Manchester United News: At Manchester United, Scott McTominay is starting to blossom under Erik ten Hag. The Scot has kept five-time Champions League champion Casemiro on the bench.
When Casemiro joined last month in a £60m transfer from Real Madrid, it initially seemed like bad news for McTominay. However, Ten Hag has played the Scotland international thus far, leaving Casemiro to watch from the sidelines.
McTominay has now started four straight games in midfield after playing the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Arsenal.
He formed a partnership with Christian Eriksen’s Summer Acquisition. The two were incredibly strong when United ended the Gunners’ winning run at Old Trafford. United have won all those games.
Manchester United News: What did Erik Ten Hag say?
Ten Hag provided a succinct response when asked about Casemiro’s exclusion on Sunday. “He has to adapt to the team because he is new,” he told Sky Sports. It needs to adapt to my way of playing football. Also, Scott McTominay is performing quite well.”
The 25-year-old completed all of his 26 passes in the win over Mikel Arteta’s side. He also won three aerial duels, making three clearances, winning two innings, finishing a dribble, blocking a shot and making an interception.
He was the workhorse of United’s midfield, allowing Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes, who were more attack-minded, to stand out ahead of him.
What did McClaren say?
Before joining the Ten Hag coaching team, United assistant manager Steve McClaren succinctly described what McTominay brings to the table. He stated in January that “you put it on the field and it complies.”
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He plays for Manchester United seven or eight times out of ten every week. That characterizes a Manchester United player. He interrupts the game, he is box to box, he is energetic, he has a positive attitude, he can handle the ball, he enters the area and he can score goals; He is doing fine.
Will Casemiro start in his first game in Europe?
Casemiro arrived here with a solid reputation that he had built with Real Madrid. However, he will have to wait for now. After a rocky start in which United were beaten by Brentford and Brighton, the club appear to have found their rhythm.
Matches will be played frequently from now on, so it is certain that Casemiro will receive more playing time than the 10 minutes he received on Sunday as Rashford’s replacement.
He will likely start against Real Sociedad in United’s Europa League match on Thursday before a quick switch to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
