CF back up, maybe?
39
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 10
- Status
He was atrocious at getting the ball off the defence and spraying passes around last season but now we have FDJ for that. Hopefully we'll see a better player now, who can get around the pitch, break up play and get on the end of attacks. He can actually break forward pretty well.
It's gone on too long
But he cannot pass the football. I can’t see how any serious team can play a 3 man midfield and Bruno and Scott are two of them. There is no control at all in there, and poor short passing ability.
A possible squad man to close out matches well in hand, should that ever happen again, but not a player we can rely on as a regular starter.
I have to admit i'm not completely convinced and have always viewed Fred as the better player but if he improves his passing and offers some of the things he's actually good at, such as arriving in the box, getting around the pitch, he could be a decent player. Again, I'm not convinced myself but there have been glimpses of what he can do in a United shirt over the years and almost all of them have been with him slightly further up the pitch.
Wouldn't be sad if we got rid but also not sad (or surprised) he's staying. He's a decent player who, like everyone else, was dreadful last season.
Don't see any reason for anyone to lose their shit. He won't be a regular starter this coming season.
Don't see any reason for anyone to lose their shit. He won't be a regular starter this coming season.
He's poor, really poor, doesn't really offer anything of significance, I hope this is possibly a ploy to increase his value to anyone sniffing around.
He needs to improve but I think he can under Ten Hag.
I think he'd be decent as a midfielder playing further forward. He does get into some dangerous positions in the box at times.
Just not in a midfield two.
And just not at United.
Just not in a midfield two.
And just not at United.
Based on what?
We haven't signed anyone in midfield, and our only potential midfield signing so far is De Jong who will be paired with Scott by the looks of it. Absolutely terrible signs so far, so I don't see how people can't see him as a starter next year too. Even if we sign two midfielders, it won't be enough to not see him start in at leaat 30ish games.
The only reason I'd rather we sign a CM/DM over Eriksen, is I dont want to see Fred/McT start.
So what is it they see in him? Mourinho, Ole, Carrick, Rangnick, and potentially Ten Hag. It has to be more than "he's shite and they are insane" I think we need to improve on him but I think it is also true that he has become something of a scapegoat for others failings. Defense struggling, "replace McT and we will be much better" attack offered nothing defensively "replace McT and they will.....start running?"
He was very poor for the last 3 months of last season after a decent start under Rangnick. He is clearly not a natural DM, lacks the spatial awareness and reading of the game. However he provides a lot of aerial value, especially if Lindelof is playing he will generally front screen him, can win the ball when allowed to go and press aggressively, strikes the ball well, and can carry the ball reasonably well when confident. Probably not enough all told.
Fascinated to see how Utd set up if they do get FDJ, perhaps the need for another DM alongside him? Neither of McFred are ideally suited to that role, both much better when they can move forward and press high.
He was very poor for the last 3 months of last season after a decent start under Rangnick. He is clearly not a natural DM, lacks the spatial awareness and reading of the game. However he provides a lot of aerial value, especially if Lindelof is playing he will generally front screen him, can win the ball when allowed to go and press aggressively, strikes the ball well, and can carry the ball reasonably well when confident. Probably not enough all told.
Fascinated to see how Utd set up if they do get FDJ, perhaps the need for another DM alongside him? Neither of McFred are ideally suited to that role, both much better when they can move forward and press high.
I highly doubt he's going to improve... he's turning 26 in december. Or is he the new Lingard where he's seen a promising youngster who's going to blossom when he gets of age? EtH might work wonders with some players and introduce a new way of playing, but will he magically improve the passing ability of McT?
De Jong will be the DLP alongside Fred. The days of “McSauce” playing every match are gone. I imagine DvB will get more games than him this season. Take a deep breath. It’s gonna be OK, pal.
These passing stats don't read a Manchester United midfielder to me, the two things he's best at are passing the ball out of bounds and getting his passes blocked.
Based on us signing FDJ, who plays in the position McTominay operated in last season. Based on Fred being a better #8. Based on DVB returning.
Not saying McTominay won't still get plenty of starts next season, but I don't think he'll be a regular. And what I mean by that, is that I don't think he'll start when everyone is fit and people aren't being rested.
Rangnick and Mourinho both have hard-ons for those tall physical players, and he was only really a squad player under the latter. Ole and Carrick are the same, they are fully ingrained with the whole United DNA thing and all decided he's gonna be the face of it. Unfortunately, that still seems to be the case within the club, he still got big supporters at high places in the club who believes he's the next captain of Manchester United. Let's see what Ten Hag does but I'm expecting him to start a lot next season too.
In short, he's shit and they're all insane.
Fletcher really turned a corner in his late 20s. That doesn't mean McTominay will, just an example of a player developing in his late 20s.
I'm aware of the differences between McTominay and Fletcher btw, before anyone feels compelled to point out the obvious.
Fletcher turned a corner at 23-24 years old and was an important member of the team around 2008 until his health issues 3 or 4 years, unfortunately Fletcher didn't had the chance to reach his late 20s in good conditions. McTominay is 25 and a year or two away from what could be seen as Fletcher's top level career ending.
What is the basis for that other than conspiracy theories tinged with a bit of brexit self loathing?
Do you believe someone above the manager is dictating squad and team selection, or at the very least has a heavy influence? I don't buy it, maybe there is a desire from the club to utlilize home grown players, but there are many options for that beyond McT. The club aren't going to spend £40 million on VDB, give him a £120K P/W and then tell the manger not to play him in favour of featuring McT.
Wow, i actually didn't realise McTominay was 25. Thought he was about 23.
