[ivaldo]

yeah at fault for two goals toehr than that he was decent!

At fault for the first. You're stretching.

 

[IrishGlen]

Sacrificial lamb for one of Mourinho’s protest team selections that we’ve seen before at other clubs. Deliberately going with bizarre/nonsensical selection decisions to make a point to the board about not backing him in the transfer market. Shitty thing to do to a youngster and another reason to want the manager gone asap.

Well put. Very similar to the Herrera selection against Spurs. He’s like the proverbial petulant child throwing his toys out of the pram because he didn’t get the latest toy in Alderweireld / Maguire. He has 5 international fully fit natural CBs at his disposal and any of which are a better fit than Scott. It’s this type of pettiness / mind games that will only cost the club points.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Lindelof and him were so shit and anonymous that the West Ham fans at the game didn't even realize it was two different players.

 

[Kag]

Sacrificial lamb for one of Mourinho’s protest team selections that we’ve seen before at other clubs. Deliberately going with bizarre/nonsensical selection decisions to make a point to the board about not backing him in the transfer market. Shitty thing to do to a youngster and another reason to want the manager gone asap.

Was going to say something along these lines but you’ve nailed it.

Feel for him.

 

[ErranMorad]

Sacrificial lamb for one of Mourinho’s protest team selections that we’ve seen before at other clubs. Deliberately going with bizarre/nonsensical selection decisions to make a point to the board about not backing him in the transfer market. Shitty thing to do to a youngster and another reason to want the manager gone asap.

That's how I feel. McTommy is merely a pawn in Jose's political machinations. Not that it is doing Scott any harm, but it's quite pathetic how he is being constantly used to make points since last season.

 

[kouroux]

Sacrificial lamb for one of Mourinho’s protest team selections that we’ve seen before at other clubs. Deliberately going with bizarre/nonsensical selection decisions to make a point to the board about not backing him in the transfer market. Shitty thing to do to a youngster and another reason to want the manager gone asap.

Spot on. He is simply nuts

 

[SER19]

Was going to say something along these lines but you’ve nailed it.

Feel for him.

Yeah poor guy getting selected for massive games last season and getting the managers player of the year and huge public praise while his own fans were hammering him

 

[Nico87]

I hate criticising players like him, he's professional and gives his all which is all you can ask for, but sadly I don't have think he will ever be good enough for the Premier League let alone a team with aspirations of winning it. I do think he mainly appeals to Mourinhos fetishh of big and strong men over technically superiors player, it's a bit like having Vince McMahon in charge, he even has the over the top villainous antics, he's only missing the power walk.

 

[11101]

Sacrificial lamb for one of Mourinho’s protest team selections that we’ve seen before at other clubs. Deliberately going with bizarre/nonsensical selection decisions to make a point to the board about not backing him in the transfer market. Shitty thing to do to a youngster and another reason to want the manager gone asap.

Yeah, hes barely settled in midfield at his age and Mourinho is putting him in defence. Ridiculous decision.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Shockingly average, limited footballer. If he was 5ft 10in, Jose would never have drafted him into the squad in the first place.

Will be a squad player at someone like Brighton by the start of 2020.

 

[Kag]

Yeah poor guy getting selected for massive games last season and getting the managers player of the year and huge public praise while his own fans were hammering him

Way to miss the point.

 

[Bobski]

Spot on. He is simply nuts

A considered decision, he knows these bizarre defensive decisions are going to bite us. It shows that he is already mentally disengaged from the job, and basically nuking the club on his way out. Such a fighter Mou, as long as he has every possible advantage and finances that no-one else can dream of.

 

[kouroux]

A considered decision, he knows these bizarre defensive decisions are going to bite us. It shows that he is already mentally disengaged from the job, and basically nuking the club on his way out. Such a fighter Mou, as long as he has every possible advantage and finances that no-one else can dream of.

What he did is actually much worse than Pogba saying we should "attack, attack, attack"

 

[kiristao]

He did as well as an inexperienced 20 year old can do playing in a crucial position in a team with major defensive frailties. Why he was asked to do it instead of Fellaini, who had been doing a good job I .that role, I have no clue

 

[MadDogg]

He did as well as an inexperienced 20 year old can do playing in a crucial position in a team with major defensive frailties. Why he was asked to do it instead of Fellaini, who had been doing a good job I .that role, I have no clue

To be fair it wasn't exactly the same role as what Fellaini has been playing. McTominay played as an out-and-out central defender on the right side of a three. Fellaini has been playing a strange dual role, not really a central defender and not really a midfielder, but somewhere in between helping out with both aspects. He's also been covering the centre of the pitch in that role, with Smalling floating out to the right when Fellaini is deep.

