McTominay: We have to figure it out together

The Reds must beat the German champions on Tuesday and hope FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw their match in Denmark if we are to progress to the competition's knockout rounds.

McTominay, who turned 27 on Friday, is United's leading scorer this season, with his brace against Chelsea taking him to six efforts for the term.

The Scotland international opened his Champions League account last time out, in the helter-skelter 3-3 draw with Galatasaray and he was asked about his recent goal record, as well as the team's apparent lack of consistency and control, by reporters at Carrington.

Read every question put to Scott, and every answer provided by our midfielder, below...

Scott, the manager has mentioned about being at your best. You played well against Chelsea, you clearly didn’t play well at Newcastle, didn’t play well against Bournemouth. Why is there such a big difference between performances for the team?
“Obviously, we know that, we know the inconsistencies we’ve had, we’re not naïve [about] that. I feel like, for us, we’ve spoken about it as a group and with the coaching staff and the schedule is relentless. We can’t blame it on the backlog of fixtures and stuff like that but we have to come together as a group and figure out the reason why we are slightly inconsistent at this moment in time. As you say, the boys are honestly doing everything they can do to contribute and give their best whenever they approach the pitch.”

Scott, you’ve had a great revival of your own career here at Manchester United. Did you fear that there might be a moment when you were leaving this club?
“There’s always speculation and different things surrounding every player at Man United. You have to perform to stay at this football club and I’ve known that since I’ve been a young boy, watching lots of senior pros come through and obviously Academy players as well. For myself it was a case of just get your head down and work and there’s not too much else to say to be honest, other than that.”

What would you put your goalscoring form down to, is it the faith that the manager has put in you, putting you back into the team?
“Of course. The faith from the manager has been a massive one for me and you want to repay that as much as you possibly can when you do get minutes on the pitch. That’s the life of a footballer, you are going to have ups and downs on the pitch. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows. For me, I’ve always approached it that way, with a clear mind and a clear head. If I do get the opportunity, I want to take it and I want to show that I can do it and I’m there to help the team as well.”

Scott, the manager spoke after [the] Galatasaray [game] and this season about how the game management has got to be better at times. What do you put the loss of control down to – lapses of concentration, not understanding instructions? Why do you lose control in games so quickly and have these implosions?
“As you can see in the Premier League, every team is super-athletic. You go and play in the Champions League and every team can run. A lot of the time you need to match that and more, whenever you play for this football club. That’s been a clear message for us players on the pitch when we are playing, that we need to get together sometimes. The manager can’t do too much whenever he’s on the sidelines, it needs to come from the players and we need to stick together while we are on the pitch as well. As you say, with the ideas we’ve had, sometimes the way we’ve played has been amazing. It’s finding that consistency and that balance where we can continue to do that on a regular basis, with high energy levels. Like the manager says, when we played against Chelsea like that, [it shows] we can do good things.”

Scott, since you’ve been in the first team, you’ve seen many managers involved – Jose, Ole, [Ralf] Rangnick. What’s the share of responsibility of the players to stop this endless cycle?
“It’s the players’ responsibility, first and foremost. Players know that as well. We’ve had many amazing players over that time and I feel like now we’re at a stage where we’ve got big characters in the dressing room. It’s not a case of like with some of the other managers, when it has been a little bit toxic at times. The boys are firmly behind the manager and that’s the be-all and end-all. I’ve said that in many other interviews and that’s the way it will remain and stay. We’ve got amazing coaching staff as well. People can get lost in translation and get carried away with what the players think and what they say behind closed doors. We just want to do well for the football club, and it’s as simple as that.”