Scots' midfielder, Scott McTominay, increased his stature during Louis van Gaal's tenure; Dutch manager of Manchester United appointed for the 2014-15 season's campaigning after the qualified success of his stewardship of the Netherlands' national side at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, organized by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). Holland finished in third place, subsequent to their losing at the semi-final stage to Argentina, 4-2, on penalties, a.e.t., 0-0, at Arena Corinthians, São Paolo, July 9th, but beat Brazil, who'd lost to eventual winners, Germany, 7-1, in their Belo Horizonte, Estádio Mineirão semi-final on July 8th.
Although Germany had beaten Argentina, 1-0, in the Final, a.e.t., on July 13th, Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã, Holland had beaten Brazil, 3-0, on July 12th in Brasilia’s Estádio Nacional third and fourth place play off, which was enough for the 'red devils' to appoint van Gaal as successor to former Everton boss, David Moyes, who’d always appeared a curious replacement for Alex Ferguson, 13 league titles, as Moyes' only claim to fame was to keep 'The Toffees' from relegation. When David's team lost the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final at home to Sunderland, 1-2, on penalties, van Gaal's appointment seemed fated.
Moyes took the reins on July 1st, 2013, and McTominay signed his first professional contract with the club in that same month. Making his debut under José Mourinho, appointed manager after van Gaal's United won the 2015-16 F.A. Cup Final, 2-1, against Crystal Palace, a.e.t., 1-1, ostensibly to improve the club's league position and potential for qualifying for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions, Scott spent his time under Moyes struggling due to his small size. However, gaining 14 inches during van Gaal's reign, McTominay made 22 starts, scoring 3 goals, for the U-21s in 2016-17, which brought him to the notice of Mourinho, who after putting him on the subs' bench, gave him his first appearance in a blue shirt on May 7th at Arsenal's North London Emirates Stadium, Islington, coming on for Spain’s left footed inside forward, Juan Mata, on 84 minutes, but losing, 0-2, after ex-red center forward Danny Welbeck's second for 'The Gunners' on 57 minutes to end a 25 game unbeaten run.
Scott got his first start on the last day of the 2016-17 league campaign, with the squad already EFL Cup winners against Sunderland, 3-2, and after the English Premier League season was over would go on to beat Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-0, on May 24th in the Europa League Final at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden. With a view to minimizing the possibility of injuries, Mourinho gave opportunities to several more young players in the victory, 2-0, against Crystal Palace on May 21st at Old Trafford; midfielder Josh Harrop, who scored after 15 minutes, twisting and turning on the left of the 20 yard box, cutting inside onto his right foot to unleash an unstopped screamer; Swiss born 'keeper and Portuguese international, Joel Pereira, left back Demetri Mitchell, and Angel Gomes, then the club's youngest Premier League player, 16 and 263 days, on for captain and center forward, Wayne Rooney, on 88 minutes.
McTominay made 7 starts in 2017-18, and 6 appearances as substitute, during the club's league campaign, in which they finished runners up on 68 points, a long way 2nd behind Manchester City on 106, and Scott was on the substitutes' bench for the F.A. Cup Final defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, when a perfectly good goal from Chilean center forward Alexis Sánchez was disallowed after the ball, pushed out by the 'keeper, was stabbed home with grateful aplomb at close range.
A 21st century South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) innovation, Apertura and Clausera, divided the year into two league championship competitions, either between or within calendar years, and Alexis was in Chile’s Primera División Colo-Colo side that won back-to-back Clausura and Apertura from 2006-07, on loan from Italy’s Serie A club Udinese, transferred there on April 21st, 2006, for £1.7m from Chile’s Cobreola, and thereafter the 2008 Argentine Primera División Clausera with River Plate.
Returning to Udinese, Alexis was transferred to Spain’s Barcelona from 2011-12 for €26m; 2012-13 La Liga champions, before going to Premier League Arsenal from 2014-15 for £31.7m; F.A. Cup winners in 2015 and 2017. Brought to United, on January 22nd, 2018, in a swap deal for Armenian captain and right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, scorer of the second goal against Ajax with an overhead kick on 48 minutes in the 2017 Europa Cup Final, after France's Paul Pogba had opened the scoring with a long range deflected strike on 18 minutes, on 2 league goals for the term from 12 starts, Alexis would be given a free transfer by Solskjaer to Italy's Inter Milan, following a period on loan in 2019-20, after scoring once in 9 starts and 11 appearances for United in 2018-19.