The only possible reason I can think of (that doesn't involve Mourinho just trying to make a point) is that he felt Fellaini might foul Arnautovic too much in that role, so wanted Smalling to focus on him instead. And then didn't think Fellaini would be suitable as an actual central defender in the same role McTominay played. Unfortunately, I'm pretty damn certain Mourinho was just making a point.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Wait, what happened? Did he really played as CB today? Why?

 

[Hephaestus]

Wait, what happened? Did he really played as CB today? Why?

Because Mourinho cared more about making a point about our centre-backs than winning the game. Same reason he started Martial just so he could criticise fans for wanting him to play.

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

To be fair it wasn't exactly the same role as what Fellaini has been playing. McTominay played as an out-and-out central defender on the right side of a three. Fellaini has been playing a strange dual role, not really a central defender and not really a midfielder, but somewhere in between helping out with both aspects. He's also been covering the centre of the pitch in that role, with Smalling floating out to the right when Fellaini is deep.

The only possible reason I can think of (that doesn't involve Mourinho just trying to make a point) is that he felt Fellaini might foul Arnautovic too much in that role, so wanted Smalling to focus on him instead. And then didn't think Fellaini would be suitable as an actual central defender in the same role McTominay played. Unfortunately, I'm pretty damn certain Mourinho was just making a point.

This was what was confusing me. Why didnt Mctomminay play Fellaini's role as a 'False CB' - We had way too many defensive players in an actualy defensive formation - so our attack suffered greatly.

 

[CA1]

No worse than Lindelof.

 

[WR10]

Victim of Mourinhos madness in trying to send Ed a message. Clearly struggling in a position that’s alien to him.. subs the only ‘cover’ he had in order to expose him further and leave him embarrassed for the third goal. Sadistic from Mourinho

What’s even sadder is the fact that Ed doesn’t understand football to comprehend all these subtle messages... all that is left is a club being abused

 

[Cloud7]

I don’t particularly rate him, but come on. He’s a young midfielder still finding his feet in midfield at this level, and he was played in CB. An absolutely appalling decision. He can’t get any criticism for today. Whatever he did is on the manager.

 

[Red_toad]

Because Mourinho cared more about making a point about our centre-backs than winning the game. Same reason he started Martial just so he could criticise fans for wanting him to play.

Do people actually think this way?

 

[MadDogg]

Wait, what happened? Did he really played as CB today? Why?

Three man central defence, with Smalling in the middle flanked by Lindelof on the left and McTominay on the right.

Later on we then took Lindelof off and played Smalling on the left and McTominay on the right of a normal two man central defence.

Yep, that happened.

 

[DJ Jeff]

Victim of Mourinhos madness in trying to send Ed a message. Clearly struggling in a position that’s alien to him.. subs the only ‘cover’ he had in order to expose him further and leave him embarrassed for the third goal. Sadistic from Mourinho

What’s even sadder is the fact that Ed doesn’t understand football to comprehend all these subtle messages... all that is left is a club being abused

Agree, it's so fecking sad to see, it's mental. Does it constitute abuse in the sense of employee bullying? Could he be charged for that? Like even if someone in the crowd just made the formal complaint, or the citizen's arrest thing, something to end this madness.

 

[ants7]

I don't rate him but also think that it's unfair to judge and blame him today. Casualty of a narcissist of a manager trying to prove a point to audience who lack ears or eyes to receive it.

 

[Ekeke]

I dont agree that Mourinho played McTominay to make him the scapegoat. I think its the opposite. He wanted it to work out so he'll be called "Genius" again.

Since Mourinho got here his main 2 jobs have been inflate Fellaini's reputation and inflate McTominay's reputation. So I don't think he'd throw either one under the bus.

 

[limerickcitykid]

The only thing he is a casualty of is being shit at football.

Proving a point or not, he's a garbage footballer getting to play for United. I'm sure he's happy enough.

 

[Devil may care]

I'm not going to say anything about his performance as he should never have been thrown into a system and position he has never played at senior leve, as @Pogue Mahone said, he was used as a pawn in Mourinho's game with the board, a visual version of moaning about not getting his precious CB in the summer, garbage thing to do to a young player.

 

[Boycott]

He's Mourinho's pet project.

Mourinho's way of trying to show everyone he can develop youth.

Except it arguably shows exactly why Mourinho is not a good coach for youth talent. Actual gifted talents who can become first team players for years to come like Fosu-Mensah, Andreas Pereira and Axel Tuanzebe have progressed very little under his reign.

Fosu-Mensah was starting big games when he broke through at the back end of LvG's reign, but the next season (Mourinho's first) was a waste of a season for him. He's still young of course but given his breakthrough if you said he'd only start three more times in the next two years that would have been a big shock. Especially if right back continued to be an issue as it has. Pereira went on loan twice when we had a void of creativity in midfield and here he is back and not even making the bench now. Tuanzebe got his debut by Mourinho, was praised by Mourinho yet we haven't seen him in a Utd shirt since. Instead he bought a £30m defender which is his right, only not to show faith in that signing and now we have central midfielders playing a defender role while Axel is in the Championship again.

