[Lecland07]

He was good today. He did so his usual trick of failing to make himself available a few times but people slating his performance because he "wasn't progressive enough" are failing to account for the fact that progression was not his job.

He was in the side to break up Southampton's play, offer further protection from the long ball and help the centre backs deal with the physical presence offered by Southampton's forward line. By and large, he did this well.

I'm no massive fan of McTominay but it's getting tiring seeing him lambasted just for the sake of it.

A midfielder at Manchester United should not be in the first team if their only role is to break up play. The requirements of a defensive midfielder are also to progress the ball forward, keep it moving, and to help control the midfield against the opposition. If you only have the former, you are essentially only playing one midfielder to dictate play against other sides. No wonder we keep losing the midfield battle since that is the case.

Defensively he was good, but you cannot separate the requirement to defend more from the lack of control we have in midfield. He gets credit for defending, but you also have to take into account that we need to defend more because he is in midfield. Do you think 22 passes completed is really acceptable over 90 minutes from a midfielder against Southampton? I do not.

McTominay's performance only seemed to improve after we got pinned in our own half; that suits his defensive strengths. That is not something we should be looking for, though. He barely completed any passes - 22 is miserable for a midfielder of almost any level in the league for a full game. He repeatedly failed to make himself available when we tried to play out from the back. These two are massive issues that have caused problems for years.

That is why I do not buy this idea that he had a great game at all - defensively, he only redeemed himself against the awful lack of control he could display in midfield when we had the ball.

 

[MadDogg]

The reason we never really got any control was because we decided to spend most of the day hitting long to Rashford Sancho and Elanga all of which have very limited aerial or hold up ability.

I'd say it was both. The tactic of bypassing the midfield and going long didn't work because our attackers have no hold-up play or aerial ability (Elanga is actually decent in the air so we should probably try targeting him with those balls), but the reason (or at least a big part of the reason) we use that tactic is because our midfield isn't making themselves available or trusted enough to play through the opposition. McTominay is obviously a big contributor to that. His did well defensively but was also part of the reason why there was so much defensive work to do.

 

[Olecurls99]

A midfielder at Manchester United should not be in the first team if their only role is to break up play. The requirements of a defensive midfielder are also to progress the ball forward, keep it moving, and to help control the midfield against the opposition. If you only have the former, you are essentially only playing one midfielder to dictate play against other sides. No wonder we keep losing the midfield battle since that is the case.

Defensively he was good, but you cannot separate the requirement to defend more from the lack of control we have in midfield. He gets credit for defending, but you also have to take into account that we need to defend more because he is in midfield. Do you think 22 passes completed is really acceptable over 90 minutes from a midfielder against Southampton? I do not.

McTominay's performance only seemed to improve after we got pinned in our own half; that suits his defensive strengths. That is not something we should be looking for, though. He barely completed any passes - 22 is miserable for a midfielder of almost any level in the league for a full game. He repeatedly failed to make himself available when we tried to play out from the back. These two are massive issues that have caused problems for years.

That is why I do not buy this idea that he had a great game at all - defensively, he only redeemed himself against the awful lack of control he could display in midfield when we had the ball.

Totally agree

 

[Longshanks]

the fact that we have a midfielder who completed 22 passes in 90 minutes doesnt help, maybe if we actually had a ball playing midfielder who went looking for the ball we would put ourselves in a better position to make games more comfortable instead of sitting back inviting pressure on ..

our Gk?? you do realise the midfielders are the link between attack and defence dont you ? within the next 12 months whether it will be De Jong or not some fans on here will actually learn what a world class midfielder looks like. thankfully Casemiro is going to put an end to Scott playing DM, now we just need another CM to push him further down the pecking order.

It was 22 passes because we went long and direct, we only ever really got the ball down and played in Southamptons half, on the odd occasions we managed to have a sustained attack. Other than that the midfield was largely bypassed.

The reason we didn't play through midfield is because we can't rely on de gea to make the extra player in possesion to be able to comfartably pass the ball around in our own half under pressure.

