McTominay answers your fan questions!

The midfielder was as direct and thoughtful as ever with his answers, which included his views on the United captaincy, Luke Shaw's nickname for him, the team-mate whose music taste is "a shambles", and plenty of serious football revelations...

 

Read on to find out more...

 

“Yes, Lauren it’s so important that the advice you get from players like Pogba, Bruno, Marcus, myself, who have come up through the Academy. It’s so important that every little bit of info you get is taken on board. What I would say is keep working as hard as you possibly can, throughout your young career, and enjoy it. Play with a smile on your face and enjoy playing football. I still enjoy every single day coming to training. If I didn’t enjoy it, I probably wouldn’t do it. The main thing for me is to work hard and smile.”

 

“Er, yeah, that’s the first time someone has ever said and noticed me doing that, Hannah! No, it’s just to try to jump as high as I can to get ready, get the legs firing and get everything going. There is no superstition behind it. I just do it every game; it’s not out of superstition. It’s the same thing I do every time I get onto the pitch. I like to get warm and that’s part of my routine.”

“That’s a very bold statement, Chris. I really appreciate that but I don’t really look to stuff like that. In the future, you never know what players are coming in and out of the club and stuff like that. For me, I value my own, so to speak, feelings about the game of football and ways to approach games and prepare for games myself. If, one day, I can captain this great club, and I have already captained the team in the FA Cup to get a small taste of it, I would love that role.”

 

“Yeah, Tariq, I’d probably say that. I don’t know, as Luke Shaw always says ‘The Gym Man’ because I’m always in the gym. But he always walks in when I’m in the gym so that’s just a coincidence there. Other than that, Deano has got a few nicknames for me that are not really applicable and vice-versa for him. So, yeah, just Scotty. To be fair, all the coaches and all the players call me Scotty. Eric calls me McTerminator and he enjoys that one. He’s a top guy, Eric.”

 

“Animal? That is a good question. I would probably say this requires a little bit of thought. An obvious one people say is I’m like a lion but it’s the old cliche and such an easy one to pick. I would probably choose something a bit different. I’d probably say a killer whale. Whenever people think of the oceans, and the worst predators, they probably think great white sharks. It’s the ones who come a little bit later, a little bit more ferocious, because the great white sharks are not actually that dangerous. So whenever you get in the water with an orca, a killer whale, you know you could be in trouble.”

 

“Chanel, what do I think about that one? Which ’90s Premier League player? I would probably say, oh ’90s, there are too many to choose, so it’s difficult. I’m just trying to think but I would probably say not from Manchester United as that’s an obvious answer. Someone like Thierry Henry. He was amazing, whenever I used to watch him. He was class.”

“[Laughs] Ben, that is a good question. Who would I want to play me? Me. I’d be playing me. I’d be the actor. Maybe when I finish football, I might do a bit of acting.”

 

“Yeah, Matt, that is a really good question. You see more and more in football that the mental side of football is coming more into play. With social media going on and everything, you have to be thick-skinned. Not everybody is built to take such criticism. You see guys in our team – Harry had a lot of criticism at the start of the season with everything that happened in the summer. Something like that, it takes incredibly thick-skinned people. Paul Pogba had his fair share of criticism. It’s the way they reacted to it, these guys. It’s a shining example of how to deal with setbacks and not letting a small minority of people’s opinion affect your game. I’d definitely say, in the future, something has to be done about social media. It is a shambles, to be fair. For myself, I’m not really someone who goes on it and reads everything. But the young kids coming up can be sidetracked by it – they can believe they’re the best player in the world when they might not be that good when they’re growing up. So it’s a difficult one.”

 

“Yes, Vivek he’s really good. The majority of the stuff is for players in my position, the midfielders, and he helps me individually. He is always speaking to me, getting my opinion on different ideas and how he can improve me. I feel that, every time I do speak to him, his sole priority is to help me improve. It’s a real credit to see someone so genuinely interested in someone’s career and trying to help them.”

 

“Yeah, Joshua that is a good question because sometimes different games require different skillsets. Against Leeds, I could be more expansive and get into the box but different teams mean different set-ups and a different job for the team slightly. In the games against Burnley and Tottenham, I probably should have scored as well. It’s about keeping that tally up and keep pushing.”

 

“[Laughs] Seb, so [it was] outside spin with the inside of my foot. If you watch, the ball’s coming across me. Whenever you hit the ball underneath with your laces, you’re going to cut it. Like in golf, you play cut or draw. If the ball is coming across you this way, if you hit underneath, the ball will get sidespin going that way. Like a diagonal sidespin. Obviously, whenever you catch it cleanly! I did it that way with the ball spinning away from me, but it was close to being a slice. If you don’t connect with it well, it’s a slice.”

“Hi Emma, I would probably say, in comparison to mine, David. He likes heavy metal, smashing your head against the wall, stuff like that. It’s a shambles! I can’t listen to it. A total contrast to mine.”

