Scott McTominay

[craigkillie]

8 hours ago, Donathan said:

I hope McTominay makes the move so that he's playing week in, week out.

 

He played 49 games for Man Utd last season, how much more regularly do you want him to play?

[Donathan]

8 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

 

He played 49 games for Man Utd last season, how much more regularly do you want him to play?

He is for now, but they are about to make investments in his position. 

[Derryboy62]

21 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

What?  how can you tell over a forum?

Why are you so angry? 

I can tell because you come across as a very sad and desperate individual who is seeking attention on a forum. 

I'll stand by my comment that you are massively depressed in real life and you come on here to 'live out another life' in the hope that it will cheer you up but it does the exact opposite. 

[2426255]

8 minutes ago, Derryboy62 said:

I can tell because you come across as a very sad and desperate individual who is seeking attention on a forum. 

I'll stand by my comment that you are massively depressed in real life and you come on here to 'live out another life' in the hope that it will cheer you up but it does the exact opposite. 

you do that then. 

[2426255]

40 minutes ago, Theyellowbox said:

I was the same. Thought that midfield would be a great set up, but just didn't work.

I actually thought Gilmour was pretty poor last night and if SOD had played like Robertson did, he would be getting absolutely slaughtered today. McTominay I thought was pretty poor by his standards, although the last 5 mins he looked a totally different player.

 

1 hour ago, No_Problemo said:

For months I’ve been quite excited to see a McTominay, Gilmour and McGinn midfield but yeah not again...

McTominay definitely at RCB against weaker sides. Part of me does wonder if against top seeds we could play McTominay alongside Gilmour and McGregor, but at the same time we have looked far better with Adams in behind Dykes. 

 

1 hour ago, eez-eh said:

You’re a fucking whopper.

About the half the forum expressed doubts over a midfield two of McTominay and Gilmour defensively. You’re not a tactical genius m8.

So yeah, I was saying to posters like those guys. It's not as eez-eh as just saying half the forum expressed doubts and I think it was worth mentioning.  I was right about Steve Clarke and I was right about the midfield so maybe I deserve more credit - an apology would be nice eez-eh. Are you man enough? 

Edited October 13, 2021 by 2426255

[Diamonds are Forever]

8 hours ago, Satoshi said:

He's loved by the Man Utd management (Solskjaer and previously Mourinho who craeted an award for him), one of those role players who might not look spectacular but he will start most of their games including their biggest games.

Fred is a weaker link at CM. If he was ever to leave he would go to a bigger club (likely on the continent) than those mentioned above (if he so desired).

The most likely outcome is that he will stay at Man Utd. I think him and Dykes are similar in that their growth rates have been pretty strasopheric over the last few years - and they may have more space to grow into that many others their age.

 

Yes, I'd be very surprised to see him go. They generally play with 2 deeper midfielders and at a club like Man Utd they'd be looking to have 3 or 4 players for that position. Fred is arguably the weakest and is 28, he'll be sold off soon. It's also very clear that Man Utd are trying to build up a strong British core to their squad - Greenwood, Rashford, Sancho, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Shaw and McTominay. Only British players who are clearly miles out their depth like Dan James will be punted. I can't see any sense in selling off McTominay who has proven to be a more than capable player for them and still has some improving to go. His salary will be relatively low and isn't the type who will throw a huff if not playing every week, he's the kind of player those big clubs need to have in their squad.

It's probably a lazy/obvious comparison given they are/were Scottish midfielders playing for Man Utd but I think it's similar to Darren Fletcher. He was a really valuable player for Man Utd at his peak, but never really seemed to find his role for Scotland - fans always expected more of him when in reality he was quite a limited player (for Man Utd's standards obviously) who had found a niche, and then for Scotland was expected by some to take on roles that he normally didn't do. The end result was that he was still one of our best players and got an huge amount of caps, but never really seemed to thrive. I think McTominay will probably go the same way. I think crucially with McTominay the better the rest of the team the better he will become because it is more like his club environment. If you can have someone like Gilmour dictating the game then McTominay will fit more naturally into his club role. The playing at centre back thing I think was only a temporary measure until we found some centre backs, it's not something I'd want to continue with apart from games against really poor sides.

[Theyellowbox]

18 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

 

 

So yeah, I was saying to posters like those guys. It's not as eez-eh as just saying half the forum expressed doubts and I think it was worth mentioning. 

I think there is a difference between wanting to see that midfield 3 and having doubts as to whether it would work well defensively or not.

I'd argue that all 3 SHOULD make a good combination, but you can never be 100% sure it will or won't work. I think that is the basis for the midfield for 70-80% of the games for the next 5-10 years, but I think there will be games (like last night for example) that it may not work.

