Alex McLeish believes that giving Scott McTominay the freedom to play higher up the pitch is how Manchester United can get the best out of him.
Erik ten Hag has been appointed the new United boss and he has a big job on his hands in getting a midfield that underperformed last season up to his standards. The returns of Donny van de Beek and James Garner from loan spells away may help with that but signings are certainly needed to bolster the middle of the park.
However, deals for United's top targets - Frenkie de Jong, Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice - are looking increasingly difficult or flat out impossible to pull off and there is a possibility that Ten Hag may have to make do with what he's got. If that turns out to be the case, he has been told how he could best utilise McTominay in his team.
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Speaking about the academy graduate's role in the Scotland national side, former manager McLeish recalled a time he saw McTominay play better than Paul Pogba and he believes the freedom to join attacks suits McTominay well.
"I never had that conversation," McLeish said when asked if he'd discussed the centre-back position that McTominay plays for Scotland. "It was more about Scott getting a foothold in the Manchester United first team.
"Because when you're playing at that level, you've got a really good chance of playing international football. Scott was still in and out but I remember watching him against Crystal Palace and he dominated more than Paul Pogba.
"He started to find his own way and he's shown himself to be a very assertive midfielder. He's positionally good and he's been afforded the licence to get forward into scoring positions."
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