Mourinho’s departure and Alexis’ were linked inextricably. Leaving on December 18th, 2018, with just 7 wins in 17 games, to be replaced by former striker, manager of Norway's Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that 2018 F.A. Cup Final goal, ruled out for offside, with the linesman's flag being raised after the ball was in the net, could have made all the difference to Alexis’ confidence as a striker and the club’s future with Mourinho.
Alexis played alongside sometime left winger, bought by Alex Ferguson for 2011-12 from Aston Villa for £17m, Ashley Young, at left back, with Belgian center forward and top scorer with 16, Romelu Lukaku, bought by Mourinho for £75m from Everton for 2017-18, on the substitutes' bench, because of doubts about his fitness, and all three would play for Inter in the 2019 Europa Cup Final defeat to Spain's Sevilla, 2-3, at the Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29th, while United were left to rue what might have been, when 0-1 down in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final on 22 minutes to an Eden Hazard penalty, after a rash challenge on Chelsea's Belgian center forward by England center back, Phil Jones, who almost made amends on 63 minutes, heading a free kick, taken by England center forward, Marcus Rashford, wide on the right, after he himself was brought down, which goal-bound effort was pushed away from his right corner by the post, left handed by Belgian 'keeper Thibaut Courtois, onto the onrushing Sanchez's grateful knees.
While Romelu Lukaku's transfer to Inter for €80m was permanent immediately on August 8th, 2019, Sánchez’s wasn’t. 4 league goals that term, and substituting in the August 21st, 2020, Europa Cup Final, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, for central midfielder, Roberto Gagliardini, on 78 minutes, after going behind to Spanish side Sevilla, 2-3, due to a Lukaku own goal on 74 minutes, with Ashley Young on the left of midfield, after being transferred in January 2020 for €1.5m, Alexis’ transfer wouldn't become permanent until given a free by Solskjaer on August 6th, 2020, after which Inter would win Italy's 2020-21 Serie A, with former United left full back, Italian Matteo Darmian, joining them in October 2020 from Serie A club Parma, where he’d been transferred by Solskjaer for €1.5m on September 2nd, 2019, while Sánchez would score 7 times in 12 starts and 18 appearances.
The Solskjaer upheaval doubtless assisted McTominay, 9 starts and 7 appearances for 2 goals in 2018-19, and Fred, 13 starts and 4 appearances for 1 goal. Of the established midfield players only Pogba, winner of the World Cup in Russia with France in 2018, 4-2 against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, and top scorer in 2018-19 with 13 goals, seemed unchallengeable. While Moroccan Marouane Fellaini, brought with him from Everton by Moyes for his height and vision in support of the attack for £27.5m, and Serbia's defensive midfielder, Nemanja Matić, bought by Mourinho from Chelsea for £40m for 2017-18, were over 30 years, at 29 Spain's playmaker Ander Herrera, 'man of the match' in the 2017 Europa Cup Final defeat of Ajax, bought by van Gaal for his first 2014-15 season for €36m, was approaching 30, which suggested right footed McTominay, then 22 years, who could double as a center forward if necessary, had a future alongside left footed Brazilian, Fred, age 25, bought by Mourinho from the Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk on July 1st, 2018 for £47m.
'McFred', as the pair in midfield were called by fans, flourished, while Fellaini, appearing only twice as a substitute for Solskjaer, before being transferred to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan in January 2019, captained the team to the Chinese Super League in 2021, and the Chinese F.A. Cup in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Herrera, given a free to Paris Saint-German, won the French double of league and cup twice in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Matić, though his tenaciousness on the pitch survived Solskjaer's purge, his age couldn't. Freed by Solskjaer's Dutch successor for 2022-23, Ajax of Amsterdam's boss Erik ten Hag, Nemanja joined Roma for 2022-23 at 34, where opposite another casualty of ten Hag's purge, loaned to Spain's Sevilla for that season, Brazilian left back, Alex Telles, bought by Ole for £14.5m from Portugal's Porto, runner-up in the 2023 Europa Cup Final against Sevilla, 1-1, a.e.t., on May 31st at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, 1-4 on penalties, he also made way for McFred.
