Almost a year ago to this day, on February 11th of 2021, I wrote an article headlined Mctominay being the world’s most underrated player. I said, and I quote, “Mctominay has the potential to be and could even already be one of the world’s best.” Needless to say, this has not aged well. Mctominay has been ridiculed by fans for his lack of mobility, forward passes and passing range. Heck, he’s even become somewhat of a meme in recent times, being the second part of Mcfred. This prediction has surely got to go down as one of my worst ever in 2021… Or was it?
You see, in my blog post, I did not deny that Mctominay is a bad defensive player. I even went on to say that he was slow and ran past far too often in games. However, I stated that Scott Mctominay can dictate the midfield from a box to box role, which has proven to be true in the limited but impressive games where he was given a box to box role. Despite his many poor performances as the sole defensive midfielder, and in a defensive midfield 2 with Fred, he has shown against teams like Brentford that in a box to box role Mctominay flourishes.
So what’s next for Scott Mctominay? Well, the future looks bright under Ralf Ragnick, an attacking coach. However, so far we’ve seen Ragnick prefer to utilize Scott Mctominay as a defensive midfielder instead of a box to box role. The time for impact is now, and Scott Mctominay has to break into that box to box role, especially while Pogba is gone. If he can’t do that, he has to leave in the summer to showcase his true ability for someone new, perhaps as a Haidara replacement for Leipzig if he leaves for United. Don’t get too comfortable laughing now, because perhaps one day in 2025, Mctominay will be signed by Newcastle as their star midfielder, lifting league and champions league titles, and I will look like an absolute genius. And on that note, this is Jacob King, and I’ll see you at full time!