Re-watch the game and tell me how many occasions we actively looked to play through Southamptons press/block, very few occansions i would say. It was mostly smash long and play in Southamptons half.

He gave us the physicality and aggression that we sorely missed in the drubbing at Brentford, Casermiro will more than likely take his place but I bet you don't see us playing through midifled much more.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Yep sheer arrogance by some of his lovers. Those people actually just deserve this brand of football. Luckily for us he will be shifted at least out of the starting 11 now..

 

[Poborsky's hair]

It was 22 passes because we went long and direct, we only ever really got the ball down and played in Southamptons half, on the odd occasions we managed to have a sustained attack. Other than that the midfield was largely bypassed.

The reason we didn't play through midfield is because we can't rely on de gea to make the extra player in possesion to be able to comfartably pass the ball around in our own half under pressure.

Re-watch the game and tell me how many occasions we actively looked to play through Southamptons press/block, very few occasions i would say. It was mostly smash long and play in Southamptons half.

He gave us the physicality and aggression that we sorely missed in the drubbing at Brentford, Casermiro will more than likely take his place but I bet you don't see us playing through midifled much more.

Jeeeez, now blaming de gea for the lack of showing Maybe, maybe, you know maybe the reason he never made himself available contributed to the fact that he didnt get on the ball at all, not that he ever even tried that.

I think Casemiro in his cameo today had more touches than McTominay the whole second half. We will definitely not hoof the ball as much when we have the needed player who can impose himself on the game like Casemiro. He aint no playmaker but his control strength is much better to at least drop deep recieve the ball under pressure and move it fast to one of the other midfielders or wide.

McTominay if he drops deep just plays a 4 yard pass back to CB which is just criminal.

I really think that people don't even bother ever watching other teams these days to see that the standards are much higher even there. Not a single midfield in the EPL he would start for, there are some young and upand coming players who move the ball much faster, cover the ground quicker and has the mentality to show up, yet we are stuck with this pile of shit and slowly accept that because getting used to it is just the easiest way to accept the new trophyless mediocre United for many years to come.

 

[11101]

I had the game on in the background but from what I saw it was like he was actively trying to sabotage us. I hope Casemiro is the end of him here.

 

[RussellWilson]

Still terrible on the ball and large part of the reason we couldn't keep the ball. But he at least cleared a lot of balls and stopped some attacks. So not bad by his standards.

 

[Faetheshire86]

It was 22 passes because we went long and direct, we only ever really got the ball down and played in Southamptons half, on the odd occasions we managed to have a sustained attack. Other than that the midfield was largely bypassed.

The reason we didn't play through midfield is because we can't rely on de gea to make the extra player in possesion to be able to comfartably pass the ball around in our own half under pressure.

Re-watch the game and tell me how many occasions we actively looked to play through Southamptons press/block, very few occansions i would say. It was mostly smash long and play in Southamptons half.

He gave us the physicality and aggression that we sorely missed in the drubbing at Brentford, Casermiro will more than likely take his place but I bet you don't see us playing through midifled much more.

Watched a Tifo video which discusses the way Southampton pressed and the changes we made to counter it, which lead to the goal, I think you might enjoy it.





Now if only someone could explain to this guy that the reason McTominay moved away from Varane, wasn't because ETH instructed him to, not because he was trying to create space, or disrupt the Southampton press, but because he is terrified of the ball!

Sarcasm aside, anyone blaming McTominay for us "loosing the midfield" today are being unfair to him. It was clear that we set-up to keep things tight and avoid gifting Southampton anything. We weren't trying to play through them. He was the least wasteful of our midfielders today and offered a lot more defensively. He played a part in helping us grind out a win.

Anyone who look at today's performance and thinks that isn't how we should be playing and if we want to dominate these type of games then McTominay shouldn't be a starter, then I would agree with them. I would even go so far as to agree with anyone who thinks we should stick true to how we want to play in the long term, even if it costs us short term, but we need to prepare ourselves for more 4-0 defeats to the likes of Brentford and we can immediately kiss goodbye to any top 4 aspirations we have.

