How is Scott McTominay an attacking threat for Manchester United

Yet, barring Fernandes, the rest have misfired in their opening months for Manchester United due to a lack of form or injury, leading to the club being in the bottom half of the division for goals scored. However, during this bleak period, which the club is muddling through, a tall Scottish midfielder has proved to be a shining light, chipping in with crucial contributions for his struggling club.

Scott McTominay has already recorded more goals in the Premier League than he has ever achieved. As it stands, he is also the top goalscorer for Manchester United with five league goals. When contextualizing that McTominay plays as a defensive midfielder, fans may be bemused about how he has scored so many goals.

A simple but clear explanation for those in the know-how of tactical roles would be that Erik ten Hag deploys him as a box crasher. For those unaware of its meaning, we will dive a little deeper to understand the term. Positions can be misleading as they tend to confine player roles in a box when they would be performing completely different roles on the pitch. For example, strikers have different profiles that can suit specific systems while not fitting others. 

Gianluca Scamacca struggled to flourish in West Ham United colors last season despite a breakthrough campaign at Sassuolo in the prior year because he did not suit the tactical system. Michail Antonio provided his verdict on a podcast earlier this year that summarized the importance of tactical compatibility when discussing why the Italian talent did not succeed for the Claret and Blue.

Box crasher

Scamacca needs a manager who he can play with and have other players come off him, and stuff like that. You can see when the ball comes into him, it sticks, and he’s tidy. How David Moyes plays, it’s more like if you’re upfront, you’re dealing with scraps, and you’ve got to be more of a fighter, and that’s not him. Similarly, players of different positions have unique assets that managers should get the best of by tailoring the appropriate role for each player in the team.