[arnie_ni]

There were two instances where he's just not anticipating where the ball should go. One was at the end where he had 10 yards of space all to himself and was the only outlet, and he still lost possession.

The second one when Greenwood passed the ball and he SHOULD have anticipated where it was gonna be but he was running ahead of it. It wasn't a bad pass, he just got out of the way and turned it into a a bad pass.

That last one was shocking. He just had to stand still and the ball was too his feet, instead he makes a run forward and actually made it an impossible pass. They scored their disallowed goal from the resulting corner.

Called him out in the match thread about it. Shocking awareness.

 

[arnie_ni]

I thought the exact same. McTominay had no business trying to get ahead of the ball when Greenwood had his back to goal and the lay off was his only option.

@GifLord can you get this one?

They scored the disallowed goal from the resulting corner so its just before that

 

[arnie_ni]

Don't know why McT is trying to be clever when he has options for easier passes to keep possession.

Even if he makes that first pass, AWB had no where to go with it anyway, would have been surrounded by 3 players and lost the ball.

 

[BlahRules]

Ole been saying Donny shows effort but don't have the quality and we see McFred giving us master class of shit. Donny must be shit in training or ole just believes McFred will somehow get him victories regardless how shit they are.

I wonder which will comes first him finally opening his eyes or he gets the sack.

 

[GifLord]

@GifLord can you get this one?

They scored the disallowed goal from the resulting corner so its just before that

 

[arnie_ni]

Where's he going? What does he think greenwood is going to do there? There's a chance for a counter there if he waits and takes that ball with him

 

[El Zoido]

That’s really poor.

 

[EtH]

Got on the ball more today to his credit. Stats bare that out. But then did nowt with it. And again just all over the place offering nothing defensively as well. So frustrating with DvB sat on the bench.

 

[MadMike]

I don't know what he does, honestly.

He doesn't show for the ball enough. Fred and Bruno constantly have more touches and passes than him in that midfield. He doesn't tackle or defend enough, he lets Fred do all the work. He doesn't play-make, his passing ranges from bad to average.

The only skillset he's sometimes good at, is carrying the ball. Is that all it takes to be a starting Man Utd midfielder?

 

[MadMike]

Got on the ball more today to his credit. Stats bare that out. But then did nowt with it. And again just all over the place offering nothing defensively as well. So frustrating with DvB sat on the bench.

Barely. He still has less touches and passes than Bruno and Fred (per mins played, Fred was withdrawn early and has only 1 less pass) in that midfield. He doesn't defend, doesn't create attacks and really... I don't know what he's offering any more.

 

[MattyB1986]

Not good enough for CM at United, clear as day... McFred will cost Ole his job in the end. Diabolical at times today.

 

[Idxomer]

Not the 1st time he does that

 

[Kopral Jono]

Better than Fred but that isn't saying much.

 

[lex talionis]

Solid enough today. The longer term issues with McFred, however, have been thoroughly documented.

 

[Desert Eagle]

I don't know what he does, honestly.

He doesn't show for the ball enough. Fred and Bruno constantly have more touches and passes than him in that midfield. He doesn't tackle or defend enough, he lets Fred do all the work. He doesn't play-make, his passing ranges from bad to average.

The only skillset he's sometimes good at, is carrying the ball. Is that all it takes to be a starting Man Utd midfielder?

I agree. He's so average or poor at everything.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I swear Ole has brought him back before being fully fit/recovered from his op.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

See what really bugs me about McT, Ive noticed that often if a ball isn’t perfect to him he has a tendency to stop and have a wee sulk about it instead of shifting his feet. Like the amount of times a ball is played to him and it might be a yard the wrong way and he’s just like nah, feck that ball. Like just move your bloody feet and you’ll easily reach it.

Another thing, now surely this is by design so can’t really hold it against him. One of his strengths if obviously getting forward, but we are so crap in possesion and turn it over so easily that often he’s caught up field along with the likes of Shaw and Bissaka and we are left with basically just Fred in midfield and the midfield just becomes bypassed with one simple pass. If we are going to play with two in midfield at least have them shield. We seem too obsessed with just getting bodies in and around the box without thinking where they should be and how best to set ive them whilst remaking structurally sound.

 

[simplyared]

He needs replacing. Disappointed with his development. We're screaming for a top DM. McT is a squad player at the most!

 

[Rajma]

Barely. He still has less touches and passes than Bruno and Fred (per mins played, Fred was withdrawn early and has only 1 less pass) in that midfield. He doesn't defend, doesn't create attacks and really... I don't know what he's offering any more.

