The McTominay Conundrum

[2426255]

Will be missing the next two games for Manchester United. 

Quote

Rapha (Varane) is closer than Scott McTominay at this moment but still in the coming two games (Brighton, West Ham) they are not available

Erik Ten Hag 

https://youtu.be/AW9aLUkZ71g?t=420

[troopio]

The lack of info from United about what Injury he has is very weird, Just his luck he gets an injury as he is hitting form again

[dundeefc1783]

2 hours ago, troopio said:

The lack of info from United about what Injury he has is very weird, Just his luck he gets an injury as he is hitting form again

Have also noticed it's listed on flashscore as health problems rather than injury 

[Barry Ferguson's Hat]

Got back on the pitch again tonight.

In completely unrelated news, Chelsea scored minutes later.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Barry Ferguson's Hat

[Savage Henry]

24 minutes ago, NickMcG said:

Apparently still attracting interest from Newcastle and West Ham. I'm quite surprised Newcastle are interested as, though he's definitely an EPL-standard player, I doubt he's a top-4, or even top-six player.

Well he’s played all season for a top six team. 

[Captain_Sensible]

9 hours ago, NickMcG said:

Rarely as a starter and the club have been looking to offload him for a while.  

He was a regular starter in season 19/20 when they finished 3rd and 20/21 when they finished 2nd

[Satoshi]

17 hours ago, NickMcG said:

Rarely as a starter and the club have been looking to offload him for a while.  

When were they looking to offload him?

Pretty much every manager he has had has only ever praised him in the media.

Amazing the logical leaps some people go to attack our players.

He's only been out the team recently due to illness, was in excellent form before that.

[Satoshi]

1 hour ago, NickMcG said:

It's literally been in the news a few times.  And who's attacking him? Saying that Scott McTominay isn't good enough to be a regular starter for a top-four club is hardly attacking him and I hope he proves me wrong. It's the case for most of our players; Of our squad we only have two or three who we could realistically put in that bracket.

When was it in the news?

I've never seen any evidence Man Utd have been trying to sell him.

[Bing.McCrosby]

1 hour ago, NickMcG said:

I wouldn't put Man Utd's relative success in those seasons down to McTominay. I like him a lot: he always turns up and never moans despite being played out of position and has done really well for us recentlyh. I just don't think he's that the elite level of being an integral part of a top-four EPL team.  I'd only put Robertson, Tierney (despite the last season) , probably Hickey (at some point anyway) and maybe McGinn (though I doubt that'll ever happen) in that bracket.

 

Like I said to Satoshi, I hope he proves me wrong but, even if he doesn't, he's still a very good player.

Yeah I'd agree with all that, I think he's potentially just below that elite level.

Possibly a great signing for a Newcastle or Aston villa. But it would be great for him and us to make that kind of move and show what he can do. Possibly even he would get the chance in a more advanced position.

 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Bing.McCrosby

[Captain_Sensible]

5 hours ago, NickMcG said:

I wouldn't put Man Utd's relative success in those seasons down to McTominay. I like him a lot: he always turns up and never moans despite being played out of position and has done really well for us recentlyh. I just don't think he's that the elite level of being an integral part of a top-four EPL team.  I'd only put Robertson, Tierney (despite the last season) , probably Hickey (at some point anyway) and maybe McGinn (though I doubt that'll ever happen) in that bracket.

 

Like I said to Satoshi, I hope he proves me wrong but, even if he doesn't, he's still a very good player.

He was central midfield alongside Fred in a side that finished 3rd and 2nd in the Premiership 

He *was* an integral part of a top 4 side! He’s been there and done that!

Man Utd “upgraded” their central midfield this season by signing Casemiro and Eriksen

I’m sure it’s been worth it for that 4th spot 

Edited May 27, 2023 by Captain_Sensible

[Theroadlesstravelled]

On 27/05/2023 at 10:33, Captain_Sensible said:

He was central midfield alongside Fred in a side that finished 3rd and 2nd in the Premiership 

He *was* an integral part of a top 4 side! He’s been there and done that!

Man Utd “upgraded” their central midfield this season by signing Casemiro and Eriksen

I’m sure it’s been worth it for that 4th spot 

Maguire was part of that team as well.

[Theroadlesstravelled]

McSauce. The Sauce man. Big Micky S. If he was called McSaucio he would be playing for Real Madrid.

Today was his last game at Old Trafford. He came on as a sub, gave the ball away, flattened someone with a late tackle and got booked. It was a short and sweet summary of his career at MU.

[Satoshi]

9 hours ago, NickMcG said:

And SOD played for the team that got us to the Euros but does anyone really think he was ever anything but a journeyman?

I guess my way of looking at it would be to say how many other top-four sides in those seasons would have taken McTominay? Maybe Eddie Howe is seeing something other managers aren't but the fact that any other clubs who are interested in him are very much mid to lower EPL clubs speaks volumes.

