Why Scott McTominay Is NOT A Midfielder 

How can you not have mentioned his scotland form!

I think Holjund deserves a shout out as well. He occupies the opposition defenders so much that they rarely see mc tominay make those runs

I think Ten Hag is already using Scott in his best position. Antony's work rate is essential to how United press, replacing him with Bruno is something Ten Hag has already tried but didn't work. Bruno in 10 maximizes his output and the productivity of the team. Having Both Scott and Bruno attack the half space in the final third is the best use of both players where Fernandes and Scott would rotate who tracks back. After a rough injury filled start to the season, Ten Hag has adapted the team appropriately.

Dude it is so sad to see how our team is practically unchanged from 2020

You should have a chat with Steve Clarke because we (Scotland) have been playing him at attacking mid for a year and his goal scoring started with us. He's got 7 in our qualifying group and is one of the big reasons we're in Germany this year (where he will, of course, raise the trophy as the golden boot winner.) He had always frustrated a bit for us. At one point we were playing him in defence. Then, as Stevie did with John McGinn before Villa, btw, the manager started playing him as one of our 2 behind the striker (those two being our designated goal scorers really, as our strikers are not that great) and he's never looked back. Mad that so many Utd managers have failed to see this. Good to see Ten Hag has been picking up tips from us ;) Also, pretty sure he did play as a striker when he was a kid.

The real issue is that McTominay doesn't really do much else than score 5 - 10 goals a season! If he doesn't have that space to run into, or if he has to play deeper, then he gets lost in the midfield/ his passing isn't anywhere near good enough/ he struggles to track runners and tackle and going forward he can't penetrate a low block! United would be better with a player like Ward-Prowse in their midfield that can offer a bit of everything as well as a speciality, not just the speciality!

McTominay is a squad player that can be used when need, but still improvement to be met to contribute more to the team!

Still maintain he's limited. Poor defensively, doesn't help in the buildup and not a good carrier of the ball. We should rather sign someone that has what he lacks and also does the box crashing thing well. Someone like Adrien Rabiot does that well. Good carrier of the ball, good defensively and also much involved in the buildup. Now makes sense why Ten Hag went for him last summer.

When he said "I dont care if you didnt play there in the academy, I want you playing as striker"... i immediately started doubting if this guy has enough football knowledge to be making videos for FourFourTwo. Scot was actually a ST and CAM at academy level until he hit his growth spurt. Do your research before you press "record" next time smh

I think Ten hags idea is to have Bruno as the 10 but kind of having a free role because I see him putting in crosses from the left. When united is in a position for a cross or a cut back, McTominay can arrive late with players like Anthony stretching the defense and giving him space to make his brilliant runs. Scott might not be the best at the defensive bits but he can support the structure of the press and put in a shift next to an Amrabat or a Casemiro.

I think something that prevents him from ever being used as a striker is his athleticism, I think managers/coaches think his fitness and athleticism works better in a central midfield role. (not saying i agree). The old Engine room.

Should be used as a last 10 minutes impact sub. No midfield with him is really functional

Ten Hag should have done the same as Madrid are doing with Belhingham

McTominay. The new Fellaini?

🤔🤔 midfielders who can finish aren’t midfielders now? But he doesn’t man their pivot. United’s pivot is run by whomever is alongside of him, and occasionally Bruno drops deep for a double pivot to relieve pressure. Sometimes he’s further up the pitch than Bruno. What makes him effective is his runs from deep into space and favorable positions, because he’ll often go unnoticed by defenders. If you put him at the 10, you lose not only what Bruno gives you at that position, but also Bruno’s ability to drop to the double pivot and playmake. So you lose a Swiss Army knife at the 10 and you lose what mctominay gives you as the 8. He’s perfectly fine where he is

Love listening to you dude

Here we go again. Every time McT gets a couple of goals, the media goes crazy with their sensationalising trying to dress him up as a "striker". No he isn't, being the lone striker would require him to lead the line and play with his back to the goal - half the goals he scored where from late arrivals into the box, exploiting the space that an actual striker has already vacated by pulling centre backs with him. McT is still a limited player, very average carrier and passing range, great engine but not very defensively aware, poor at receiving and playing out from the back. Even if you play him further up as a second striker, he doesn't have it in his locker to play penetrating passes in the front three.

