Manchester United drags the prop they wanted to get rid of
Grigory Telingater December 8, 2023, 08:30 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Scott McTominay’s statistics are impressive for both club and country.
In May 2023, news emerged about who Manchester United was planning to release in the summer. The list included the expected people: goalkeeper Dean Henderson, defenders Eric Bailly, Harry Maguire, Alex Telles and Brendon Williams, midfielders Donny van de Beek and Scott McTominay and forwards Anthony Elanga and Anthony Martial. The same players who received little playing time.
How funny it is to read this news again now that Maguire is recognized as the best footballer of the month in the Premier League and McTominay literally drags the team to the top 4. 15 rounds is a segment in which it is already possible to find some patterns. And if the top scorer (with five goals) is a Scot, this draws special attention. If only because he is a defensive midfielder. Players in this role, of course, enter another’s box, but, in general, goals are not their main job. It was even more surprising to see what happened in the last meeting.
McTominay scored both goals against Chelsea, but he could have easily scored four or five goals. He had seven shots (five on goal). One of the moments turned out to be absolutely killer. In the 32nd minute, after a cross from the left wing, the midfielder found himself right in front of the goal and, without resistance, hit first with his head and then with his foot; On both occasions he was stopped by Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sánchez.
SCREEN (discarded)
“I always enjoy going into someone else’s penalty area,” McTominay said with a smile after the game.
The match with Chelsea was powerful, but perhaps the victory over Brentford was achieved in an even more epic way. Scott entered the field in the 87th minute, when the score was 1:0 in favor of the opponents. In added time, McTominay scored two goals: in minutes 90+3 and 90+7.
And here it is important to understand that so many minutes the midfielder received largely by chance. Casemiro was the first option for the position, but something has been happening to him in recent months. At first, Erik ten Hag took him off the field because he literally wanted “there to be more football.” Then the Brazilian was injured in the national team and shortly after another injury in the League Cup.
Brazilian Casemiro suffered injuries
Photo: Lewis Storey/Getty Images
Amazing things are happening with Manchester United’s midfield. Before the start of the season there was debate about who would play with Bruno Fernandes in midfield: Casemiro and Mount or Casemiro and Eriksen. As a result, in the last match we saw McTominay and Sofyan Amrabat in the starting eleven. Before, for two rounds in a row, Kobby Mainu, 18, came out on top from the first minutes.
And in all this maelstrom of midfielders, McTominay began to show a level of football that he had not shown before. In terms of tackles and interceptions, he is second only to Diogo Dalo and Fernandes. Although when it comes to wrestling, other statistics are more surprising. In terms of the number of fouls committed, Scott is second only to Brun at Manchester United, but the Scot has not had a single yellow or red card this season in the Premier League.
Another Manchester team is experiencing abnormal results
Emery eliminated Manchester City! His team naturally mocked the champion.
By the way, about Scotland. As you may have noticed, the national team of this country was one of the first to qualify for Euro 2024. In the qualifying group they managed to overcome both Georgia with Khvicha and Norway with Haaland and Odegaard. I think you now understand who played a key role in the success of the Scottish team. McTominay has seven goals in eight games! In any case, Scott plays in the national team’s midfield, not in attack.
It seems that Bayern knew something when they tried to buy the defensive midfielder from Manchester United last summer.
