Scotland manager Steve Clarke has allowed Manchester United star Scott McTominay to “flourish”, says former winger Pat Nevin.
The 27-year-old was key for his national side throughout the qualifying phase of the tournament. This summer, at Euro 2024, he will hope to be amongst the goals again.
McTominay was Scotland’s top scorer in the qualifiers with seven goals in eight games. If you exclude penalties, he was the top scorer in the qualifiers.
His influence was felt at United too. McTominay scored 10 goals after Erik ten Hag found him a new advanced role in the team. A lot of those goals came at important times.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast, former Scotland international Nevin said: “Manchester United have had McTominay in there for a long, long, long time and he seemed to be a water carrier.
“That’s what he was used as. Just a bog standard midfielder, sometimes sitting, and then Steve Clark goes, ‘no, actually you could be a eight or a 10 – you can move forward for us’.
“Making those sorts of changes has allowed players like McTominay to flourish, which he absolutely has.”
Former Everton and Scotland international James McFadden added: “Scott McTominay has played right centre-back, he has played as a defensive midfielder, he has played now as an attacking midfielder.
“Scott McTominay could play anywhere because of his attitude and his attributes.”
Germany vs Scotland – Euro 2024 opener
The European Championship kicks off tonight as hosts, Germany, take on Scotland.
The Scotland qualified for their second consecutive European Championship and will be looking to upset Germany in the first match of the tournament.
It remains to be seen if McTominay will start the game after missing the two warm-up matches due to recovering from injury.
Considering he hasn’t played in either friendly, it makes sense to give McTominay on for some minutes towards the end of this game to get him ready for Hungary/Switzerland.
But, if fit, he has to play.
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