Erik ten Hag might not value the midfielder's technical skills, but his passion, work-rate and mentality can help dig the Red Devils out of their hole
After completing one of the most frantic comebacks in Manchester United's history against Brentford last Saturday, Scott McTominay decided to pay tribute to the club's soul.“I can't describe how I felt about the second goal. I was watching David Beckham's documentary last night and you see the history and the people behind the club," said the unlikely match-winner after scoring in the 92nd and 96th minutes.
"That's what the lads do it for, Kath on reception, the kit men, everyone, it's so important we all come together and we do it for the people. I'm a fan myself, so I want to do well."
It was touching if slightly bizarre thing to say after turning a potentially disastrous defeat into a victory. But it also served as a reminder of the importance of having homegrown players who understand the club's values and will adhere to them.
After all, the best United teams in the modern era have had a healthy mix of world-class stars imported from elsewhere who could make the difference and homegrown players who could always be relied on to give everything when putting on a red shirt.
McTominay belongs to the latter half, and his heroic cameo against Brentford is not the only reason United need to value him more.
Getty Images EntertainmentA steady stream of youth-team players
The treble-winning United team that Beckham was part of and inspired McTominay had six players who came through the club's academy, otherwise known as 'The Class of '92'. Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes were super-talented and would have walked into most other top teams of the era. The other three – Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville – stood out more for their commitment and mentality than their God-given skills. And they were just as important to that team's success.
Giggs, Scholes and Gary Neville were still around when United next won the Champions League in 2008 and they were backed up by fellow academy graduates Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea and Wes Brown.
Sir Alex Ferguson's last squad, meanwhile, contained Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes (albeit past their best by that time), plus Jonny Evans, Tom Cleverley and Danny Welbeck.
AdvertisementGettyAcademy's influence fades when Ferguson leaves
Although United continue to have homegrown players in their first-team squad and boast the remarkable statistic of having had one on the pitch or on the bench for every game since 1937, the influence of the academy has slowly faded since Ferguson's departure.
Louis van Gaal got rid of Evans and Welbeck, against his better wisdom, and his team was left without much of a connection with the club's roots, until Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford emerged in his second season. That might go some way to explaining how his side moved the ball so slowly from side to side and lacked the dynamism of United teams from the past.
Lingard's career path shows that not all academy players turn out to be the characters the club hoped they would be, as do, for very different reasons, Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood. But McTominay has always had an exemplary attitude and is the type of homegrown player United need to keep hold of.
Getty Loved by Mourinho
Jose Mourinho was not a man who cared too much about blooding academy players, but he greatly admired McTominay, promoting him from the youth team to the first team in May 2017.
After a smattering of appearances in less high-profile games, Mourinho threw the youngster in at the deep end, starting him away to Sevilla in a Champions League last-16 first leg in February 2018 in place of Pogba.
Mourinho liked McTominay so much that he decided to give him an impromptu prize at the club's Player of the Season awards ceremony later that year, handing the midfielder a fancy candlestick holder and dubbing it 'the Jose Mourinho award'.
After surprisingly fielding McTominay in defence in a defeat at West Ham the following season – which proved to be Mourinho's last – the coach singled out McTominay's character after receiving criticism for picking him.
“He’s a special character, a special personality that a team in a negative moment needs," Mourinho said. “Do my other players have that mentality? Not all of them. Everybody is a different person. Scott McTominay is a kid with a special character, very humble, aggressive in a positive way, brave, he’s a special kid."
McTominay has hailed Mourinho's influence on his career. He said in 2019: "He'll always have a special place in mine and my family's heart because he's the one who brought you in, he was the one who trusted you, he was the one who had belief in you."
GettyValued by Solskjaer, overlooked by Ten Hag
Mourinho's successor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, also rated McTominay highly. He described him as "a monster of a human being" and made him his first-choice central midfielder along with Fred.
The 'McFred' partnership was widely derided, but it should not be forgotten that the Scotland and Brazilian internationals' midfield axis helped United finished in the top three for two seasons on the trot, the only time that has happened since Ferguson retired.
Ten Hag, however, came to United with different ideas about how he wanted the team to play, imagining a team much more comfortable in possession and able to move the ball around more freely than under his predecessors.
McTominay, it appeared, did not meet the standard he expected from his midfielders. Since the Dutchman took charge of United, McTominay has made just 16 starts in all competitions. Casemiro, by contrast, has started 54 games and would have started even more had he not been suspended for eight matches.