I think pretty much every Scottish fan walks the line between having a desire to see all our best players in the same side vs having the right balance.

I think the best example if this was England. Lampard and Gerrard were top top players and with other midfielders beside them shone, but together it just didn't work. England fans always had doubts about that combo and Scotland fans will always have doubts on any combo we have.

I think McTominay is a really good player and is one of the better players we have, but like many before him (often Robertson) he sometimes doesn't bring his club form into the national side.

I think Scotland and Man Utd fans maybe have similar views/doubts  on him. He can be great and really effective in some games or parts of games and dissappear in others. Maybe that is age and experience and maybe it is who he plays with. The fact that Man Utd fans have doubts on a McTominay/Fred combo or a McTominay/Pogbo combo would be a decent indicator of the difficulty of finding the right mix for talented players. I think you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who doesn't have doubts how players will interact with each other.

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by Theyellowbox

[Donathan]

I actually think a 4-3-3 with McTominay, Gilmour and McGregor in the midfield and McGinn playing out wide would work well but I don’t particularly like Tierney at CB or RB in a back 4 so either Tierney or Robertson would need to be left out.

[2426255]

4 minutes ago, Theyellowbox said:

I think there is a difference between wanting to see that midfield 3 and having doubts as to whether it would work well defensively or not.

I'd argue that all 3 SHOULD make a good combination, but you can never be 100% sure it will or won't work. I think that is the basis for the midfield for 70-80% of the games for the next 5-10 years, but I think there will be games (like last night for example) thatbit may not work.

I think pretty much every Scottish fan walks the line between having a desire to see all our best players in the same side vs having the right balance.

I think the best example if this was England. Lampard and Gerrard were top top players and with other midfielders beside them shone, but together it just didn't work. England fans always had doubts about that combo and Scotland fans will always have doubts on any combo we have.

I think McTominay is a really good player and is one of the better players we have, but like many before him (often Robertson) he sometimes doesn't bring his club form into the national side.

I think Scotland and Man Utd fans maybe have similar views/doubts  on him. He can be great and really effective in some games or parts of games and dissappear in others. Maybe that is age and experience and maybe it is who he plays with. The fact that Man Utd fans have doubts on a McTominay/Fred combo or a McTominay/Pogbo combo. I think you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who doesn't have doubts how players will interact with each other.

 

I put my point of view across pre match that it might f**k the balance of our midfield and have consequences for our attacks down the left because Billy Gilmour on the left isn't an effective defender and well and McTominay on the left is at best untried.

I didn't see that point of view being expressed anywhere, I did see some people say they'd rather bench McTominay and not f**k with the midfield three - I never saw any reasoning for it though and for a wee shit like eez-eh to come on and say half the forum were saying it is rubbish. At worst I'm restating an already made argument and at best I'm bringing a new point to the discussion. I think he just hates me because I ruined his best pal Bing. 

Anyway, it's pretty obvious you need a Makelele or a Kante or a McGregor in our case to do the work that doesn't get seen. 

[2426255]

4 minutes ago, Donathan said:

I actually think a 4-3-3 with McTominay, Gilmour and McGregor in the midfield and McGinn playing out wide would work well but I don’t particularly like Tierney at CB or RB in a back 4 so either Tierney or Robertson would need to be left out.

It's a big problem for how we set up the team. It needs more thought, but it was just one game.

McTominay and Gilmour in midfield wasn't a good balance last night, could give it a chance but I do struggle to see it being a good balance unless Gilmour can put more of a contribution in defensively to allow Robbo and Tierney to actually combine. McTominay can play better than last night, but I'm not too sure what his strengths are when it comes to the midfield or what kind of midfielder he is supposed to be. 

[Theyellowbox]

4 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

I put my point of view across pre match that it might f**k the balance of our midfield and have consequences for our attacks down the left because Billy Gilmour on the left isn't an effective defender and well and McTominay on the left is at best untried.

I didn't see that point of view being expressed anywhere, I did see some people say they'd rather bench McTominay and not f**k with the midfield three - I never saw any reasoning for it though and for a wee shit like eez-eh to come on and say half the forum were saying it is rubbish. At worst I'm restating an already made argument and at best I'm bringing a new point to the discussion. I think he just hates me because I ruined his best pal Bing. 

Anyway, it's pretty obvious you need a Makelele or a Kante or a McGregor in our case to do the work that doesn't get seen. 

I don't think it is a radical view to question whether bringing McTominay into the midfield might disrupt. It was the basis for the discussions pre Euros as to whether he should be in defence of midfield.