 

“Brilliant question that, Noel. Do you know what? Whenever I was younger, it was more about enjoying it. Play with a smile on your face. I wasn’t getting in the car and my dad would say you need to do this, this and this. Just enjoy it, go and enjoy playing football with your mates. I had brilliant friends growing up at Manchester United. Jack Harrison, Joe Riley, Callum Whelan, Dean Henderson. The names are endless. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. All the boys I grew up with, we all enjoyed playing football together. We were so competitive and enjoyed that rush of adrenaline from competing with each other. You don’t have time to get bogged down with tactics when you’re a little kid just enjoying football.”

“Yeah, Santiago, I would probably say and I’m trying to think as someone was playing something the other day. Axel can play piano. Axel on piano. I would have me singing. Dan James dancing, even though he’d be just a little comedy act on the side. Then I’d have one more, we’d go with, let me think, let me think, we’d go with Shawy. He can sing, I think. Me and Shawy duet, Axel on the piano and Jamo dancing.”

 

“Hi Nouar, do you know what, I don’t know. We’re all in different changing rooms now, so I don’t see them coming to training and the clothes they wear outside of football. Due to COVID, it’s a pretty difficult one. From what I remember, they dress really well, are both clean cut and enjoy going out and spending time with their family and friends. Yeah, both of them dress well.”

 

“Hussam and Gavin, yeah, so no. 39 obviously is special when you first get your number. Nobody has ever said change your number, there’s not been a single conversation about changing my number – not three years, two years or a year ago. Nothing has ever been said about it. I’m perfectly fine with that. I’ve never even asked myself and never thought or brought it up in conversation to change my number. I’m perfectly fine, so 39. I see 39 everywhere now, I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Yeah, my dad was telling me about that, Jack. For me, it’s obviously such a huge honour to be spoken about by someone like Sir Alex, never mind the nice things he was saying about us and Scotland. For me, it’s a chance to keep pushing and chance to not stop pushing forwards, hopefully making everyone proud of me.”

 

“Sharon, Darren has been absolutely amazing whenever he’s come in, he’s been a breath of fresh air. All the lads have really taken to him. He was a proper player and is a proper football man. Michael Carrick, the manager, Mike Phelan, are all men who know the game inside out with vast experience of many different leagues. For myself, it’s brilliant that I’ve got some of the best guys I could possibly wish for to help me with my game. I have to soak it in and maybe one day, be in a position like that and can say I was learning from them and the cycle continues.”

 

“I was born in 1996! So there’s expectations, of course – there are when you’re playing international football. There are big expectations on everybody to do well. For us, it’s a free hit. We haven’t been to the Euros in many, many years and we’ve got to embrace it, suck it all in and go and play well.”

 

“Yeah, Jordan, that is an interesting one. Yeah, always the banter is there and I’ll be telling Harry all the way leading up to that game that our strikers are going to absolutely rip him to bits. Just little bits like that. I’m sure he’ll be having something to say about their forward lads too. It’s all lighthearted but, whenever it comes to it, we’ve got to be ready.”

 

“Rebecca, I do. I don’t really dislike many foods. I only dislike, and it’s surprising you know, cherry tomatoes. I can’t eat them. I like tomatoes in salad and stuff like that but I can’t eat cherry tomatoes. I don’t like beetroot. I like beetroot juice so it’s a bit of a strange one, but they are the only two foods I don’t like.”

“[Laughs] Connor, yeah I do like Irn-Brus. I like drinks that are freezing cold so every drink, I have to have it with ice. Me and Shawy, when we’re in hotels, we always need ice with our drinks. If it’s a hot drink, it must be scalding hot. I have to say Irn-Bru is definitely up there. If I’m going to have a fizzy drink and Irn-Bru is available, I would have that all day.”

 

“Tyler, the best player I’ve played with is a difficult one. You know it really is difficult, but I played with Wayne Rooney so Rooney. I played with him.”

 

“Nimra, the best player I’ve played against is Messi. One hundred per cent.”

 

“Akan, so yeah, do you know what? In school, I could have been a lot better if I’d put my mind to it a little bit more. I was such a young kid and so focused on football. The teachers would always say if football doesn’t work out you have to have something else but I agree with them. I totally agree that the most important thing is to work hard in school. I couldn’t get my obsession away from football. I couldn’t focus on other things properly. It is difficult for young kids these days but school is on a level par with football; it’s just as important.”

 

“Eli, what is the one thing I’ve improved on the most? It’s a difficult one that. There are a lot of things, collective things that people wouldn’t notice. Probably positioning. When receiving the ball, I find myself in a lot better position receiving the ball, facing forwards, chest and shoulders facing forwards. I’m ready to pass forward or run forward to try to score and create goals. It’s that little bit of positional changing, so I would say that.”

 

“Jai, I didn’t know. I had no idea. It was just life was going so quick at that stage and I was getting taller and stuff like that. I didn’t have a clue about the changes I was going through at that time. I clicked my fingers and it was two years later. You can’t think too much about growing taller. Whatever happens, happens. You get your body state and how to perform as a footballer and you have to work on it.”