After his goalscoring heroics from a marauding midfield role for Scotland, it will be back to the Manchester United day job for Scott McTominay on Sunday.
At Hampden Park we saw the best of McTominay. The all-round midfield with a knack of timing his decisive runs forward and adding the finishing touches to moves. After one goal in 37 caps for his country, he scored four goals in 61 minutes of football against Cyprus and Spain.
In the dying stages of Tuesday night's famous win against a lacklustre Spain he was still bursting into the final third, making runs to try and get in a position to have a go at his hat-trick. With the security of a back three (or sometimes a back five), the United midfielder had the licence to make those surges forward that are a real weapon in his game.
READ MORE: How United have coped in their six games without Casemiro
But he will have to rein that in against Newcastle on Sunday. With Casemiro still suspended it is McTominay who will deputise as United's holding midfielder. He has become the plan B when the Brazilian is unavailable and in terms of characteristics, he is the obvious replacement in the squad.
His start at St James' Park could also be something of an audition. McTominay is a reliable squad player at Old Trafford and ticks the homegrown box, but that role is as good as it will get. He has admirers at Newcastle, who are an upwardly mobile club.
His goals for Scotland also showed how United can get the best out of him, however. Erik ten Hag has brought him on as an attacking substitute a couple of times this season, usually in the No. 10 role that Wout Weghorst filled late on at Leeds and in the Nou Camp. McTominay has the same kind of physical stature and can make things happen from that position.
His real strength though is playing ahead of someone like Casemiro. Box-to-box midfielders aren't in vogue these days but it's a position that probably suits McTominay.
The manager that came closest to unleashing that full skillset at United was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He would give McTominay that licence to drive forward and his best goalscoring seasons came in the Norwegian's two full campaigns, with five in 37 games in 2019/20 and seven in 49 in 2020/21. Since then there have been four goals in 69 games.
The 26-year-old often played as a striker as he rose through the United academy but he's gradually moved backwards. As much as we're praising Scotland for using him well during this international break, they've also often used him as a right-sided central defender in a back three.
But needs must for the club that pays his wages. According to Transfermarkt, McTominay has played in a defensive midfield position this season for all bar a handful of appearances. He will start there against Newcastle and Ten Hag will have one of Fred or Marcel Sabitzer and Bruno Fernandes ahead of him.
If McTominay is to hold down a role that allows him to repeat his Scotland heroics then it is only likely to be as an impact midfielder, coming on off the bench. All four of those goals against Cyprus and Spain came when McTominay was on the move into the penalty area. He wasn't static for any of them, he was on the run into what turned out to be the perfect position. It's a valuable skill for a midfielder but it's also that can't be achieved when your role is sitting in front of the back four.
The only way for United to get that kind of contribution out of McTominay would be to sign an alternative holding midfielder who can fill in for Casemiro. But it could also be decision time for the United academy graduate this summer. If Newcastle firm up their interest he might need to decide whether to continue pursuing a squad role at Old Trafford or seek regular first-team football at a club earmarked for success of their own.
Given Newcastle's Saudi-backing it could be an opportune moment for United to sell, especially with the need to raise funds this summer. The problem with that is the hole it leaves in a midfield that is already ageing.
As adequate a fill-in as McTominay has proved to be for Casemiro this season, there is still a sense United could do with more in that position, which at the same time might allow them to free up a player with an underrated eye for goal.
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