The reasons McTominay plays ahead of Casemiro are linked to a word — “automatisms” — that Ten Hag used before United’s victory over
Leicester City last week.
A term commonly used by managers with experience in German football (Ten Hag is a former Bayern Munich reserve-team coach), “automatisms” refer to open-play patterns that are repeatedly practised in training until they become automatic, akin to muscle memory.
There are defensive automatisms (often regarding team pressing) and attacking ones (often concerned with spacing and combination play when attacking the penalty area). Most important is how they are practised as a collective, with Player A often performing an action that leads to Player B performing the next action in the sequence.
“You want to get into routines. The XI did well so we keep going,” said Ten Hag. The longer a player trains and plays under Ten Hag, the more time they have to get accustomed to his automatisms.
McTominay has greater knowledge of the automatisms required in Ten Hag’s side than Casemiro.