Yes, he's a Cavani type of striker, and Felaini type of midfielder, basically a CF, not really a ST, and i was saying that he should play CF for like 3 years already LOLs xD I think the lack of a good CM/DM didn't allow that till lately, and now with 2 pure DMs and a that young DM guy forgot his name, he can play more like a CF now.

Adam I like your videos 🤝

Never use Fernandez in the right, when he has he has been abysmal, Anthony has been playing well defensively

0:19 Odegaard in shambles

I don't think he is good enough for us but the rest of the team is so lazy and despondent that mid table players look good for us.

Before this season i would have expected a why Scott McTominay is a Championship player. He has proved me very wrong.

Nice video, but messed it up saying we should sacrifice our most important player by playing him out of position for mctominay

He's in the top 1% as the best goalscoring midfielder in Europe since 2022 in terms of minutes per xG ... He's worth far more as a stand-in false 9 and a support striker to us than he is a midfielder. Which is just crazy to say. He's a better Weghorst lol.

dont think bruno should go to the RW but i do think that McTominay should become a Shadow striker. my "FIX" is get rid of Antony and move over to a 4-4-2 position with McTominay a couple of meters behinde Højlund and a good right/central midfilder that dalo can play with intead of Antony

Utd have got a tough december - they need him 2 keep doing what he's been doing

We should play a 3-2-4-1 formation

the leeds game was also when i started catching on

I'd even say simply swap Martial out for McTominay and have a choice between Højlund and McTominay as the striker based on fitness/form and then play a midfield of Casemiro/Amrabat, Mainoo, and Bruno.

Closed the video the moment you suggested having Bruno on the right.

Problem is when Scott’s doing this stuff, we lose a man in the midfield and you see teams run through us there

Not a midfielder but possibly utds new fellani, when all else fails throw him on pray for the best

We all know the Owners haven't been good for the club but they've given the fans money to previous managers, EtH has wasted over £150-200M already on signings, that cost at least 3-5 players short from where we should be so EtH has to take the blame for that but there's room for improvement with the addition of SJR by offloading Arnold & Murtough who has overstayed their welcome already is a sign to send us in right direction! EtH is talking Rubbish when it concerns the January's transfer window cos we want at least 5 players 2CD, 2CM & 10 and release 5 players e.g. Dalot, Maguire, Lindelof, Willams, Bruno, Mount, VDB, Antony & Sancho. WanBa Not for Sale!

I don't get it. Is there some new rule that states that your 8 can't run from deep for consistent finishing attempts? Why must this guy be played as a striker where he'll probably be nullified? You already have a world-class 10 that can do everything, and a striker that's adept at creating spaces for rampaging midfielders (it's from this position that Scott will continue to score). The only pick that requires a lot of thought is THE OTHER guy. The 6. Who will need absolutely IMPECCABLE awareness and positioning.

McTominay as a nr 10 would be limited and predictable. He's probably going to score now and then, because the opponent can't track him all the time, but you can't dominate games like a top team should, and United isn't the Scottish national team where they take what they can get(maybe it is atm lol). I'm curious about how he would work as a striker. Hojlund and Martial need fast counter-attacks or a more flexible attack with a lot of movement(that we don't have now), but McTominay can be a scrappy striker with a jack-in-the-box role, and he would put in the work in the pressing.

united should go 4-2-2-1-1 with a box in midfield and scott and hoilund up front!!! bruno should be given a free role to drift out when needed on the right and garnacho preferably wide with him in the two.... in possession united should go for a back 3 with onana sweeping and dalot pushing up when bruno is not wide and dalot inverting into mid when bruno is going wide... this gives one of our pivot in the two to push further up when the ball is in final third and create a serious overload in the box!! while we will be less vulnerable to counter because of the back three and the pivots... something tells me... this is the solution to manchester united's problems.

