[RedDevilQuebecois]

He is Livingston material and be advised that Livingston are at the very bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

If he has any awareness of what a CDM should do, he should be shielding the area in front od the back 4 and THUS prevent the danger from striking right through the middle. We sold Fred for THIS... WHAT THE F.UCK?!

Ten Hag also has to answer as to why he put that stupid tree in midfield.

 

[Robbie Boy]

His positioning for both of their goals was poor as the DM. But the blame lies with the management for bringing him on in that position, as supposedly it was a 'tactical' decision to replace Mainoo with McTominay.

Both of them being shite at their jobs is on them.

 

[lex talionis]

If McTominay were a man of faith, he would do well to go to confession and beg for forgiveness.

 

[Winrar]

I was wishcasting about his goalscoring prowess. Nothing more than a dollar store Fellaini.

 

[stevoc]

It's on both of them. It's not like McTominay is a former winger that's never played in the midfield much less DM before. I'm not letting his incompetence off the hook just because our manager is equally incompetent

Both of them being shite at their jobs is on them.

Scott doesn't have a footballing brain. Stevie Wonder could have seen what would happen if you put him at DM on his own.

Yes McTominay was to blame for not defending the box on both goals. But ultimately its the fault of the guy who put him on in that position.

 

[AltiUn]

He’ll go the way of De Gea, Bailly and Lingard once he leaves here. Biggest lottery winner since City.

 

[AltiUn]

How has this man managed to fool so many managers into thinking he's a good midfielder? Clueless fans like me can see and have for so many years now. It makes no sense at all

Well they’ve all ended up sacked so tells you about the sort of quality of manager who rates him.

 

[Malone_Post]

He’ll go the way of De Gea, Bailly and Lingard once he leaves here. Biggest lottery winner since City.

It’s actually incredible how many of our former deadwood players, who the fans had called out for years, have gone on to prove those fans absolutely right. The same will happen with Scott when he eventually moves on.

 

[Castia]

He was on the way out of the door. Offers accepted in the summer, barely any game time. Then he scored those 2 goals against Brentford and he went from being essentially for sale to a key player within 24 hours.

Sums up everything wrong with the club, it’s a mess. He needs selling whilst his stock is high.

 

[Oscar Bonavena]

The only thing he's useful for is coming on for the last 10-15 minutes when we're chasing a goal, and being given licence to get into the box as often as possible, where he's shown he can at least take a chance or two.

Bringing him on to replace a holding midfielder is braindead. It's not even hindsight, fans on this forum called it at the time. I can't even blame him for that, it's 100% on Ten Hag.

 

[MrBest]

The only thing he is useful for is teh 30 to 40m fee he will bring in next summer. Other than that, a glorified somewhat midfielder who takes a stroll every Saturday and occasionally finds himself in the right spot.

 

[Vidooq]

You should not be playing for Manchester United if you cant string 3 passes together, and lack positional awareness. Simple as. How can you play in the middle when you can not pass?

He wouldn't get in any of the midfields of Real, Barsa, City, Bayern. Nowhere near. How has this guy lasted for so long here?

 

[MadDogg]

So what you're saying is, if Mainoo was on, we'd not have conceded? I know you need someone to blame and you are desperately trying to prove your point, hence why you have completely moved the goalposts now, but this isn't a McTominay problem, this is a structural problem as I mentioned before. Go and read my previous post!

Against Villa, for example, if Evans wasn't on the line to block McGinn's shot, they'd have gone 3-2 up, as he was completely unmarked in the area. This has been a problem for a while now, even when we had Casemiro, and it hasn't been addressed. Unfortunately, there's a lot of fickle fans out there that are too quick to jump on the ''lets blame McTominay for everything'' bandwagon, instead of analysing the game in a sensible manner.

It absolutely is a structural issue, I agree there. However, McTominay's limitations increase those issues.

If we play him as one of the 10's (or very attacking 8's if you want), his utter lack of getting involved and helping the midfield makes the issues of the formation and structure even worse. Our entire passing sequences and movement to create space is virtually being done with one less man on the pitch, which instantly makes it harder on everyone.

If we play him as the single pivot, his lack of defensive positioning means that space and time for the opposition in that area of the pitch increases even further on top of what they would already get from our formation. His ability to position himself to receive the ball and pass it improves a little in this position, but still nowhere near good enough which once again has a knock-on effect throughout the team. This is something that has always been a huge issue for Scott no matter which of the midfield positions he's in. Mainoo has had the latter issue in a couple of his games as well (such as today), but in others he's shown good ability to make space and take advantage of it.

Honestly, the position that McTominay does the least amount of damage to the team is as one of the two deeper midfielders. He's obviously not great, but either of the two extremes makes it even worse.

 

[James_42]

He’ll go the way of De Gea, Bailly and Lingard once he leaves here. Biggest lottery winner since City.

Including De Gea with those players is pathetic.

 

[United888]

I would blame the board for failing to accept the money that west ham offered last summer. Why do we reject offer for deadwoods? It wasn’t even a bad offer (wasn’t it 30m or 35m or something?) Such a clueless player who cannot read the game and read situation. As a midfielder, you need to be aware where your man is not ball watching. The only thing he’s good at playing the Fellaini role like how moyes used him in Everton.