Solskjaer's failure in four semi-finals and the 2021 Europa Cup Final on May 26th at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, against Spain's Villarreal, 1-1, a.e.t., and 10-11 on penalties, with only Spanish 'keeper, David de Gea, missing his spot kick opportunity, was the cause of his dismissal, although clipping the wings to make inverted inside forwards to compensate for Fernandes' centrocampista role with a lone striker ahead of him, was a contributory factor. The McFred partnership lasted until ten Hag's taking over from former German boss at RB Leipzig, Ralf Rangnick, interim manager, appointed in December 2021, with Brazil’s hard-bitten attack-minded creative midfield destroyer, Casemiro, being brought from Real Madrid for £60m, while the emergence of calmly composed controller, new precocious midfield talent, left footed teenager, Kobbie Mainoo, was enough to convince ten Hag to transfer Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos, otherwise known as ‘Fred’, on August 13th, 2023, for €9.74m to Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe, Istanbul, for their 2023-24 season, which effectively dismantled McFred's engine room.
With Mourinho having guided the side to a runners up spot in European Champions League Group H, behind Juventus, Solskjaer’s selection beat Paris Saint-Germain, 3-1 away in the 2018-19 season's Round of 16, with Lukaku opening the scoring on 2 minutes, seizing on German right half back Thilo Kehrer's back pass to round PSG's ‘keeper and strike left footed from a tight angle, then left footed again on 30 minutes, making it 2-1, after Italian ‘keeper Gianluigi Buffon was unable to hold onto a distance effort from Rashford, while Marcus converted a 94th minute penalty, 3-1, after French left half back Presnel Kimpembe was adjudged to have handled a shot at goal by Portuguese right back, Diogo Dalot, on as a 35th minute substitute for Ivory Coast's injured Eric Bailly, to ensure United’s progress on the ‘away goals counting double’ rule, after losing, 0-2, at home. However, the team lost to Barcelona, 0-4 on aggregate in the quarter final; 0-1 at Old Trafford, and in Spain 0-3 at Camp Nou.
In Solskjaer's first full 2019-20 season, McTominay started 20 games, 7 as substitute, scoring 4 goals, while Fred had 23 starts, 6 as substitute, with the team, finishing 3rd in the league, making the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, the League Cup, and the Europa Cup, the major innovation was the introduction in January 2020 for £47m of Bruno Fernandes from Portugal's CP Sporting, Lisbon, who'd complete a diamond behind a lone striker in front of him, while a left footed inverted winger on the right, and a right footed inverted winger on the left, essentially functioning as inside forwards, constituted the cutting edges.
With McTominay being earmarked for the role that England star, Paul Scholes, had formerly in midfield, as the player freed by the holding midfielder to go forward in support of the attack and score, Fernandes' 8 goals in 14 starts, with Marcus Rashford, 17 goals, and left footed inverted right winger, Anthony Martial, 17 goals, ahead of him, indicated a change in the way McTominay's midfield role could develop.
Failure to progress beyond the semi-final stages, against Manchester City in the League Cup, losing the first home leg, 1-3, with the side 0-3 at half time, before Rashford produced some hope in the second half with a clinical finish on 70 minutes, right of the penalty area, right footed, left corner, low, following a run from the halfway line by Mason Greenwood, and a defense-splitting pass from the 21 years center forward, but winning the second away leg, 1-0, with Matić, right of the penalty area, squeezing his shot inside the post, low into the right corner, left footed, on 35 minutes, after a City defender failed to head clear a Fred free kick, but Matić later sent off on 76 minutes, indicated that problems with the twin McFred engine in midfield, aligned as it was with Fernandes’ playmaker, behind a lone striker, and clipped wings, indicated the need for a tune up; if the ball was to be driven home by the forwards.
In the F.A. Cup semi-final the team lost, 1-3, to Chelsea, with Fernandes’ consolation penalty on 8 minutes, after winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, appeared to kick at Martial, while they were defeated, 1-2, by Spain's Sevilla in the Europa Cup semi-final, despite taking the lead through a Fernandes' penalty on 9 minutes. The absence of McTominay from the semi-final starting line-ups in favor of Fernandes' diamond signified Solskjaer's preference for the then apparently unchallengeable left foot of Pogba alongside Fred for the latter stages of the cup competitions.