I would probably say McTominay is that defensive kind of midfielder to take up the Makalele position. I'm not sure he is classed as an attacking midfielder in the way you could argue McGinn is.

I think what might have been a problem last night is that it was (as far as I can remember) the first time that 3 had played together in those positions. I think with that comes doubt and risk.

I think what is a massive step forward for us is that for pretty much every single position, we have real options. That gives Clarke some great problems. 5-10 years ago, we wouldn't have had the options we had last night to change the set up and not have a drop in quality.

I think it is becoming clear that Clarke sees McTominay as key to his side as he can be defensive and offensive when needed and can within game effectively switch competently from one to the other.

[2426255]

1 minute ago, Theyellowbox said:

I don't think it is a radical view to question whether bringing McTominay into the midfield might disrupt. It was the basis for the discussions pre Euros as to whether he should be in defence of midfield.

I never said it was radical, I just didn't really see any posts highlighting it. The dynamic changed after the England game so the pre Euros chat wasn't that informative.

1 minute ago, Theyellowbox said:

I would probably say McTominay is that defensive kind of midfielder to take up the Makalele position. I'm not sure he is classed as an attacking midfielder in the way you could argue McGinn is.

Isn't it generally accepted that he is a box to box midfielder converted to a defensive midfielder at Manchester United?

1 minute ago, Theyellowbox said:

I think what is a massive step forward for us is that for pretty much every single position, we have real options. That gives Clarke some great problems. 5-10 years ago, we wouldn't have had the options we had last night to change the set up and not have a drop in quality.

It's a problem, A good problem? that really remains to be seen. You could say that like with the England side that had Lampard, Beckham and Scholes it turned out to be not such a great problem to have. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Theyellowbox]

3 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

It's a problem, A good problem? that really remains to be seen. You could say that like with the England side that had Lampard, Beckham and Scholes it turned out to be not such a great problem to have. 

I'm not sure it can ever be a bad problem to have better quality players and options can it?

It may be that certain players don't fit well together, but better to have 2 similar top quality players and choose between them or cover injury/suspension than not to have.

I cannot recall England ever dropping Scholes, Lampard or Gerrard simply because they didn't play well together. 

[SmokeyJoe]

personally think he's best suited to the RCB role in current set up, which is harsh on Hendry as he's been solid enough but Mctominay far better with the ball. Also be interesting to see if John Soutar comes back in (when fit and playing regularly) cause the RCB role would be best suited to him also. Just cant see mctominay playing over Gilmour or McGregor unless they lose form massively. 

[2426255]

1 minute ago, Theyellowbox said:

I cannot recall England ever dropping Scholes, Lampard or Gerrard simply because they didn't play well together. 

Maybe they should have. They ended up fitting them in just because they were the best players, but did it ever really work?

[Theyellowbox]

3 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

Maybe they should have. They ended up fitting them in just because they were the best players, but did it ever really work?

And what leave them out and sit Danny Murphy, Danny Mills and Seth Johnson on the bench instead?

You always call up the best players, when/if/how you knit them together in the same team is a different argument. 

[2426255]

16 minutes ago, Theyellowbox said:

And what leave them out and sit Danny Murphy, Danny Mills and Seth Johnson on the bench instead?

You always call up the best players, when/if/how you knit them together in the same team is a different argument. 

Yes, they needed someone to do the unfashionable work. I think it's the same for us and Callum McGregor is that man. Ryan Jack returning might also change things, but yeah that's what I'm saying. A midfield with too many ballers won't work. I think England left out Kalvin Phillips yesterday in favour of a more fashionable midfield and it didn't work either. If in doubt ask Eez-eh he knows it all already of course!

Quote

 

There was little or nothing to recommend this night on or off the field, although Southgate will have learned much and there is now every chance the central midfield pairing of Rice and Phillips will be restored at the earliest opportunity.

If this was an experiment by Southgate, it failed and may turn out to be very short-lived.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58893127

 

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by 2426255

[eez-eh]

1 hour ago, 2426255 said:

a wee shit like eez-eh

Ahahahaha

[Donathan]

27 minutes ago, 2426255 said:

Yes, they needed someone to do the unfashionable work. I think it's the same for us and Callum McGregor is that man. Ryan Jack returning might also change things, but yeah that's what I'm saying. A midfield with too many ballers won't work. I think England left out Kalvin Phillips yesterday in favour of a more fashionable midfield and it didn't work either. If in doubt ask Eez-eh he knows it all already of course!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58893127

 

 

Kalvin Phillips is injured 

[2426255]

18 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

Ahahahaha

A sense of humour? that's new.