Journalist Alex Crook has urged Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag to hand Scott McTominay a more prominent role in the first team after his man-of-the-match performance on Saturday.
The Scotland international has found regular playing time hard to come by this season – starting just two out of his six appearances across all competitions.
McTominay is below Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Sofyan Amrabat, Mason Mount and fellow academy graduate Hannibal Mejbri in the pecking order.
However, he handed Ten Hag a major selection headache after bagging a late brace to rescue the Red Devils from the jaws of defeat in the 2-1 victory over Brentford.
“I think he [McTominay] gets a lot of stick from Man United fans,” Crook said on talkSPORT.
“I think he’s a very intelligent footballer when he’s played centre-half for Scotland as well to good effect. He’s all action and covers every blade of grass.
“He seems to understand what Man United as a football club is all about and I think there’s a few bigger-name players that could learn from that.
“Casemiro has been dreadful this season – he was taken off at half-time, and you’d expect him to be dropped for the next game.
“I’ve spoken about Marcus Rashford – his poor form, I’m not sure he justifies a place in the starting line-up.
“That’s not an ability issue when it comes to Rashford and Casemiro. For me, it’s an attitude issue, and maybe what McTominay lacks in ability, he makes up for in attitude.”
McTominay’s cameo performance has sent a strong message to Ten Hag, who was visibly relieved to see his side snatch a win at Old Trafford after losing the previous two Premier League home games in a row.
The 26-year-old has done enough to be rewarded with only his third Premier League start of the season when Man United travel to Sheffield United later this month.
While it remains to be seen if Ten Hag will oblige or stick with his trusted players, McTominay will hope to extend his goalscoring form on the international scene with Scotland travelling to Spain this week.