In his first full season, 2020-21, Bruno Fernandes top scored with 18 league goals, as the club finished 2nd in the Premier League on 73 points, albeit 10 behind Manchester City on 83, while failing to progress beyond the League Cup semi-final stage again, losing 0-2 to City, although McTominay, 25 and 7 appearances for 4 goals, did start with Fred, 27 starts and 3 appearances for 1 goal, as well as alongside Pogba, although it was Fred who made way for Scott in the team that lost, 10-11 on penalties to Spain's Villarreal, after 34 years Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, brought by Solskjaer on a free from Paris Saint-Germain, struck home an equalizer on 55 minutes, which wasn't enough to save either Solskjaer, or Pogba in the aftermath of the appointment of ten Hag.
What looked like desperation brought Cristiano Ronaldo for 2021-22 from Italian side Juventus for £12.85m. Called CR7 for his preferred shirt number, opening the scoring with a header on 26 minutes from a cross on the right by right full back, Wes Brown, Ronaldo had won the European Champions Cup with United against Chelsea, a.e.t., 1-1, and on penalties 6-5, on May 21st at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia, but failure to beat Barcelona at the Stadio Olympica, Rome, on May 27th in the 2008-09 Final, 0-2, led the Portuguese right winger, bought from CP Sporting Lisbon for £12.24m by Scot Alex Ferguson for 2003-04, to seek a transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid for £80m, where he won the European Champions Cup in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, 2016, and 2017, before being transferred to Juvé for £88m, where he won Serie A titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Ronaldo struck 18 times that 2021-22 season, 12 of those, including hat tricks against Spurs at Old Trafford, 3-2, on March 12th, 2022, and Norwich City at home, 3-2, on April 16th, coming after Rangnick became interim manager in December 2021, while McTominay’s 28 starts and 2 appearances for 1 goal, compared to Fred’s 24 starts and 4 appearances for 4 goals, was a sign of the adroitness with which McFred negotiated the Solskjaer-Rangnick interregnum.
Solskjaer, and after him coach Michael Carrick, had steered the side to win Group F in the Champions League, leaving Rangnick to negotiate the Round of 16, but a late 80th minute equalizing goal, taken with aplomb and apparent maturity by teenage Swedish striker, Anthony Elanga, 1-1, away at Spain's Atlético Madrid, persuaded Rangnick to persevere with him, and with England center forward Rashford on the bench, lost 0-1 in the second home leg, 1-2 on aggregate. Rangnick's chance was gone and ten Hag was appointed for 2022-23.
The club won the League cup, 2-0, against Newcastle United, with a headed goal from Casemiro on 33 minutes, following a free kick by left back, Luke Shaw, and a 39th minute strike from Rashford, deflected over German 'keeper, Loris Karius, but lost the F.A. Cup Final, 1-2, to Manchester City, after being a goal down from German captain İlkay Gündoğan's volley on 13 seconds, and despite an equalizing 33rd minute penalty from Fernandes, after right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka's progress on the right of the city 20 yard box was adjudged to have been illegally impeded by England winger Jack Grealish's handling of the ball. McTominay, 1 goal in 10 starts and 14 appearances in 2022-23, coming on in the League Cup Final as 69th minute substitute for Fred, 12 starts and 23 appearances for 4 goals, and for Swedish center back, Victor Lindelöf, on 83 minutes in the F.A. Cup Final, again indicated trouble with the engine.
Ten Hag had brought Danish ball player age 30, Christian Eriksen, 25 starts and 3 appearances, from Brentford on a free, and until the emergence of Mainoo in 2023-24 the pairing with Casemiro seemed most likely, with Pogba age 32 released to return to Juvé on June 30th, 2022, while Matić signed on a free for Roma.
Ronaldo, age 37, was also released to Saudi club Al Nassr in November 2022. On August 12th, 2023, he won the Arab Club Champions Cup. Organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Cristiano scored both goals, 2-1, in the win over Saudi's Al Hilal at the King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
The arrival of Moroccan international, defensive midfielder, Sofyan Amrabat, born in Huizen, Amsterdam metropolitan area, Holland, and on loan for £8.5m from Italy's Serie A club Fiorentina, together with England's attacking midfielder, Mason Mount, from Chelsea for £55m, put further pressure on McTominay, survivor of seven managerial purges, if the interim roles of legendary United and Welsh left winger, scorer of the 6th penalty that gave United victory over Chelsea in the 2008 European Champions Cup Final, Ryan Giggs, coach after Moyes' dismissal, before 2013-14 season's end, April 22nd - May 11th, 2014, and United and England midfield stalwart, Michael Carrick, November 21st - December 2nd, 2022, who coached the team to qualify for the European Champions League Round of 16, beating Villarreal away, 2-0, after Solskjaer, are to be considered managerial.