I think only reason we didn't sell him is because we barely have any CM. Will be interesting to see how many mins he plays and if there will be any noticeable change in his game.
From the same people who brought you 'let's sack all the coaches' only to see them quit and leave us floundering under the guiding hand of Chris Armas. We're in for two midfielders so far this window, we might even get more, but until we do, let's not pretend that 'just play the kids' isn't as stupid an idea as 'let's sack all the coaches'.
Also, he's not really that bad at all.
Yeah, people forget that he became a first player relatively late. If people want a bit of optimism there are players that developed late into top players, Matuidi and Thiago Silva are examples. their pre 24-25 years old careers didn't suggest that they would have the type of career they did.
Fletcher wasn't a consistent player until about 2009, 2010 (we really missed him in the UCL final 2009)
It was the 09/10 season when he really started to shine and put in some really good performances - against AC Milan in particular which was probably he best game for the club. He was 26.
I'm not saying McTominay is going to become a world-beater (I really don't like him as a player) but there must be something ETH sees in him.
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VDB was coming as Bruno's backup, most people here didn't view him as a central midfielder. It was only when he flopped when playing instead of Bruno, that the fans and coaching staff started to look for a different position for him. That was under Ole anyway who didn't need anyone to tell him to play McTominay more.
Is it really a conspiracy theory to think that someone like Fletcher rates him highly and would sing his praises for any new manager? Fergie told Mourinho to play him more. He has been obviously highly regarded within the club by various people for the last few years. He has also been pushed as this lad who gives his all whenever he's on the pitch and gives passionate interviews after abject performances.
Given the story being put around about how ETH rates him, I’d be pretty concerned if McTominay is seen as the regular partner for FDJ, as he doesn’t have the positional sense, at the moment at least, to offer real cover in there as part of a 2 when FDJ pushes forward. ETH will need to do some serious coaching with him to get him anywhere near the level.
The manager works with him on the training ground and sees his limitations(and strengths) first hand. The rest of them can push him all they want but if a manager with his job and reputation on the line is picking a player to appease outside forces and not because he thinks it gives him a better chance of winning games then MCT is actually providing a valuable service in identifying a manger we don't want.
I am just disregarding that story as the nonsense it surely is. Perhaps we didn’t want to sell him due to our lack of options in midfield. Even if that’s true it doesn’t mean he’s viewed as important. How could ETH even know that without training with him ? What did he watch tapes of all McT’s amazing performances last season and prior ? Because he surely would be out the door if that were the case.
Really? As far as I can remember, Fletcher started properly coming good in the latter half of 06/07, when he’d only just turned 23. It was in his late 20s that his health problems largely wrecked his career.
Edit: @JPRouve got there first…
I think at best he could be described as painfully average, though I understand keeping him another year out of necessity.
Eye-test -
Hides constantly (or terrible positional sense) when we're progressing possession. Very loose passing. Bad defensive positioning, not very clean in the tackle. Little creativity, not particularly urgent when on the ball.
Decent in the air, seems to cover a decent amount of ground (though not at a great intensity). Has a long shot in him every now and then. Seems to have a good attitude.
Stats -
Progressive passes, passes attempted & pressures all below the 40th percentile.
Tackles, interceptions & blocks between 60-70th percentile.
Clearances & aerials won ~90th percentile.
So he excels at booting it clear and winning headers to be fair, while putting in a passable shift as a workhorse ball winner type. If his attitude is good - which it seems to be - I can see why we'd want to keep him this year as squad cover, but he's surely not offering much going forward. Especially in a system such as ETHS which presumably will rely on competent ball players in the middle.
Eye-test -
Hides constantly (or terrible positional sense) when we're progressing possession. Very loose passing. Bad defensive positioning, not very clean in the tackle. Little creativity, not particularly urgent when on the ball.
Decent in the air, seems to cover a decent amount of ground (though not at a great intensity). Has a long shot in him every now and then. Seems to have a good attitude.
Stats -
Progressive passes, passes attempted & pressures all below the 40th percentile.
Tackles, interceptions & blocks between 60-70th percentile.
Clearances & aerials won ~90th percentile.
So he excels at booting it clear and winning headers to be fair, while putting in a passable shift as a workhorse ball winner type. If his attitude is good - which it seems to be - I can see why we'd want to keep him this year as squad cover, but he's surely not offering much going forward. Especially in a system such as ETHS which presumably will rely on competent ball players in the middle.
The point made was about Fletcher turning a corner. Now take your point about us missing him in the 2009 CL final, that means that he had turned a corner before that, at the start of the 2008-2009 season Fletcher was 24 and he had already turned a corner and showed that he had a lot more to offer. His top was at 26 but surely no one considers that the top level of a player is when he turns a corner, it's not as if appeared out of nowhere?
Yeah I get your point, but I mean even up till 07/08 a lot of fans were saying he was useless. McTominay has already had periods where a lot of thought he was one of our better players. Granted, he's just had a terrible season, but so did a lot of our team.
I can't see McTominay becoming anything other than a squad player, but let's see what ETH does with him.
Fletcher was always technically better than MCT and had an absurd engine, meant he was very effective just being allowed to go press and harass. Played a lot on the right as a young player, clearly not his position and led to the fans turning on him somewhat but even then his work-rate and tactical discipline made him a valuable player.
Lots of the fans were saying that Carrick was useless, lots of fans should focus on Curling.
Selling him and getting Tielemans is a no brainer.
The comparisons to Fletcher are so tiresome at this point. Never mind baseless.
26 in December
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