To be fair, it's only recently (not all his fault) that he's actually started to do well for Scotland. 

 

International football doesnt have much relevance to club football. Man Utd have one of the biggest budgets in world football and could easily replace McTominay if they wanted to. They signed lots of central midfielders since he joined the club and he has played ahead of most of him. Since his debut season, I don't think any central midfielder has more appearances than him.

Every top four side would take McTominay, at worst he's an excellent squad player and a marked step up on shite like Kalvin Phillips or Sambi Lokonga or Sean Longstaff. But he's actually more likely a fairly regular starter. As for the idea that only lower EPL sides are interested in him - this is simply not true. There's been no evidence Man Utd want to sell, no evidence the player wants to move, and no evidence that any team has made a bid. It's just wild, usually made up, speculation.

If he was to leave I reckon he would get a great move, inside the EPL or to a big team on the continent. I think far more likely he stays though, he's very highly regarded within Man Utd.

32 minutes ago, Theroadlesstravelled said:

McSauce. The Sauce man. Big Micky S. If he was called McSaucio he would be playing for Real Madrid.

Today was his last game at Old Trafford. He came on as a sub, gave the ball away, flattened someone with a late tackle and got booked. It was a short and sweet summary of his career at MU.

Think slagging Billy Gilmour in the goalkeeper thread then getting flattened on Brighton bedding new players in is a short, sweet summary of your increasingly deranged attempts to troll this board.

Been a bad season for you, better luck next time.

[Satoshi]

7 minutes ago, NickMcG said:

The point was that Scotland qualified in spite of SOD not because of him. The midfield of Man Utd has been a weak spot for years.  If he's a squad player, I wouldn't consider that as an integral part of the team. Important, yes, but not integral.  He's been regularly criticised as not up to the job by fans, pundits and the press.

 

The most generous thing you could say is that he's not being used properly.

A weak spot where they have signed lots of new expensive players....and McTominay is still starting regularly because he's a very good player.

Fans, pundits and the press generally know f**k all, every manager McTominay has had has both praised him and played him regularly. Mourinho loved him so much he created a new award for him - managers player of the year, which of course he won.

But never mind Mourinho, some wankers on YouTube don't like him right?

Stephen O'Donnell isn't a good example, national teams can't sign players. Man Utd can sign virtually any player on the planet.

And yet they still play McTominay regularly because he's a very good player.

[Satoshi]

Nobody is saying they were third / fourth because of him - it's a team game and he's an important part of the team. You said he isn't a top four calibre of player - but he's pretty much been at that level his entire career.

Managers don't always praise players in public and I've never heard of a manager creating an award for a specific player.

Man Utd have one of the biggest budgets in world football, they won't carry a bad player for years. Their recruitment may be bad, or it may be their coaching. Most of the CMs signed had bigger names and bigger wage packets than McTominay but still ended up on the bench behind him.

He's a polarising player, but I don't know why some people don't like him.

Thankfully, every manager he has ever had has been a fan. Must be doing something right.

An apt comparison from earlier in this thread - he's a bit like Massimo Ambrosini - will be fully appreciated in years to come.

As for SOD, all national teams have players well below the standards of others - it doesn't really happen in elite club football for obvious reasons.

Edited May 29, 2023 by Satoshi

[Captain_Sensible]

The conundrum continues 

[ArabFC]

On 01/06/2022 at 23:42, ArabFC said:

I’ve been red-dotted more for this opinion than anything else ever on PnB and I’ve often said Mark McNulty has some skills.

But can we all please finally agree that Scott McTominay is not a fucking centre back?  

Play him in midfield or don’t play him at all.

Until Clarke gets past shit like this and pairing Dykes with a flick-on partner, we’ll never progress.

I think this just goes to show that even the very best managers have their blind spots.

Crazy to think this was ever even a thing.

[Donathan]

13 minutes ago, ArabFC said:

I think this just goes to show that even the very best managers have their blind spots.

Crazy to think this was ever even a thing.

Playing McTominay in the back three was a fudge to fit him, Callum McGregor and AN OTHER (i.e., Ryan Jack up to and including the Serbia game and Billy Gilmour since the euros) into the team. You saw a similar fudge tonight with McTominay playing in the front three.

 

Clarke has often played players out of position in order to shoehorn his best players on to the park and usually it’s worked. The McTominay RCB experiment is rightly dead now but it had some good days as well as the bad ones. 

[ArabFC]

2 minutes ago, Donathan said:

Playing McTominay in the back three was a fudge to fit him, Callum McGregor and AN OTHER (i.e., Ryan Jack up to and including the Serbia game and Billy Gilmour since the euros) into the team. You saw a similar fudge tonight with McTominay playing in the front three.

No. No I did not.

McTominay has long since proven that his best role is getting forward from midfield. His role tonight was a perfectly good fit.

All he proved when playing in defence was that he was a liability that could make some nice passes.

[git-intae-thum]

Boy is a box2box or amc all day long.

Was immense tonight.