I don't want to attack McTominay because he does his best but his best was barely standing out in the reserves. He was playing CF by the time he got a call up to the first team and that was because of his insane growth spurt. It's his height that clearly attracts him and the fact he has obvious limitations means he will follow the manager's instructions. And he is right to because he dreamed of being a Utd player - ordinarily he is not good enough to be an option but he finds himself here. He'll be happy with the odd game now and again whereas a talent like Pereira didn't want to rot on the sidelines and become a blunt force. McTominay is a blunt force - a brick wall can direct the ball straight back where it came from.

 

[Renegade]

Why has he sent Mensah and Tuenzebe and away sell Blind (who would love playing in a back 3 and best passer from the back) to play Herrera & Mctominay at CB. That’s blatant sabotage and unacceptable. I can’t believe we’re sitting back and watching this manager waste games and make blatant attempts to send messages to people rather than win the game. His 30m CB signing sitting on the bench as we play his even worse 30m CB signing and a 20 year old CM at CB. Surely this means Bailly is gone in January how can he recover from this mentally? Jose telling him a 20 year old CM is a better option than him in his natural position. Awful man management. People say Ed was wrong for not letting this guy sign another CB for 60m+? Our summer £50m sits on the bench as Mourinho’s enemy and a blatantly unfit and out of form Matic play.

 

[Hephaestus]

Do people actually think this way?

Yeah, honestly at this stage I kind of do. He's made similar comments in the past and put Herrera in defence against Spurs, again for no apparent reason. We saw last year in the CL, he cares more about defending himself than the club.

 

[Seven Seas Sardines]

Moyes - Fellaini
LvG - Rooney
Mourinho - McTominay

Deadly duos.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Can't remember when Jose played him last time but the boy looks rusty and was too long outside first team choice.

 

[BusbyMalone]

He was shit.

But there again, what the feck is he doing playing in that position in a team that is struggling big time with confidence and desperately needing a win. Baffling decision. Personally i think the guy is extremely average, but i had some sympathy for him today. I bet this game done his confidence a world of good.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

I read and saw people talking about Jose mentioning McTominay was our best CB today, I don’t want to be harsh on the kid as he probably shouldn’t even be playing there and it does seem like a bit of a Jose game, but how can he say he was our best CB when he was arguably at fault for the 3rd and didn’t exactly do anything extrodinary in the game.

 

[Adisa]

Mourinho was using him to score points. That is all.

 

[Canagel]

Victim of Mourinhos madness in trying to send Ed a message. Clearly struggling in a position that’s alien to him.. subs the only ‘cover’ he had in order to expose him further and leave him embarrassed for the third goal. Sadistic from Mourinho

What’s even sadder is the fact that Ed doesn’t understand football to comprehend all these subtle messages... all that is left is a club being abused

Ed is a clown. He also has to take blame for our current predicament and allowing it to carry on. Shouldn't be allowed to hire a manager again and totally absolved from football duties.

 

[BusbyMalone]

I read and saw people talking about Jose mentioning McTominay was our best CB today, I don’t want to be harsh on the kid as he probably shouldn’t even be playing there and it does seem like a bit of a Jose game, but how can he say he was our best CB when he was arguably at fault for the 3rd and didn’t exactly do anything extrodinary in the game.

He's talking shite as usual. The guy was a mess, but what the feck do you expect when you throw a young player (who's still very inexperienced) into a position he's never played before (i don't think he has, anyway) and into a team who's struggling massively with confidence and desperately needing a win. It was a nonsensical decision.

 

[SER19]

Way to miss the point.

No no, I see the point that’s being made, but like lots of points these days it’s based on the idea that the average poster can speak to the managers mindset, and allowing their prejudices to take precedent over the actual evidence. Just like shaw was bullied, despite saying the extreme opposite. Now mctominay is a poor little pawn in Jose’s monstrous plan. Some of you watch too much tv I think. A real issue worth speaking about is why guys like mctominay and shaw have been on the end of venom and bile from our ‘fans.’ Some of you just can’t separate justified disappointment from the part of your brains that deal in anger and daily mail like headline creating. It’s pretty pathetic.

 

[Sb_16]

A glowing review, not sure I agree but can only be good for McTominay's confidence. I don't think it's McTominay's fault he's getting the grief he is doing, he's doing his best with the game time he's given. Don't really think he should be near the team to begin with at least not at CB. Just odd to me that Mourinho would play him in a position he's never played professionally in a team already struggling.

I wouldn't be so sure. Considering what we're seeing and what may be happening in the dressing room, Scott will know as well that the statement was a dig at Woodward.