 

[Blood Mage]

He was decent defensively today but once again showcased that he's just far too poor on the ball to be playing in a Manchester United midfield.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He's just so poor making himself available for passes and his ability on the ball is left wanting so many times.

He did put a shift in, but he should be nowhere near the team.

 

[Reiver]

Not going to argue about his weaknesses, but he probably did the job EtH asked of him today and played a part in our clean sheet.

 

[edgecutter]

A midfielder at Manchester United should not be in the first team if their only role is to break up play. The requirements of a defensive midfielder are also to progress the ball forward, keep it moving, and to help control the midfield against the opposition. If you only have the former, you are essentially only playing one midfielder to dictate play against other sides. No wonder we keep losing the midfield battle since that is the case.

Defensively he was good, but you cannot separate the requirement to defend more from the lack of control we have in midfield. He gets credit for defending, but you also have to take into account that we need to defend more because he is in midfield. Do you think 22 passes completed is really acceptable over 90 minutes from a midfielder against Southampton? I do not.

McTominay's performance only seemed to improve after we got pinned in our own half; that suits his defensive strengths. That is not something we should be looking for, though. He barely completed any passes - 22 is miserable for a midfielder of almost any level in the league for a full game. He repeatedly failed to make himself available when we tried to play out from the back. These two are massive issues that have caused problems for years.

That is why I do not buy this idea that he had a great game at all - defensively, he only redeemed himself against the awful lack of control he could display in midfield when we had the ball.

Spot on. Its criminal that some on here think he put in MOTM performance, he was average at best.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

McT played quicker passes and played more vertical passes in the past 2 matches than is his norm. Making quicker decisions is helping his game. He even had a very Spanish professional foul today to stop a counter, olé. I have been surprised to see him start ahead of Fred, but maybe we are not seeing the final form of ETH’s system just yet. He’s also been good on set pieces, taking up a position near Martinez on a Soton corner, utilizing his frame.

He’s never been a technical player but he’s always getting picked by every manager, so they like something they’re seeing . I think he’s adapting to this style of football. He’s never going to be Pirlo but he’s a useful player.

 

[Trequarista10]

McT played quicker passes and played more vertical passes in the past 2 matches than is his norm. Making quicker decisions is helping his game. He even had a very Spanish professional foul today to stop a counter, olé. I have been surprised to see him start ahead of Fred, but maybe we are not seeing the final form of ETH’s system just yet. He’s also been good on set pieces, taking up a position near Martinez on a Soton corner, utilizing his frame.

He’s never been a technical player but he’s always getting picked by every manager, so they like something they’re seeing . I think he’s adapting to this style of football. He’s never going to be Pirlo but he’s a useful player.

I think ETH realised that a Fred and Eriksen duo is just too lightweight, so McTominay was needed. McTominay will probably be the midfielder who loses out most from the Casemiro signing. I don't foresee a Casemiro and McTominay partnership, so Scott will likely just be Casemiro's understudy, or occasionally brought on to defend a lead in the final minutes. I wonder if Scott will be content becoming a bit part player or if he will look to move on next summer to be first choice elsewhere.

 

[kundalini]

I thought Scott played well. We needed his height to combat the threat from Southampton's keeper launching the ball towards the left side of our defence, then using long throw-ins and corners to attack us.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I think ETH realised that a Fred and Eriksen duo is just too lightweight, so McTominay was needed. McTominay will probably be the midfielder who loses out most from the Casemiro signing. I don't foresee a Casemiro and McTominay partnership, so Scott will likely just be Casemiro's understudy, or occasionally brought on to defend a lead in the final minutes. I wonder if Scott will be content becoming a bit part player or if he will look to move on next summer to be first choice elsewhere.

True. We aren’t at the Tika-taka phase yet where we can move the ball quickly in tight spaces, so Fred sat. I would imagine Scott accepting a smaller role in what will hopefully be a better team, a more winning team. He’s on small wages compared to everyone else , he’s never asking to leave but might finish up playing for Aberdeen.

 

[Diamond Chap]

He was good today. He did so his usual trick of failing to make himself available a few times but people slating his performance because he "wasn't progressive enough" are failing to account for the fact that progression was not his job.

