[Mmm-Qatarian]

I think McTominay will probably establish himself as quite a valuable starting player if he moves to the right mid-table/lower mid-table Premier League team. The issue he's got at United is that both Fred and Sabitzer are better partners for Casemiro than he is (not to mention Eriksen), so the only time it really makes sense to play him is in place of Casemiro. He can't do that, however, because he's frankly hopeless as a defensive midfielder because he just does not know how to orient himself correctly.

I'd say if he were asked to play a role like Gallagher did at Crystal Palace, McTominay could actually be very handy for a side lower down in the Prem. He's an exceptionally gifted athlete and technically he's not nearly as bad as some make him out to be. As long as he's never asked to be the deepest midfielder he's usually at least quite serviceable.

 

[GifLord]

I think McTominay will probably establish himself as quite a valuable starting player if he moves to the right mid-table/lower mid-table Premier League team. The issue he's got at United is that both Fred and Sabitzer are better partners for Casemiro than he is (not to mention Eriksen), so the only time it really makes sense to play him is in place of Casemiro. He can't do that, however, because he's frankly hopeless as a defensive midfielder because he just does not know how to orient himself correctly.

I'd say if he were asked to play a role like Gallagher did at Crystal Palace, McTominay could actually be very handy for a side lower down in the Prem. He's an exceptionally gifted athlete and technically he's not nearly as bad as some make him out to be. As long as he's never asked to be the deepest midfielder he's usually at least quite serviceable.

He's going to go the same way as Cleverley and Gibson have. He's nothing special and has never ever been. Jose only promoted him because of his size.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Think he'll be off in the summer.

I didn't think he was particularly bad tonight but it still wasn't very good.

 

[Borys]

I think he's gone. He didn't even had a bad half, looked decent, but that yellow card shows he's completely unreliable in DM position, while we already have better options in AM. So there simply won't be enough place for Scott.

 

[Isotope]

I think McTominay will probably establish himself as quite a valuable starting player if he moves to the right mid-table/lower mid-table Premier League team. The issue he's got at United is that both Fred and Sabitzer are better partners for Casemiro than he is (not to mention Eriksen), so the only time it really makes sense to play him is in place of Casemiro. He can't do that, however, because he's frankly hopeless as a defensive midfielder because he just does not know how to orient himself correctly.

I'd say if he were asked to play a role like Gallagher did at Crystal Palace, McTominay could actually be very handy for a side lower down in the Prem. He's an exceptionally gifted athlete and technically he's not nearly as bad as some make him out to be. As long as he's never asked to be the deepest midfielder he's usually at least quite serviceable.

Gallagher at Crystal was quality. No fecking way McTom could have that kind of influence.

 

[NoPace]

His per 90 average in the league is 48 so 26 in a single half is actually above his average.

(Fred's average touches per 90 is 71, Casemiro's is 77).

There might not be a player in the league who needs a move to the right manager (Moyes, Dyche, Frank) who will let him hide a bit but be effective than McTominay.

 

[NoPace]

The infuriating thing is that what is asked of him isn't all that much. Sure, he doesn't have the passing range of Casemiro, so we can't ask him to play those line splitting balls up the pitch, but merely dropping in between the 2 CBs or open his body up on the half turn and play a simple ball to the side allow the full backs to push up so much more and open up the pitch for us. It's a job that doesn't require the talent of Paul Scholes or Luka Modric to do, yet he never tried it. There were a good 20 minutes in the first half when whenever the ball was in our half, was just Maguire to Lindelof to De Gea to Maguire to Dalot, and he never once showed for it, culminating in Bruno running all the way back to take it off them. It's maddening.

I think he got thrown into the wrong position. He would have done better as a CB or #9 if they'd realized he wasn't a natural midfielder. It's the brainiest position on the bitch and he's not up to that part of the game consistently. Also might have done well to move to Italy or Germany at 20 or something, he might do better as a cog in a clear and non possession-oriented tactical system he could have done for years, like following some German mid-table manager around between Hoffenheim and Frankfurt or whoever.

 

[James_42]

He plays the position like it's his first time playing there, he has no idea where to be on the pitch, pushes far too forward, and definitely seems to position himself behind opposing players so he can't receive a pass.

 

[Blood Mage]

Not good enough and will likely be the first player out of the door in the summer. Sabitzer is a better version of him.

 

[Greck]

This was the problem with criticizing Mctominay in the past. Because he didn't really do anything it also looked like he didn't really do anything wrong. With Casemiro there's finally a solid reference point for what he should be doing and how ridiculously short he falls of it.

 

[Vapor trail]

He wasn't doing his job, they did theirs badly, that's the difference.

