Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay is not “young Scott” anymore, but a true bonafide senior team member, says United Manager Jose Mourinho. He’s a regular for first team contention now, and should be considered as such.
“I didn’t realize that he was young Scott,” Mourinho said Wednesday night after the Lancaster product started United’s 1-0 win over Bournemouth. “For me he is not young Scott anymore – he is just Scott, a player from the first team squad.”
McTominay has stepped in at a time when United was feeling a full-on midfield crisis. Paul Pogba is in the midst of serving a three game suspension. Michael Carrick remains out of action due to a heart condition. Marouane Fellaini has an extremely injury-riddled 2017-18 season.
McTominay has impressed when called upon, says Mourinho.
“Scott played this season 90 minutes in three different competitions,” the Portugese added.
“He played against Swansea in the cup, tonight (against Bournemouth) and Benfica and for the three times he played 90 minutes – not 87, 89 or 85. Why? Because in every match he was playing really, really well.”
There has been at least one United academy product in every match day squad since October of 1937, a streak which stands in strong opposition to the narrative that United is a mercenary club.
On a somewhat related topic, Mourinho has often been slammed for having a reputation of ignoring homegrown talent and younger players. He persistently combats that narrative, with McTominay yet another example he can use as a talking point to strengthen his case.
Additionally, when the news broke that Angel Gomes signed his first pro deal yesterday, Mourinho took a lot of pride in having given the youngster his very first chance this past May, when his senior team appearance made him the youngest player to feature for the club since 1953, and the youngest player of the Premier League era.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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