He was in the side to break up Southampton's play, offer further protection from the long ball and help the centre backs deal with the physical presence offered by Southampton's forward line. By and large, he did this well.

I'm no massive fan of McTominay but it's getting tiring seeing him lambasted just for the sake of it.

This is an accurate and sensible post, in my opinion, very refreshing.

 

[Olecurls99]

He was good today. He did so his usual trick of failing to make himself available a few times but people slating his performance because he "wasn't progressive enough" are failing to account for the fact that progression was not his job.

Progression was his job. Progression is everybody on the pitches job, especially the midfielders. We're Man United for Christ's sake. We can't have midfielders who don't have to progress the ball. Leave that to Burnley

 

[Dorris]

He’s a decent enough player who should never have been a certain starter for us. More than happy for him to be our backup to Casemiro. Most PL clubs outside the top 6 would snap him up if he became available.

 

[westmeath]

But with somefans who never played football on a dcent level and can't understand that football is a complex game with a lot of consequences.

Ok, you hooked me. What level did you play?

 

[dutchred]

He’s a decent enough player who should never have been a certain starter for us. More than happy for him to be our backup to Casemiro. Most PL clubs outside the top 6 would snap him up if he became available.

He could also be a good back up to Varanne, I think Mac/Martinez is better then Lindelof/Martinez

 

[NoPace]

Defended well today. I'd sell him and the passing and getting on the ball just aren't good enough, but this goes down as a positive point in the "he can backup Casemiro for a year or 2" file.

 

[Longshanks]

Watched a Tifo video which discusses the way Southampton pressed and the changes we made to counter it, which lead to the goal, I think you might enjoy it.





Now if only someone could explain to this guy that the reason McTominay moved away from Varane, wasn't because ETH instructed him to, not because he was trying to create space, or disrupt the Southampton press, but because he is terrified of the ball!

Sarcasm aside, anyone blaming McTominay for us "loosing the midfield" today are being unfair to him. It was clear that we set-up to keep things tight and avoid gifting Southampton anything. We weren't trying to play through them. He was the least wasteful of our midfielders today and offered a lot more defensively. He played a part in helping us grind out a win.

Anyone who look at today's performance and thinks that isn't how we should be playing and if we want to dominate these type of games then McTominay shouldn't be a starter, then I would agree with them. I would even go so far as to agree with anyone who thinks we should stick true to how we want to play in the long term, even if it costs us short term, but we need to prepare ourselves for more 4-0 defeats to the likes of Brentford and we can immediately kiss goodbye to any top 4 aspirations we have.

For the goal, it goes back to de gea who smashes it long towards rashford, rashford loses his duel but mctominay then picks the ball up In the centre circle winning his ground duel and playing a simple pass to malacia, who plays the ball down the line to sacho who the plays it back to mctom who goes back to martinez who then sweeps it to varane who then brings the ball forward into space. The video alludes at it being some sort of tactical switch up, it wasn't it was just mctominay winning the ball in the middle of the park and then acting as the pivot, one of the key differences to what happened most of the game is that the three defenders who touched it didn't smash it long or try and go over the top. They kept it on the ground and moved it that created the space for varane to bring the ball forward.

The point I was making was that for alot of the game when mcotm got the ball and played the simple pass back it more often than not got smashed long, quite often meaning that we didn't then see the ball for quite a while. Difficult as a defensive pivot to really influence the game with your passing when everytime you go play it back it gets walloped to the other end of the field.

The irony being that the goal actually came from us getting the ball down and playing a few passes round midfield and defense. A rarity yesterday, not because of mctominay but through tactical choice.

 

[JakeC]

Thought he was pretty good today in a pretty poor team performance. He was disciplined did alot of good dirty work really helped to shield the back four. And gave us some much needed physicality and aggression in the middle of the park.

The reason we never really got any control was because we decided to spend most of the day hitting long to Rashford Sancho and Elanga all of which have very limited aerial or hold up ability. Meaning mostly we were just handing possesion back to Southampton and at no point did we then push up to squeeze the space and press Southampton to try and force control. Both of which have got far more to do with our GK than anyone else.