Ten Hag’s solution to his engine trouble was to bring Danish striker, Rasmus Højlund, from Italian Serie A club Atalanta for £64m to profit from Fernandes’ promptings, while Rashford would move to the left as an inverted right footed inside forward, with left footed Argentine winger, Alejandro Garnacho, on the right flank, although Casemiro’s 32 years suggested that, if McTominay, 27 years, needed to improve, and couldn’t, teenager Kobbie Mainoo would need a partner who wasn’t waiting to be retired, and although Mason Mount, 25 years, England’s attacking midfielder, bought from Chelsea for £55m for 2023-24, fits the description, 4 starts and 4 appearances, before retiring to the physiotherapist’s treatment room, indicate either that the emperor doesn’t want to wear any clothes, or at least one of the twin engine turbo needs replacing, rather than maintenance and a routine repair.
Luke Shaw, due a testimonial at the end of season 2023-24, as were Martial and Rashford for playing at 'the theater of Dreams' for a decade at the close of 2024-25, is a true measure of success. While 2023-24 is only McTominay's 8th year hoping to wear away a red strip, Lindelöf has another three seasons to serve, before a game played in his honour, against such luminaries as FIFA’s Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football's (CONCACAF's) New York Cosmos, for whom Germany’s ‘Kaiser’, sweeper Franz Beckenbauer, and Brazil’s magical Pelé played together, appearing for Paul Scholes’ on August 5th, 2011, recognizing loyalty as a portion of the take.
The Rise and Pause of Scott McTominay
Scots' midfielder, Scott McTominay, increased his stature during Louis van Gaal's tenure; Dutch manager of Manchester United appointed for the 2014-15 season's campaigning after the qualified success of his stewardship of the Netherlands' national side at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, organized by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). Holland finished in third place, subsequent to their losing at the semi-final stage to Argentina, 4-2, on penalties, a.e.t., 0-0, at Arena Corinthians, São Paolo, July 9th, but beat Brazil, who'd lost to eventual winners, Germany, 7-1, in their Belo Horizonte, Estádio Mineirão semi-final on July 8th.
Although Germany had beaten Argentina, 1-0, in the Final, a.e.t., on July 13th, Rio de Janeiro, Estádio do Maracanã, Holland had beaten Brazil, 3-0, on July 12th in Brasilia’s Estádio Nacional third and fourth place play off, which was enough for the 'red devils' to appoint van Gaal as successor to former Everton boss, David Moyes, who’d always appeared a curious replacement for Alex Ferguson, 13 league titles, as Moyes' only claim to fame was to keep 'The Toffees' from relegation. When David's team lost the 2013-14 League Cup semi-final at home to Sunderland, 1-2, on penalties, van Gaal's appointment seemed fated.
Moyes took the reins on July 1st, 2013, and McTominay signed his first professional contract with the club in that same month. Making his debut under José Mourinho, appointed manager after van Gaal's United won the 2015-16 F.A. Cup Final, 2-1, against Crystal Palace, a.e.t., 1-1, ostensibly to improve the club's league position and potential for qualifying for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) competitions, Scott spent his time under Moyes struggling due to his small size. However, gaining 14 inches during van Gaal's reign, McTominay made 22 starts, scoring 3 goals, for the U-21s in 2016-17, which brought him to the notice of Mourinho, who after putting him on the subs' bench, gave him his first appearance in a blue shirt on May 7th at Arsenal's North London Emirates Stadium, Islington, coming on for Spain’s left footed inside forward, Juan Mata, on 84 minutes, but losing, 0-2, after ex-red center forward Danny Welbeck's second for 'The Gunners' on 57 minutes to end a 25 game unbeaten run.
