Scott McTominay

McTominay: We've done vital work in pre-season

Saturday 07 August 2021 07:00

As Manchester United’s pre-season comes to a close with today’s friendly at home to Everton, Scott McTominay believes the players have done ‘absolutely vital’ work to set themselves up for what will be another busy campaign.

Last year’s Premier League season got off to a shaky start for United after the Reds could only manage a week-long pre-season due to the jam-packed schedule forced by the pandemic.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer often spoke about the detriment of that fact, and McTominay believes having a full rest and pre-season will carry United in good stead going forward.

“That’s one of the main things over the last couple of seasons we’ve missed out on,” McTominay mused in the latest United Review, “that real baseline of work and getting the whole group together.”

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“It’s important that bulk of work you do in pre-season – it’s absolutely vital for the rest of the season.

“It’s impossible for us to train in this way through the season. This has been a really good chance to nail down the finer details to put into practice this season and to allow us to keep pushing forward to be ready for the start of the season.”

McTominay told United Review – our matchday programme, which you can buy at Old Trafford or order online here – that there’s split priorities when it comes to pre-season between training and matches.

While training offers a chance to build up fitness and work on specific parts of your game, both individual and team, the pre-season matches are about something else.

“It’s about getting your match rhythm, that’s the most important thing for me,” he said, “getting touches on the ball and getting that feel for exactly what we’re supposed to be doing come the first game of the season against Leeds when we’ll know our jobs inside out.”

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“Fitness comes with that, so I don’t think you need to worry too much about the fitness side of things whenever you play pre-season games because more or less the way the boys have been training means that is there already.

“It’s about getting the match rhythm and match tempo and how we’re feeling about how we’re going to play and the different systems we might choose to play, I think that’s the most important thing.”

Today’s friendly with Everton offers a final opportunity to get up to speed on the Old Trafford turf with the Theatre of Dreams set to host the most mouthwatering clash of the opening Premier League weekend.

Highlights: United 6 Leeds 2 Video

Highlights: United 6 Leeds 2

The last time we played Leeds, the two sides shared eight goals between them...

Last time Leeds United came to town, McTominay scored two goals in the opening three minutes in a breathtaking 6-2 win. A good performance against Everton and the Scotland international will have his thoughts set on replicating that level of impact when Leeds arrive once again.

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