Just look at the positions Casemiro took up once he came on. We started being able to hold on to possession because our fecking CM actually were there to get on the ball and distribute, McTominay hid from the ball since the 1st minute, it got so bad at one point Bruno had to drop to DM to take the ball up.

I seriously wonder how people watch so much football but understand so little of it.

I remember watching some documentary on another club when this was being highlighted by the video analysis people of one of the individual outfield players and the player was held accountable for it in front of the team at the meeting. Scott needs the exact same treatment. A midfielder who veers away from acquiring possession is ridiculous.

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

Gallagher at Crystal was quality. No fecking way McTom could have that kind of influence.

Have you seen how bad Gallagher is at Chelsea?

 

[Sylar]

Reckon part of the reason he came off was due to the yellow , but he hasn't helped himself. Was a good chance to shine.

Actually thought he does well when he gets the ball and turns and runs with it. But he doesn't do that enough

 

[AjaxCunian]

Need to get rid next summer and get a young DM in.

 

[Ish]

He's going to go the same way as Cleverley and Gibson have. He's nothing special and has never ever been. Jose only promoted him because of his size.

Yeah, could be a useful as a squad player in a mid to lower prem side - could fill in at CM and even possibly as an emergency CB, but i think those thinking he'd be a mainstay in midfield for a mid table side, might have it a little wrong.

 

[Solius]

I thought he played alright. He’s a transitional player really that suits the counter attacking/powering through midfield style but I don’t think he has enough of anything else for that to be worth it.

Casemiro has also made him look worse by comparison I think.

 

[arthurka]

Think he'll be off in the summer.

I didn't think he was particularly bad tonight but it still wasn't very good.

You didn't find his vanishing act bad tonight, he just doesn't offer himself available for passes from the defence. That is a terrible habit to have as a midfielder. The reason we look so much better with Case is his ability to find spaces and open himself up to receive passes from our CB. He is also a very capable passer that is something McT lacks completely.

 

[sugar_kane]

You didn't find his vanishing act bad tonight, he just doesn't offer himself available for passes from the defence. That is a terrible habit to have as a midfielder. The reason we look so much better with Case is his ability to find spaces and open himself up to receive passes from our CB. He is also a very capable passer that is something McT lacks completely.

This is it - once you've seen it, you can't unsee it. It's so fecking frustrating to watch, Lingard was terrible for it as well - always conveniently moving into closed off passing lanes.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

You didn't find his vanishing act bad tonight, he just doesn't offer himself available for passes from the defence. That is a terrible habit to have as a midfielder. The reason we look so much better with Case is his ability to find spaces and open himself up to receive passes from our CB. He is also a very capable passer that is something McT lacks completely.

Maybe i've just become too used to it.

It's definitely not good enough and neither is he sadly. Like I said, I think he'll be off in the summer and we should get a good fee for him.

 

[King_Cantona07]

You didn't find his vanishing act bad tonight, he just doesn't offer himself available for passes from the defence. That is a terrible habit to have as a midfielder. The reason we look so much better with Case is his ability to find spaces and open himself up to receive passes from our CB. He is also a very capable passer that is something McT lacks completely.

This was soo frustrating to see, could easily see he taking steps to go behind a person so that passing lines are not open from the person in possession of the ball (Lindelof did show his hands in frustration couple of times when he was trying to move forward with ball and couldnt use mctominay, ended up in passing back to maguire who then slowed down the pace). Being available for passing and making triangles is something a midfielder should do by default. Good thing is Ten Haag is seeing what we see and changed things quickly.

 

[JB7]

Reckon part of the reason he came off was due to the yellow , but he hasn't helped himself. Was a good chance to shine.

Actually thought he does well when he gets the ball and turns and runs with it. But he doesn't do that enough

Yeah agreed; he's just not a holding player for me. Doesn't have the concentration levels to stay deep and best part of his game is bringing the ball forward. I do think he'll probably be moved on in the summer and will be a reasonable player elsewhere, but I just don't understand why he's been seen as a deep midfielder over the past couple of years.

 

[joeunited]

It's unbelievable that he has the master, the best in the world CDM, showing him how it's done every 3.5 days for 6 months and he hasn't learned anything.

 

[RonaldoVII]

He can go to West Ham and replace Rice.

 

[eire-red]

His role for the rest of the season should be to let Casemiro rest, and come on for the last 20 and help us close games out.

Fred and Sabitzer are much better partners for Casemiro than McTominay. The problem McTominay has is that he'd probably also prefer to play alongside Casemiro and be a bit more box-to-box. But he's better in the defensive role than Fred and Sabitzer is still bedding in, so de facto he's the replacement if Casemiro doesn't play. Unfortunately, he's not good enough to play that role and he gets found out.