 

[JeffFromHK]

I would blame the board for failing to accept the money that west ham offered last summer. Why do we reject offer for deadwoods? It wasn’t even a bad offer (wasn’t it 30m or 35m or something?) Such a clueless player who cannot read the game and read situation. As a midfielder, you need to be aware where your man is not ball watching. The only thing he’s good at playing the Fellaini role like how moyes used him in Everton.

The Glazers have had the habit of taking bad offers and rejecting good offers...
"Selling Evans for 3M" Okay!
"Buying Antony at 80M" Okay!
"Buy Maguire at 80M" Okay!

"Selling Mctominay at 30m" hell no!
"buying julian alvarez at 20m" hell no!

and so on

 

[Siorac]

Should never play

Agreed.

 

[geradix]

whether he is sold or not, surely after the forest debacle, he will never play as a holding midfielder again

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

How has this man managed to fool so many managers into thinking he's a good midfielder? Clueless fans like me can see and have for so many years now. It makes no sense at all

I don't think it's a coincidence that all his managers, from Mourinho to ETH, have praised his attitude and character, and have even described him as a "proper" United player at times. Just imagine what goes on at Carrington and what kind of behaviours have been gradually been accepted as normal that the epitome of a nothing footballer is deemed as an important presence in the team and in the dressing room.

It’s actually incredible how many of our former deadwood players, who the fans had called out for years, have gone on to prove those fans absolutely right. The same will happen with Scott when he eventually moves on.

It will probably never happen, but it would be fun to see how our main men would fare outside the United bubble. Not just the deadwood. At least, McT will eventually accept playing for Everton, WHU or Sheffield etc. The ego of the others, with the way it has been massaged and coddled, could put them in a weird predicament.

 

[Smithy89]

That clown just stood and held Dalot's hand while Gibbs white ran free.

 

[rpitchfo]

I think he’s an okay option off the bench further up the pitch when you need someone to be a bit more physical.

He is not, and never will be, as has been demonstrated time and time again….a defensive midfielder.

The fact ETH keeps persisting with it to the detriment of results is beyond belief.

 

[edgecutter]

whether he is sold or not, surely after the forest debacle, he will never play as a holding midfielder again

He shouldn't be at the club. He's like lingard, here until his contract ends when there was opportunities to sell for a good fee. He needs to go.

 

[Remember the geese]

I think he’s an okay option off the bench further up the pitch when you need someone to be a bit more physical.

I even have a problem with this. This is not how we should aspire to play. No other top side does. If you want a physical presence in the box, then play a physical striker like Haaland. Not resort to whatever the hell McTominay is supposed to be.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

The worst thing is he’s convinced people he’s a ‘goal threat’ when considering his role and the positions he’s taken up this season, he’s failed to score in 82% of his games.

 

[edgecutter]

The worst thing is he’s convinced people he’s a ‘goal threat’ when considering his role and the positions he’s taken up this season, he’s failed to score in 82% of his games.

He's never even got in to double figures for a season. That myth needs to die

 

[Sylar]

He was on the way out of the door. Offers accepted in the summer, barely any game time. Then he scored those 2 goals against Brentford and he went from being essentially for sale to a key player within 24 hours.

Sums up everything wrong with the club, it’s a mess. He needs selling whilst his stock is high.

The funny thing is those two goals he was brought on late, to basically play up top and cause havoc and get those goals. We haven't really used him like that since. Instead we're playing him as a number 10 instead of Bruno, or a DM or basically just starting him.

It makes no sense at all. It's what we saw with Fellaini, why we wanted him sold, and it's what we should not be seeing at a supposed top club.

 

[MadDogg]

I think he’s an okay option off the bench further up the pitch when you need someone to be a bit more physical.

He is not, and never will be, as has been demonstrated time and time again….a defensive midfielder.

The fact ETH keeps persisting with it to the detriment of results is beyond belief.

The thing is, two of the best periods of form in his career came while playing as a DM. The first month under Rangnick and the first month under ETH. Of course he was terrible for the rest of the time under both managers, but really that's no different than what he did while playing as an 8 under Mourinho and Ole, and it's actually better than what he's done while playing as a 10 this season under ETH (where he's been terrible the entire time but has managed to be a decent goal threat).

His weaknesses and limitations cause massive problems throughout the team no matter what position he plays. You are probably right though, that the only time we should be using him for now (before hopefully selling him at the end of the season) is as a late sub to play as a #10 when we are searching for a goal, or as a deeper-lying 8 next to Casemiro/Mainoo/Amrabat when we trying to hold a lead (although I'd prefer any two any of those together).

 

[Eplel]

The thing is, two of the best periods of form in his career came while playing as a DM.

And that's the gist. In almost 10 years of career he has about 2 months of good form.

Turning down 30 millions for him has to be the worst transfer decision of all time.

 

[MadDogg]

The funny thing is those two goals he was brought on late, to basically play up top and cause havoc and get those goals. We haven't really used him like that since. Instead we're playing him as a number 10 instead of Bruno, or a DM or basically just starting him.

