31 Oct 2020 12:06:54
Interesting reading what McTominay was saying after Rashford scored his second goal and our third against Leipzig on Wednesday.

"Here we go again, go again, let's go come on! " he told the rest of the United side. "We've got to be aggressive, twelve minutes left, let's go! "

23 years old and already showing real signs of leadership.

While over the past 7 years or so we have had squads of varying quality, players who sadly weren't good enough, and some who just joined for the pay check, we have had varying managers, some with great reputations others with lesser, some who are great tacticians and some who have been questionable, managers who were self serving and others who care about the club.

Yet what we have missed though out that entire time more than anything was leaders on the pitch. We could question the tactics and the quality of the players, yet every manager and every side had good and sometimes great performances.

However, where every side and manager has fallen down is they have been unable to get the results when the chips are down, when they needed leaders on the pitch to stand up and be counted, to lift and cajole their teammates, to find that extra 10%. We have too often been found wanting.

While Roy Keane was an excellent captain, he had what was arguably the easiest group of players to captain. Players like Schmeichel, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Stam, Rio, Vidic, Neville, Scholes, Butt, Beckham, Giggs, Sheringham, Solskjear, Rooney, RVN, Ronaldo, they were all leaders, capable of being captain in their own right.

While we also had players like Hughes, Cantona, Robson, Ince etc who were at the club before Keane.

In every great United side you look around and you see players who are leaders all over the pitch. Yet in the past 7 years the leadership vacuum in the first team has in my opinion been a huge contributing factor (maybe even the key factor) in our teams inconsistent performances and our inability to grind out the tough results.

In McTominay we are seeing the buds on a true leader, someone who knows what is required and can be seen lifting and pushing his teammates.

Bruno is another, as is our captain Maguire, Rashford looks like he might be a leader both on and off the pitch.

Suddenly we have a few players who are leaders on the pitch, some of them still young at 22/ 23.

If we are to continue to progress we need more characters with genuine leadership ability all over the pitch. Players who don't just take responsibility for their own performances, but for the teams as a whole.

1.) 31 Oct 2020
31 Oct 2020 13:55:52
I like mctom, he has continued to improve over the last 12 month.

2.) 31 Oct 2020
31 Oct 2020 14:05:53
He is underrated. His injury last season set him back. Prior to his injury he was one of our best players.

3.) 31 Oct 2020
31 Oct 2020 14:25:29
Cracking player. Will be a long term starter for us IMO.

4.) 31 Oct 2020
31 Oct 2020 23:10:02
Maguire is a leader how exactly? Agree there are some players being more vocal recently, De Gea stands out, he's shouting much more at the back, openly criticising when it's needed. But Maguire has done nothing to show leadership quality.

5.) 01 Nov 2020
01 Nov 2020 02:09:32
To be honest it doesn't surprise me.

You can tell the difference between the players that have come through the academy and those that havent.

The academy players play for the club, the rest play for the money.

6.) 01 Nov 2020
01 Nov 2020 10:14:37
Great attitude and always getting better Scotty Mac.

7.) 01 Nov 2020
01 Nov 2020 10:22:28
I've been saying this for a while: you're absolutely right. Ole's first task, after starting to remove the passengers in our squad, was replacing them not just with starters, but leaders. And suddenly there are several in the squad where there were none before. No manager was going to turn that dressing room around until that happened. We needed bigger characters than Pogba (I've heard that he's a model pro off the pitch and perhaps a role model, but he's not a leader, especially when the chips are down), and harder workers who lead by example on and off the pitch. And look at the difference it's making. I miss the days when 7 or 8 of our first 11 were national team captains. Hopefully we will get back there sooner rather than later.

8.) 01 Nov 2020
01 Nov 2020 12:58:35
Agree with the Mctominay comments. He has a real drive about how he plays and really shows his mettle. Physically and mentally very strong. Mr. Mourinho stated he was our best midfielder and I think he has the potential to be a future captain.
I think Rashford is a great player and an amazing human being. He has real empathy and humility and I just think he is brilliant. But I don't think being captain would quite fit him because of those qualities. I'm a bit old fashioned as well and I prefer a captain to be a midfielder or centre back.
Maguire puzzles me. I think there's a good player there somewhere but he strikes me as being introverted and a worrier. There's an air of panic about how he plays. I don't know whether it's a concentration thing or how he prepares himself or how he manages stress. He's not captain material in my opinion.