Erik ten Hag addresses Scott McTominay’s reduced playing time despite goalscoring heroics – Man United News And Transfer News

1

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has finally addressed Scott McTominay’s reduced playing time even as the midfielder continues to come up with the goods in front of goal.

McTominay is currently enjoying the most productive season of his club career so far and already has eight goals to his name.

His most recent contribution was a valuable winning goal against Aston Villa that sealed the win for United and secured all three points at Villa Park.

The Scotland international has registered a goal involvement in each of his last three appearances – a goal vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers, an assist for Alejandro Garnacho’s second strike vs. West Ham and of course his winning goal vs. Unai Emery’s men.

Despite this, McTominay has seen his minutes drastically reduced, mostly due to Kobbie Mainoo’s emergence and Casemiro’s return from injury.

As a pair, Casemiro and Mainoo have a perfect record and are yet to lose a game.

McTominay talked about this after the Villa game and said his main priority is on improving the team and making a difference when called upon.

Speaking to club media, Ten Hag also weighed in on the situation. The United boss explained, “I think, for every game, he’s a consideration and he’s doing it across the whole season. He’s performing very good. He scored so many goals, but not only scoring so many goals, he’s giving, also in other areas, the team a lot. Yeah, and also for Sunday, he’s a consideration.”

“We have to look at ourselves and we have to catch up. We know that [there are teams above us who need to drop points] and so we are dependent on them. But there are many games to play. But we have to win every game. So, every game, for us, is a final.”

He added that it’s important for everyone to remain focused and aim to hit the right performance levels.

Ten Hag declared his admiration for Luton Town and the job done by Rob Edwards so far after promotion to the Premier League.

The United manager insisted that Kenilworth Road is not an easy place to go to and has its own fair share of challenges that he and his players must be alive to.

“[It will be] very different. And we have to go from game to game, every game is, for us, a cup final. And definitely this is a big test for us, a big test of character. And now we have to prove ourselves on Sunday there because it’s a very good team across the whole season, but especially lately, they are improving their standards. They are improving their performances.”

Ten Hag further stated, “They are getting good results in, so we have to play our best, but we are capable of it. That is what we have proven the last couple of weeks, where we show good levels.”

The Dutchman pointed out that the Red Devils need to look at themselves and take confidence from their previous wins.

Finally, he urged the players to put up a good performance and show evident signs of improvement.