Without his physicality and fight today we would of lost no doubt.

Excellent post

 

[Dve]

Yep sheer arrogance by some of his lovers. Those people actually just deserve this brand of football. Luckily for us he will be shifted at least out of the starting 11 now..

Yeah, he looked good on the eye, so sure there must be some stats that can be dug out to dismiss what seemed like a good game. I mean, just for the sake of it.

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

The likes of O'Shea, Brown, Fletcher and Park would have been nailed on starters for most teams in the league. Probably Lingard too, to an extent. That should be the standard for a Man United squad player. Scott wouldn't start for most teams in this league as I see it. He's closer in terms of ability to Cleverley or Gibson.

He did alright yesterday though.

 

[OrcaFat]

He was good today. He did so his usual trick of failing to make himself available a few times but people slating his performance because he "wasn't progressive enough" are failing to account for the fact that progression was not his job.

He was in the side to break up Southampton's play, offer further protection from the long ball and help the centre backs deal with the physical presence offered by Southampton's forward line. By and large, he did this well.

I'm no massive fan of McTominay but it's getting tiring seeing him lambasted just for the sake of it.

He was okay at times and very much not okay at others.

ETH can only pick from what he has available and set up the players as best he can. In that context I can see why McT was picked. I don’t think he has a future here but until we have better options, he will get games.

 

[Ayrlad39]

I'm Scottish and no great fan of McTominay in the national side but some of the comments on here are quite embarrassing, he's now played for 4 different managers who all see him as a starter in the team so he must be doing something right

 

[nau05194]

He wont be here come the end of the window.

The time to speak from now on is to moan if he is again in the lineup on match day, or on September 2nd if he is still a Manchester United player, which I am not confident he will be.

Maybe I'll be caught out tomorrow, but it appears safe to say there is next to no chance that Scott McTominay is going anywhere this window. Fair play to him, he's started the season well and takes an unfair amount of stick in my opinion so happy for him.

 

[El__Jingo]

Maybe I'll be caught out tomorrow, but it appears safe to say there is next to no chance that Scott McTominay is going anywhere this window. Fair play to him, he's started the season well and takes an unfair amount of stick in my opinion so happy for him.

Started the season well ? he' s played 4 games an been booked 3 times, easily couldve been sent off in a couple of them games, was lucky to not give away a penalty for a handball an has made mistakes that have led to goals, and in his so call best game of the season he completed 22 passes in 90 minutes, if thats what you call starting the season well then thankfully most of the united fan base expect better from a Manchester United midfielder.

he was never going to get sold unfortunately.. thankfully with the signing of Casemiro his minutes will decrease in the bigger games and hell no doubt just play apart in the cup games which to be fair i wouldve much rather seen minutes given to Garner ( although hes now gone ) Iqbal/Savage and even Mainoo looks very promising.

Ive no doubt after 2-3 more transfer windows ETH will have brought in a few quality CM's and his days are thankfully coming to an end.

On the unfair criticism comment no fan would ever want to see a player not succeed for the club, He's had more opportunities than anyone for the last few years and its really no surprise its come at the cost of our midfield being over ran by nearly every team we come up against.

If miracles do happen united will sign De Jong tomorrow, our midfield then would be the best in the league and the dark days of Mcfred will be long gone.

 

[AusRed]

How does this guy keep getting so many chances and keep being so, so average

 

[CarbonStoolBites]

Bossed it, haters are quiet.

 

[Amar__]

At least he's improved defensively. I think he's won more balls tonight in the first half than he does on average in ten games.

Pointless when we are in posession though.

 

[evil_geko]

You can joke and meme about him all you want, but he was really good last three games.

 

[elmo]

Played well today but that counter at the end with Casimero releasing the ball to Bruno just shows the difference in class between him and Scott.

 

[Adam-Utd]

his best performance for a long time.

tidy with the ball, made some vital tackles and broke up play.

 

[Lu Tze]

Really good performance.

 

[Roux]

Best player on the pitch along with Varane!

 

[VivaObertan]

He and Bruno were immense today!