Unfortunate for him as he's kind of stuck in a place where he doesn't have a defined role like every player seems to be finding. Regardless, he's not at the standard we need and he needs a move in the summer, especially if we sign Sabitzer on a permanent and look to add another in midfield.

 

[STYLOISRED]

Gallagher at Crystal was quality. No fecking way McTom could have that kind of influence.

I remember many on here saying Andreas was Brazilian league level and we robbed Fulham for him.

 

[Siorac]

Yeah agreed; he's just not a holding player for me. Doesn't have the concentration levels to stay deep and best part of his game is bringing the ball forward. I do think he'll probably be moved on in the summer and will be a reasonable player elsewhere, but I just don't understand why he's been seen as a deep midfielder over the past couple of years.

Because we always had much better players further forward. With Herrera gone and Matic becoming a pensioner, we really only had Fred and McTominay to play in those deeper positions and both suck at it, though in different ways.

The core issue though is that a player whose main strength is bringing the ball forward but at the same time is very limited technically will never really be anything but a liability for a top team.

 

[JB7]

Because we always had much better players further forward. With Herrera gone and Matic becoming a pensioner, we really only had Fred and McTominay to play in those deeper positions and both suck at it, though in different ways.

The core issue though is that a player whose main strength is bringing the ball forward but at the same time is very limited technically will never really be anything but a liability for a top team.

I'm not saying he's good enough long term, it's just an issue I've never really agreed with as it's not getting the best out of him.

 

[Siorac]

I'm not saying he's good enough long term, it's just an issue I've never really agreed with as it's not getting the best out of him.

What I'm saying is that getting the best out of him requires sacrificing a midfield who is almost certainly better than him in that more advanced midfield position, be that Pogba (in the past obviously), Fred, Eriksen, or even Sabitzer now.

 

[MadMike]

Fred's a starter mate, he's been class.

Fred's wasn't a starter until Eriksen got injured. And he would be even further away from a starting spot if ETH got his wish and we signed Frenkie.

He's a valuable squad player who's currently playing a very prominent role due to injuries. Just like you'd expect from good squad players. McTominay in my opinion isn't good enough to be relied upon, not the same way Fred is. If the roles were reversed, Fred was the one injured and we had to go with McTominay as a starter for the February period... we'd be in trouble now.

 

[MadMike]

I thought he played alright. He’s a transitional player really that suits the counter attacking/powering through midfield style but I don’t think he has enough of anything else for that to be worth it.

Casemiro has also made him look worse by comparison I think.

His problem is that Fred is already better at his supposed specialty, albeit with slightly different skillset. Scot is stronger and he can carry the ball better, but he lacks both the energy/tenacity and the passing of Fred (which is actually good when it's a transition and he's not being pressed). In a stretched game, Fred covers more grass and will pop up with more important contributions in both defence and offence. Then of course he's not a patch on Eriksen's technique, vision and execution. And finally, he doesn't have the defensive reading of the game, the alertness or concentration to be a good cover for Casemiro as a DM.

So in a team that plays with a DM, a box-to-box CM and an AM, he finds himself 3rd choice for the CM position. And he's 26. He's largely surplus and will certainly be that if we sign a different back-up DM in the summer.

 

[Stobzilla]

He will be gone in the summer. Eddie Howe will be back for him.

He is a squad player but he is so far down the pecking order that he is in the space that a youth player like Mainoo or Iqbal should be in. If that is the case at 26 then you probably should be looking to move on.

 

[BehemothTerror]

I think overall Scott has taken alot of unnecessary flak and have defended him a fair bit were needed. This season however he's just not been contributing as much as needed and Fred has stepped up. If we get 18+ million in the summer I say we take it.

 

[OrcaFat]

He’s in that strange zone where he’s preferred to the likes of Mainoo and Iqbal because he’s stronger and more experienced but on the other hand, we can all see that he’s not going to end up in our first XI.

 

[lex talionis]

McTominay needs to move on as we upgrade our midfield this summer, hopefully with either De Jong or Bellingham (unlikely though) and Sabitzer, but he actually showed a few decent moves on the ball against West Ham I had never seen from him before.

 

[Rozay]

Customary booking.

 

[Sylar]

Customary booking.

Think he was unlucky to get booked.

 

[jem]

Don't know why he was brought on. Useless.

 

[CloneMC16]

Think he was unlucky to get booked.

He wasn't. His follow through was bad. If you go in with studs, you're getting booked.

 

[Rozay]

Think he was unlucky to get booked.

As did I on first viewing tbh, although watching the replay, the ref probably had little choice. Still, he manages to find a way to be yellow carded every game it seems.

 

[Roboc7]

Never understand logic in bringing him on.