When AWB made that last ditch tackle it was McT who just simply let Doucoure run past him, commentator on my stream was surprised how he didn’t bother tracking him. However, it’s a common theme with him if you watch him play regularly.

 

[arnie_ni]

Better than Fred but that isn't saying much.

He's really not tbh, and I think Fred is shit

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Barely. He still has less touches and passes than Bruno and Fred (per mins played, Fred was withdrawn early and has only 1 less pass) in that midfield. He doesn't defend, doesn't create attacks and really... I don't know what he's offering any more.

Height my man, height. It is surely the only reason.

 

[EtH]

Barely. He still has less touches and passes than Bruno and Fred (per mins played, Fred was withdrawn early and has only 1 less pass) in that midfield. He doesn't defend, doesn't create attacks and really... I don't know what he's offering any more.

Oh I agree. Just wanted to acknowledge the good if I’m acknowledging the bad. Again, he did nothing with it. He’s played some decent passes at times this season and I’ve wondered if he was set to kick on. But then he just reverts to the mean.

 

[Joseunited]

Pillock, he gets that ball by standing still and all he has to do is feed Bruno.Instead he goes to the one place the ball is never going to end up.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I thought the exact same. McTominay had no business trying to get ahead of the ball when Greenwood had his back to goal and the lay off was his only option.

Exact same moment stood out for me. At the moment Greenwood received the ball McTominay had vacated a pocket of space and put an Everton player between himself and the ball. Absolutely no chance for Greenwood to hit him with a pass. Sums up everything that is wrong with his game.

 

[Desert Eagle]

Exact same moment stood out for me. At the moment Greenwood received the ball McTominay had vacated a pocket of space and put an Everton player between himself and the ball. Absolutely no chance for Greenwood to hit him with a pass. Sums up everything that is wrong with his game.

This trait is why people, myself included use the term hiding. He does it so often it's either cowardice(footballing) or ignorance.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This trait is why people, myself included use the term hiding. He does it so often it's either cowardice(footballing) or ignorance.

It’s not cowardice. He’s not scared. In that clip he obviously wanted to get on the ball. It’s just really poor movement and sense of where he should position himself. Which is a disaster in someone who wants to play in central midfield.

 

[Desert Eagle]

It’s not cowardice. He’s not scared. In that clip he obviously wanted to get on the ball. It’s just really poor movement and sense of where he should position himself. Which is a disaster in someone who wants to play in central midfield.

Definitely the latter in that particular clip but there are plenty of times where he jogs behind an opposition player when we are building up play from the back. When the game is slow and you are still not showing for the ball it's troubling in addition to the other worrying traits you mentioned!

 

[pratyush_utd]

Where was he going? That was a decent pass to him and he just ran away from it.

Him being out of form is seriously costing us. He was quite good in our run last year. Today in first half, him and Fred actually played well ( not outstanding but much more calmer than our previous game).

 

[EtH]

It’s not cowardice. He’s not scared. In that clip he obviously wanted to get on the ball. It’s just really poor movement and sense of where he should position himself. Which is a disaster in someone who wants to play in central midfield.

Yeah I keep saying it’s his movement that’s the problem but for some reason posters keep coming up with any and all reasons otherwise. One even cited his lack of long passes. Well if he barely passes the ball at all of course he barely passes it long.

He just has a serious lack of positional awareness on the pitch. A fundamental lack even.

 

[Trequarista10]

He's so poor. He's had a few good games against top possession based sides where we sat deep and 90% of his job was to break up play and get stuck in, and one great game against Leeds, but in all other games he doesn't offer enough on or off the ball.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

He needs to improve several aspects of his game in order to become a top player.

He can do that given his age.

Do I want us to depend on him as a starter for the next five years?

No, I don't.

He hasn't shown enough to warrant that kind of trust.

Right now, he looks like a good prospect for a squad player (of the sort who will be great to have around, given his background and so forth - but yeah, a squad player for a team aiming for the top).

 

[VanDeBank]

He's an athlete masquerading as a footballer. Those players are fine for certain teams. Heck he's been useful for us in wide open games where the midfield is like a battlefield. In games like today he does feck all outside of set pieces and the odd sliding tackle or run into the box. He can't pass or make himself available for a pass, probably the most important and basic attribute for a midfielder. Literally all his "forward" passes are to the closest fullback. This man just doesn't have the technical ability to be a starting MU midfielder.

