Can Scott McTominay change Manchester United and Erik ten Hag's fortunes?
Stick the big man up top.
- Published before Manchester United's 1-0 win over Copenhagen
As strange as it sounds, Scott McTominay is Erik ten Hag's catalyst for change, and he's been showing it in his past couple of appearances in the Premier League.
Following a match-winning brace late on against Brentford, McTominay started against Sheffield United and found the back of the net again.
In stark contrast to his previous role in the double pivot under old United bosses, Ten Hag has found a different way to get the best out of the Scot.
So, what's being done and can McTominay be the man to turn United's fortunes around?
Papering the cracks
It's no secret that McTominay's value in possession as a true midfielder is, limited, to put it kindly.
The 26-year-old came through the United academy playing further forward as a striker, so it does make a lot of sense that he shows his best work when allowed to occupy those areas.
That's happened against Brentford when he came off the bench, followed then by a start against Paul Heckingbottom's Blades.
What is interesting to note from this game is how Ten Hag adjusted to using McTominay exclusively in forward areas in possession phases. Bruno Fernandes dropped deeper to support Sofyan Amrabat, which caused its own problems.
Back to McTominay, he and Rasmus Hojlund were both taken off around the hour mark, and interestingly enough, both had 17 touches each.
The Scotland international pushing forward meant that someone had to drop and inevitably it was the selfless captain Fernandes, who dropped deep often to receive the ball to feet and find passes into forward areas.
McTominay's engine and ability to cover ground means that he can be trusted to be a handful for opposition defenders, but once on the ball, he is a lot more effective with minimal responsibility to create. Rather, he needs to be the one of the ends of passes.
Is it sustainable?
He's been finding himself in excellent positions in the box, to be that extra presence to take full advantage of well-placed crosses or even loose touches or rebounds.
During a spell where Ten Hag's attackers have struggled to impose themselves, McTominay has directly contributed to victories. There is value in being that role player who can step up and bring a chaos element and he is very much that player.
That being said, this is far from sustainable and Ten Hag should revert to Casemiro once the Brazilian is available for selection.
He got taken off at half-time against Brentford, a decision Ten Hag reasoned by saying, "I wanted more football."
"One who brings passing, distribution, link-up play. So, I thought bring [on] Christian Eriksen for Case."
Casemiro has clearly struggled to match up to the Dutchman's change in approach to pressing and United's results are suffering for it.
A deeper role for Fernandes, who's risky-passing tendencies create avoidable problems for Ten Hag, isn't the answer, with the Portuguese lacking the composure to be a reliable presence.
It would be interesting to see whether Ten Hag still persists with this system where Amrabat becomes the primary defensive midfielder and McTominay brings that additional box-crashing support for Hojlund.
For now though, expect Casemiro to return to the fray for the Manchester derby.
A good performance against Copenhagen in the Champions League might compel Ten Hag to make an immediate choice.
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