England legend stunned by what he saw Manchester United ace do at Euro 2024

A similar debate is rearing its head in Scotland, meanwhile, after Manchester United’s Scott McTominay was placed at corner kick for Sunday’s match with Hungary. A game that turned out to be very much a “break” as it happened.

For England legend Stuart Pearce, who spoke to talkSPORT following Hungary’s 100th-minute winner, it was a no-brainer decision.

After all, McTominay has scored 19 goals for club and country since that cap against Spain at the start of 2023. He’s not just Scotland’s biggest threat in the box, he’s also one of their biggest players in a very literal sense.

Why Tartan Army Steve Clarke felt the 6ft 4in McTominay would be better off shooting crosses than sticking his sizeable head on the end of one is anyone’s guess.

Manchester United’s Scott McTominay has crashed out of Euro 2024

“When I saw him turning corners…” begins Pearce (June 24, 10.50am). “McTominay is a massive threat.

“In any game, if you said to me ‘who’s going to break the deadlock for Scotland?’ McTominay comes to mind. It is the first choice.

“So it has to be in and around the goal as often as you can catch it.”

McTominay was the only Scottish player to find the net in the group stage as well. Of course, his powerfully deflected shot gave Clarke’s side the lead against Switzerland as Scotland avoided defeat for the one and only time on German soil.

McTominay was also the man who played the set-piece during the 1-1 draw. Former Arsenal player Paul Merson summed up the tactic quite well on X too, highlighting the physical differences between Scotland’s corner taker and the players waiting for them in the penalty area.

Former United boss David Moyes may also feel vindicated, having urged Clarke to slot McTominay into the same crash role that saw him such a sure goal threat under Erik ten Hag in the last year.

“Get Scott McTominay in Hungary’s box. That needs to happen as much as possible if Scotland are going to get the result they need in their final Group A game,” Moyes told BBC Sport, comments that have aged quite well after Sunday night’s performance.

“It wasn’t that long ago that McTominay was used as much as a centre-half under Steve Clarke for a period, but more recently he’s been playing higher up the pitch – which is where I feel you have more from him.”

David Moyes wanted Man United duo at West Ham

Meanwhile, Moyes also opened up about his attempts to sign the Carrington graduate for West Ham United last summer alongside Harry Maguire.

“It was always going to be difficult to replace Declan Rice with one player when he joined Arsenal and we weren’t planning to do that – we wanted to bring in a couple of midfielders instead,” added Moyes, who was replaced at the London Stadium by Julen Lopetegui in May.

We bought two very good players in James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez, so that was the cover. But Scott was definitely one of the players we were very interested in.

“He’s a good midfielder, but for me his best attributes are getting into the area, or on the edges of it, at the right time to score or create chances.

“McTominay was a player I felt I needed at the time, but I didn’t get too far over the line and instead he scored a lot of big goals for Manchester United last season.”

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