Also McTominay DID play as a striker in the acadamy

By United do you mean Cambridge, Oxford, Peterborough…

4141, next to bruno with freedom to move to cf

Ten genius. Using McTom as prolapsed 6 😢

Dude was literally a striker in the academy and u19 league

Well hes CDM/CM and on the bench

There is one player that would be the easiest to make a direct comparison to here. It would be Thomas Muller. Another example would be Dele Alli who was more technically gifted in his peak. But Scott shows the same instinctive understanding of space in the box using the main striker as the decoy. He needs to be closer to goal as he is not helpful in build up. There is a 15-20 premier league goal player in him when he is given the freedom.

bruno from the right doesn't perform. what about a 3-2-4-1 with three defenders, amrabat and mainoo, garnacho bruno mcsauce and antony, and hojlund as the striker

McTom has the instincts of a very good number 10 but not the technique. He's not terrible but he's not the most agile or skillful. Why he's an important player for Utd is really down to other weaknesses in the squad and how to makes us play. Utd have a real problem getting crosses into the advanced positions in the box where Hojlund is. They lack the accuracy and such balls don't work well with inverted wingers unless the wingers have the intelligence and skill to place a ball on a striker's head from the edge of the box so they can glance it into the net. Does that sound like Rashford or Antony? Hojlund seems to be pushed up into the role of combative big man mixing it up with the last CB and GK which leaves a space right behind him for a number 10 to get into the box centrally and shoot. McTom has stepped into the breach. Bruno is often behind him for such runs (Bruno is playing as an 8) and literally nobody else in the squad is seeking to exploit these spaces. You would think our actual no. 10 might have such intuition but Rashford doesn't see those opportunities. So McTom moves into a space vacated by Hojlund (and I don't think Hojlund wants to be a lone striker) and unappreciated by other Utd attackers. He becomes a kind of cut price Bellingham who can also play between midfield and supporting striker roles. It's McTom's opportunity but also Utd's loss for 2 reasons. 1) it shows how poor the movement of other Utd attackers is when they don't see the opportunity for the runs McTom is making. Too often they are static in positions where it is near impossible to find them. 2) McTom can be good in that role due to his intuition but he will never be great as he lacks the technique. But he's what we have now.

Don't get me wrong u missed the main reason why Mctominay scores.

I am here for the timeline that Maguire and McTominay are the best players at United.

He reminds me of Daren Fletcher

You could play scott in the bruñò roĺe

Fellaini Mk.II

He’s not a striker! He keeps using the runs of The Strikers! Like the Header he could’ve scored and his second goal. Hojlund was the reason Silva isn’t tight on him. He’s a Am or SS. Box crasher. And Definitely don’t move bruno to the right! We’ve seen it times after times Bruno on the right doesn’t make sense. We don’t have the full back to cover. A rb like Frimpong would’ve been great because his attacking game would make him look like a winger when Bruno push into the midfield.

Where’s the usual guy?

Doucoure roll 4411?

Antony is €100 million

MccTKane

Oh, you watch TIFO football too? Cool.

What is clear is that Hojlund and Scott occupy the same space. I think Scott could be a decent backup for the striker position. Definitely something Ten Hag has too think about because Scott is not good enough defensively

McT should be played number 10, but only in a diamond since hes not the most creative being supported by 2 8s like bruno/mount/mainoo for exmample, who are more creative could make up for it and he can focus on getting into scoring positions to end moves.

MCSAUUUUUUCE

I think it was Ole who said it once in an interview that Scott played as a striker when he was younger

442 with Hojlund and McT up top

Lol the way British players are hyped , its crazy 😂😂😂

He seems to score goals in quick concession often! Stick him as no.9 can't be worse than martial or 0 goals Hojlund

He’s not a midfielder. He’s saving ETH from the sack!

I don't believe you 1 bit. You deffo didn't notice this 2 years ago against Leeds. I might be sceptical but I've got a feeling this has been written about or at a massive stretch someone on your team has tapped you on the soldier and said (ay lad, I watched mc'tominay run thru tut Leeds back line 2 years ago and after him scoring yesterday I've got a great idea for a top notch right good vid my little pre-pubescent boy

McTominay has a lot in common with Haaland. Height, strength, the aggression, and they’re both not gifted on the ball. Yes McTominay is a shit midfielder as Haaland would have been if he was played in midfield. The only thing Haaland has that McTominay doesn’t is finishing, but that’s because he’s played as a midfielder all his life, a waste of time. But He’s getting goals now, his finishing is becoming sharper n sharper. I think he should be added to the strikers. He’ll do better than Weghost doing Weghost’s job.