It makes no sense at all. It's what we saw with Fellaini, why we wanted him sold, and it's what we should not be seeing at a supposed top club.

I'd actually disagree with that. That's how we should have been using Fellaini and it's something he could have been very good at (far better than Scott). He truly could have been a great impact player, both offensively or defensively depending on what we needed. The problem was that the vast majority of the time we just used him as a stock-standard central midfielder, something that he wasn't any good at.

 

[rpitchfo]

I even have a problem with this. This is not how we should aspire to play. No other top side does. If you want a physical presence in the box, then play a physical striker like Haaland. Not resort to whatever the hell McTominay is supposed to be.

I meant within the current context of what we have available to us and how he’s playing.

In an ideal world he would have been sold this summer and should have snatched 30 million quid when we had the chance

 

[MadDogg]

And that's the gist. In almost 10 years of career he has about 2 months of good form.

Turning down 30 millions for him has to be the worst transfer decision of all time.

There was one other period earlier in his career where he actually looked like he was stepping up. I think it was the end of 18/19 and the start of 19/20 (I might be a season off) where he had a good couple of months on both sides of the offseason. He was actually starting to do all the things which I've always complained about him not doing, like trying to get on the ball and passing the ball quite well. You know, the basics of central midfield. Then for some reason he just stopped doing it and went backwards again, and I don't think we've ever seen him play well for more than a month at a time ever again.

We really should have sold him, but then again I don't really trust the club/ETH to have used that money wisely. As much as I criticise him, we've spent the last few years somehow bringing in players who did no better if not worse than Scott.

 

[Remember the geese]

I meant within the current context of what we have available to us and how he’s playing.

In an ideal world he would have been sold this summer and should have snatched 30 million quid when we had the chance

Agreed. Although the thought of lobbing him up top to be some B rate Fellaini-like nuisance churns my stomach. I'd rather not have to watch him at all, truth be told.

Absolutely this. I'd quite like a Chelsea style purge, but this guy seems to really grate me.

 

[Bwuk]

You should not be playing for Manchester United if you cant string 3 passes together, and lack positional awareness. Simple as. How can you play in the middle when you can not pass?

He wouldn't get in any of the midfields of Real, Barsa, City, Bayern. Nowhere near. How has this guy lasted for so long here?

You could say that about every midfielder we’ve got.

 

[AltiUn]

Including De Gea with those players is pathetic.

He’s 6 months without a club for good reason, he should’ve been let go years before we did.

 

[Cantona’s Kung Fu Kick]

Not at all. Look at my posts on here. I've identified when he has good and bad games. What I don't like is the constant scapegoating of a player.

We were fecking shite for 45 minutes in that first half, not even registering a shot, and people have come in here to blame him for the loss.

Yes, it was 0-0 when he came on, but the way the game was going, Forest were always going to score, hence why ten Hag made the chance. It all looked too much for Mainoo out there. The strange decision for me was putting McTominay as the single pivot and not higher up, which is the position he's had success in this season.

Yeah and we were even worse in the second half when he was on. Of course he’s not the sole reason for the defeat literally no one is saying that. They are quite rightly criticising the performance of a very poor player who is nowhere good enough to play at a club like this.

 

[Bobski]

Yeah and we were even worse in the second half when he was on. Of course he’s not the sole reason for the defeat literally no one is saying that. They are quite rightly criticising the performance of a very poor player who is nowhere good enough to play at a club like this.

Forest had 2 shots and scored both them in the second half, Utd had 8 after 1 in the first. General play was significantly better in the second but defensive mistakes were made.

 

[Cantona’s Kung Fu Kick]

Forest had 2 shots and scored both them in the second half, Utd had 8 after 1 in the first. General play was significantly better in the second but defensive mistakes were made.

I disagree we were just as poor in the second half and it’s certainly arguably that he was at fault for one of the goals.

 

[MadDogg]

Forest had 2 shots and scored both them in the second half, Utd had 8 after 1 in the first. General play was significantly better in the second but defensive mistakes were made.

Our play was significantly worse in the second half until after they scored their first goal. It went from a boring game where neither team were doing much in the first half, to us being utter shit and Forest being well on top.

Them scoring their first goal changed that (as it so often does) and we pulled our finger out so were a fair bit better from that point until the end of the match.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Its pure making shit up to claim we were worse in second half let alone Forrest "being on top. This is one of the threads with iron clad proof a host of our fans are disingenous idiots.

 

[MadDogg]

Its pure making shit up to claim we were worse in second half let alone Forrest "being on top. This is one of the threads with iron clad proof a host of our fans are disingenous idiots.

Early second half we were worse. Later second half we were better. Overall I would say we were a bit better in the second half than we were in the first, but that doesn't change the first 10-15 minutes of it being worse.

I'm not saying it was necessarily due to Scott coming on though, which is why I didn't actually note it against him. Mainoo was playing poorly so it probably wasn't much of a change either way. I was just disagreeing with someone who said that we were significantly better in the second half in general.