Manchester United news: I need to score more goals, says Scott McTominay

Scott McTominay’s development in Manchester United’s first team over the last couple of seasons has been steady. The midfielder has been growing from strength to strength with every passing week. Be it in a double pivot or as a lone holding midfielder, the 25-year-old has often done the job expected of him in the middle of the park. McTominay has stepped up to the level required to feature as the ‘no.6’ in Ralf Rangnick’s 4-3-3 formation in recent weeks. He has anchored the midfield with the utmost professionalism and has also fed the ball forward multiple times to the front three. Over the last couple of seasons, he has been deployed as one of two holding players in the 4-2-3-1 system during former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure.

However, McTominay stated that he is just enjoying playing football for Manchester United and Scotland irrespective of the position he has been asked to play. “Reasonably simply, to be fair,” he answered, when asked how he and his team-mates had adapted to their new roles and system. “It wasn’t like it was anything any of us hadn’t done before.

“He’s not asking us to play completely out of position or do different things that we’re not used to on the football pitch. A lot of it is the basics and the core values of football, which is what his [Ralf’s] principles are as a manager,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s website.

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Scott McTominay on positional difference

There were times, McTominay has played on the right of a three-man defence for Scotland. Speaking about the difference between playing as a midfielder for Manchester United to a defender for Steve Clarke’s side, he said, “Yeah, it’s very, very similar. Whenever you play as a two for Man United you drop out to either side of the centre-backs to get the ball.”

“That’s just like playing right side of a three for Scotland, so you’re there already. There are so many similarities in terms of where you’re picking the ball up and where you can drive with the ball and really commit players, driving into the final third and playing your passes and scoring goals and creating assists.

“For me, I just enjoy football every day. That’s part and parcel of my life, I don’t do anything different to whenever I was a kid: I just play football. All these different formations and tactics, it’s still about enjoying it and smiling as well.”

McTominay has a habit of running in the box late to score important goals. He produced a lethal strike against Burnley and a header to beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup. “For me, definitely I need to score more goals. I need to be the guy who can score from set pieces and score with my head. That’s something I definitely look at,” he added.

“Last year I scored seven goals so obviously I want to beat that this year and I want to keep pushing forwards into the box. As I say, different formations might not allow you to get into the box but still being a threat and playing the passes to help the forward boys, like against Middlesbrough, was important for me. As I say, we just want to keep getting better as a group.”