still give his customary free kick away on the edge of the box, which he needs to cut out big time.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Such a good argument! How did Jose, Ole, and even Ralf faired here? They all admired McT. Wish to remind me?

How did you get on into your management career

 

[Trex]

I'm not usually a big fan of him but he's been good the last three matches.
Long may it continue!!

 

[nau05194]

I'm not usually a big fan of him but he's been good the last three matches.
Long may it continue!!

Not looking to single you out, it's just for illustration @Trex

I have seen quite frequently the idea that Scott has been good in the last 3 matches or 2 and a half matches which just so happen to coincide with Manchester United winning games. I think he was pretty good in pre-season and even in the Brentford and Brighton games he came for in my opinion unjustified criticism because of the overall team results.

I'm not saying he is a scapegoat because I don't have the evidence to assert that, but I think the general opinion seems a little lazy just from reading this forum, I'm often taken aback by the ferocity of the criticism levelled at him. If Manchester United lose at the weekend I would expect McTominay to receive criticism regardless of his individual contribution to the team.

 

[SoCross]

Good performance. Some crucial tackles and solid positioning to intercept some passes too. Think he did his job.

 

[jackal&hyde]

He has done well over the last 3 games. He knows he is fighting for his place now against a monster of a DM.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Been very critical of Mctominay over the last year or so, but last 2 games he's been at a much higher level.

He knows now he HAS to be perfect if he wants to stay in this side. Competition raises standards, something we've sorely lacked for a long time.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Usually one of his biggest critics, but he was very solid yesterday. Credit to him.

 

[Trex]

Not looking to single you out, it's just for illustration @Trex

I have seen quite frequently the idea that Scott has been good in the last 3 matches or 2 and a half matches which just so happen to coincide with Manchester United winning games. I think he was pretty good in pre-season and even in the Brentford and Brighton games he came for in my opinion unjustified criticism because of the overall team results.

I'm not saying he is a scapegoat because I don't have the evidence to assert that, but I think the general opinion seems a little lazy just from reading this forum, I'm often taken aback by the ferocity of the criticism levelled at him. If Manchester United lose at the weekend I would expect McTominay to receive criticism regardless of his individual contribution to the team.

He has his good games, but he should'nt be so integral at a club like united, its not his fault he gets so much games. On the long run he should be a squad player unless he drastically go up a level or two.

 

[Rooney108]

He’s been very solid the past 2 games. I’ve always been a big fan of McTominay but I got a little bit worried about him toward the tail end of last season. Saw him play in Dublin against Ireland then over the summer when he was truly awful (along with the whole Scottish team).

But you can really see an improvement in his positional and tactical awareness over the past few games, he’s a very athletic, strong lad so he does offer us that physicality and mobility in the middle that we sometimes lack.

Hopefully he can push on throughout the season and reach that higher level that he looked capable of when Mourinho was here.

 

[Revaulx]

Mixed bag. His graft and defensive actions have actually been invaluable, but his use of the ball has to be more considered. He plays a fair amount of decent forward passes, but he also struggles in short passing and retention aspects - he’s more an asset than liability as he is these past few games, and to be fair to him, is doing his utmost to impress the manager and justify the faith being placed in him.

Will definitely feature against Arsenal in some capacity, and we’ll need him. Whether he starts or comes on, his athleticism will be important.

Indeed. Unlike some (English) players who are more gifted than him, he’s happy to learn and follow instructions rather than believe he’s already great. I’m not surprised managers like him.

The only red flag is that he looked similarly improved for the first half dozen or so games under Ralf. Let’s hope he keeps it up this time.

 

[BorisManUtd]

Well we did not sign another midfielder after Casemiro so have to hope that those we do have can perform at high level this season. McTominay is useful player, can see him staying at the club as squad player for years, if he is open to that role of course.

 

[Velvet Revolver]

He is and always was a good squad player for United. Should not be starting games unless we have not options.

 

[Blood Mage]

He was good yesterday. One of his best performances in a United shirt.

 

[Skills]

He's played well the last 2 games

 

[Olecurls99]

I hold my hands up, I criticised him after the last game, but he was very good against Leicester. He's got Casemiro breathing down his neck, goes to show what a little competition can do for some players.

I don't think it's a matter of motivation. He's always motivated. His trouble is much more about actual technical ability.

Also I can see him and Casemiro starting together against Arsenal.

 

[11101]

I don''t think anyone is claiming McTominay to be Scholes, Carrick, Casemiro level talent but we have to utilize the resources we have at our disposal right now and make them function at their optimum. I think his role is similar to Fletcher/Park during Fergie Era wherein he provides tactical options to the manager especially in big games. He was brought in specifically for the Liverpool game to do a job and once we won ,ETH dint want to change the winning combination, we have persisted with him added to his good performances. Were Fletcher/Park on Scholes/Carrick/Giggs level? No. Were they important to our winning sides during the Fergie Era. Definitely. If we want to have an apples to apples comparison I'd say his job is similar to Henderson, Milner, Ramires, Matuidi. And all these players have played for title winning sides. You cant expect him to be the savior or the main man of your midfield but he can be useful tactically for the manager. Now that he has better players around I think we will see him putting in more assured performances than we have seen over the past seasons. Of course we can sign better players like FDJ who can provide more control and we develop into a more possession based team but since we haven't done that yet, there is nothing wrong in making he best of what we have.

You'd have a point if McTominay was on Fletcher or Park's level but he isn't. He's not a Henderson either. He is like Milner yes, he has a role to play in the squad but nobody has a player so limited in their starting lineup.

 

[dutchred]

To be perfectly honest if Varane needed a rest or got injured I'd like to see him alongside Martinez at centre back