Before I begin, I would just like to state that the fact that Issue 82 happens to be about a match between Manchester United and Arsenal is a complete coincidence. I did not plan for this to happen; the schedule just worked out that way.
In a Premier League match which will likely go on to have major implications towards the chase for a top-four league spot this season and thus a place in next season's Champions League, Manchester United and Arsenal played to a 1-1 draw. It was something of a war of attrition - a back-and-forth, scrappy encounter. Scott McTominay scored a spectacular goal to put United in the lead heading into halftime, but a VAR-assisted goal scored by Arsenal's Gabonese superstar Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang earned the Gunners a share of the points.
Before the match, if you had asked most people who would be man of the match, names such as Aubameyang, Paul Pogba, David de Gea, or Granit Xhaka might have been mentioned. Not many, however, would have seen the dominant performance of McTominay coming.
Playing in just the 38th league match of his young career, the Scotsman who is in his first season as a starter for the Red Devils put on a clinic in central midfield. Not only did McTominay score a highlight-reel goal, but he also refused to back off from any tackles, had his passing on point throughout the match, and completely outplayed Arsenal captain Xhaka, who was his opposing matchup. Although he had only been a benchwarmer throughout his career prior to this season, he certainly didn't play like one against the North Londoners.
Ever since Pogba returned to Old Trafford in 2016, he has clearly established himself as arguably the best player on the team (some may claim that United's best player is de Gea, but Pogba does have a case himself). However, United's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation requires that they field two in the middle; usually one defensive midfielder and one central midfielder. Although Pogba is able to play at either the #6 or #8 position, the Frenchman is clearly more suited to the deeper role, as is implied by his jersey number. Thus, United have been searching for a suitable midfield partner whose game is a suitable complement to Pogba's, but to no avail until perhaps now.
Although Nemanja Matić and Ander Herrera are certainly capable players, one issue faced by United lay in the fact that both were more natural defensive midfielders than central ones. Thus, their skillsets often overlapped with Pogba's in certain ways, leading to redundancy in certain areas and weaknesses in others. Marouane Fellaini, meanwhile, was never really able to adapt to United's style of play and ended his troubled five-and-a-half years in Manchester in January 2019 when he left for Shandong Luneng.
From what McTominay showed during the match against the Gunners, it may be the case that he does indeed have what it takes to establish himself as a regular starter for both now and in years to come. He has already taken over Matić's role as a starter. This is a positive sign for United because McTominay is still just 22, while Matić is 31 and is now heading towards the back end of his career.
Manchester United have always had a history of solid British central midfielders from Bryan Robson to Paul Ince to Paul Scholes to Michael Carrick; McTominay may yet go on to be the next of this lineage. While none were truly great enough for a team to be built around them, all proved to be solid second or third options at their best. That is a level which I can foresee McTominay reaching if the rest of his career pans out ideally.
Of course, it's far too early to make any wild predictions about a player who, as I mentioned earlier, has only played 38 league matches in his career. His performance against Arsenal may not necessarily have been a genuine breakout match; it might just have been a one-off and nothing more.
However, that same performance clearly displayed the potential that McTominay has. It is certainly possible that United have found their starting central midfielder for the next five years or more.
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