I get why Ole/Mourinho/Big Sam (would) use him. But which top "hipster" manager would actually play him consistently over any of our other midfielders? Ole doesn't rate VDB, fine. Just play Matic more frequently for 45-60 min similarly to how LVG used Carrick. Then see if the game calls for Scott or someone else off the bench.

 

[Trequarista10]

Where was he going? That was a decent pass to him and he just ran away from it.

Him being out of form is seriously costing us. He was quite good in our run last year. Today in first half, him and Fred actually played well ( not outstanding but much more calmer than our previous game).

It wasn't that bad in isolation but it's a snippet that highlights his problem. He was galloping forward wanting the ball played in front of him to run on to because that's his instinct. He's an attack minded, box to box midfielder not suited to the role we're asking him to play. A centre mid suited to the holding role or whatever you want to call it would have preempted a pass into feet, held his position, and looked to pass the ball forwards or recycle possession.

He is naturally an attacking midfielder and before his growth spurt that's where he played. Only because of his physique we tried turning him into a defensive mid. Sure, he's strong and competitive and can tackle, but he lacks the positioning and mindset both with and without the ball.

Now, plenty of players start off as being more attack minded and adjust to a deeper or more defensive role and they progress. For a long time I expected this to be the case with Scott. I bought into the hype about him from the club about his attitude, intelligence, discipline and willingness to learn, everyone from Jose to backroom staff to Ole has said the same. He also comes off well in interviews, he's bright, strong minded, resilient, determined. It seemed certain he would adapt and improve. Fact is he's been a fixture in the first team for several years now, he's had ample game time, he's into his mid 20s. And I see zero sign of improvement. Not one. He's exactly the same player at 24 that he was at 21. He used to be compared to Fletcher, and the two of them aged 21 there was some accuracy to that comparison. But comparing them as 24 year olds it would be an insult to Fletcher to put Scott in the sane bracket as him.

I very rarely post negatively about United or individual players but I can't help it with McTominay. A couple of crunching, braveheart performances against the likes of City, PSG and I think Liverpool it may have been boosted his profile, and he's been surviving on that ever since. In those games we defended deep as a unit and most of his job was just breaking up play. Those games come half a dozen times a season at most. It's a limited role that can make a half decent workhorse like Phil Neville or Scott Parker look like prime Roy Keane for 90 minutes. He simply shouldn't be on the pitch in most games we play, he's not showing any signs of improvement that he ever will be suitable.

 

[DarkXaero]

I don't think he would start in Everton midfield if he was an Everton player. Fred gets majority of the hate but Mctominay is the worse player and worse today as well, despite Fred's mistake in the goal conceded. Invisible man out there, it's like playing with 10 men.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He needs to improve several aspects of his game in order to become a top player.

He can do that given his age.

Do I want us to depend on him as a starter for the next five years?

No, I don't.

He hasn't shown enough to warrant that kind of trust.

Right now, he looks like a good prospect for a squad player (of the sort who will be great to have around, given his background and so forth - but yeah, a squad player for a team aiming for the top).

Yes. Agree with this.

He wouldn’t get in the starting line-up of either of the last two teams we played. Who are both mid-table sides. Which says it all really.

 

[clarkydaz]

I don't think he would start in Everton midfield if he was an Everton player. Fred gets majority of the hate but Mctominay is the worse player and worse today as well, despite Fred's mistake in the goal conceded. Invisible man out there, it's like playing with 10 men.

i agree, McT has youth academy priviledge and will be here for years because of it. Fred has the more blatant howlers though so its easy to go for him

 

[Ixion]

I really don't mind him, he offers enough to warrant a place in the squad. I don't think he's good enough (yet?) to boss the midfield, starting every week but it's not fair it's being put him really. Ideally he'd be playing alongside a worldclass CM.

 

[LJJT]

Disappointing since he returned from injury. Just not having an impact on the game and making mistakes that cost us at times. Thought Fred was better than him today

 

[I'm David Moyes damnit]

He was poor today, as has been the case since returning from injury.

Clearly not a “shit” player as some have said, but does have a tendency to string a few games together where he shows potential to be a good box-to-box midfielder, then look like a bit of a nothing player for several games afterward.

He’s a player who will have his best years in his late 20s-early 30s imo but for now there’s no way he should be a first team regular.

Can’t remember him ever being quite as passive as he is currently. Most likely due to not being up to speed fitness wise, possibly with an added layer of confidence issues.

 

[DarkXaero]

If I'm Donny and I see McTominay get 3 consecutive starts with 3 consecutive abysmal midfield performances over me, I'm handing in a transfer request. Baffling man management by Ole.