Scott got his first start on the last day of the 2016-17 league campaign, with the squad already EFL Cup winners against Southampton, 3-2, and after the English Premier League season was over would go on to beat Ajax of Amsterdam, 2-0, on May 24th in the Europa League Final at Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden. With a view to minimizing the possibility of injuries, Mourinho gave opportunities to several more young players in the victory, 2-0, against Crystal Palace on May 21st at Old Trafford; midfielder Josh Harrop, who scored after 15 minutes, twisting and turning on the left of the 18 yard box, cutting inside onto his right foot to unleash an unstopped screamer; Swiss born 'keeper and Portuguese international, Joel Pereira, left back Demetri Mitchell, and Angel Gomes, then the club's youngest Premier League player, 16 and 263 days, on for captain and center forward, Wayne Rooney, on 88 minutes.
McTominay made 7 starts in 2017-18, and 6 appearances as substitute, during the club's league campaign, in which they finished runners up on 68 points, a long way 2nd behind Manchester City on 106, and Scott was on the substitutes' bench for the F.A. Cup Final defeat to Chelsea, 0-1, when a perfectly good goal from Chilean center forward Alexis Sánchez was disallowed after the ball, pushed out by the 'keeper, was stabbed home with grateful aplomb at close range.
A 21st century South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) innovation, Apertura and Clausera, divided the year into two league championship competitions, either between or within calendar years, and Alexis was in Chile’s Primera División Colo-Colo side that won back-to-back Clausura and Apertura from 2006-07, on loan from Italy’s Serie A club Udinese, transferred there on April 21st, 2006, for £1.7m from Chile’s Cobreola, and thereafter the 2008 Argentine Primera División Clausera with River Plate.
Returning to Udinese, Alexis was transferred to Spain’s Barcelona from 2011-12 for €26m; 2012-13 La Liga champions, before going to Premier League Arsenal from 2014-15 for £31.7m; F.A. Cup winners in 2015 and 2017. Brought to United, on January 22nd, 2018, in a swap deal for Armenian captain and right wing, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, scorer of the second goal against Ajax with an overhead kick on 48 minutes in the 2017 Europa Cup Final, after France's Paul Pogba had opened the scoring with a long range deflected strike on 18 minutes, on 2 league goals for the term from 12 starts, Alexis would be given a free transfer by Solskjaer to Italy's Inter Milan, following a period on loan in 2019-20, after scoring once in 9 starts and 11 appearances for United in 2018-19.
Mourinho’s departure and Alexis’ were linked inextricably. Leaving on December 18th, 2018, with just 7 wins in 17 games, to be replaced by former striker, manager of Norway's Molde, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that 2018 F.A. Cup Final goal, ruled out for offside, with the linesman's flag being raised after the ball was in the net, could have made all the difference to Alexis’ confidence as a striker and the club’s future with Mourinho.
Alexis played alongside sometime left winger, bought by Alex Ferguson for 2011-12 from Aston Villa for £17m, Ashley Young, at left back, with Belgian center forward and top scorer with 16, Romelu Lukaku, bought by Mourinho for £75m from Everton for 2017-18, on the substitutes' bench, because of doubts about his fitness, and all three would play for Inter in the 2020 Europa Cup Final defeat to Spain's Sevilla, 2-3, at the Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan, on May 29th, while United were left to rue what might have been, when 0-1 down in the 2018 F.A. Cup Final on 22 minutes to an Eden Hazard penalty, after a rash challenge on Chelsea's Belgian center forward by England center back, Phil Jones, who almost made amends on 63 minutes, heading a free kick, taken by England center forward, Marcus Rashford, wide on the right, after he himself was brought down, which goal-bound effort was pushed away from his right corner by the post, left handed by Belgian 'keeper Thibaut Courtois, onto the onrushing Sanchez's grateful knees.
While Romelu Lukaku's transfer to Inter for €80m was permanent immediately on August 8th, 2019, Sánchez’s wasn’t. 4 league goals that term, and substituting in the August 21st, 2020, Europa Cup Final, at the RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany, for central midfielder, Roberto Gagliardini, on 78 minutes, after going behind to Spanish side Sevilla, 2-3, due to a Lukaku own goal on 74 minutes, with Ashley Young on the left of midfield, after being transferred in January 2020 for €1.5m, Alexis’ transfer wouldn't become permanent until given a free by Solskjaer on August 6th, 2020, after which Inter would win Italy's 2020-21 Serie A, with former United left full back, Italian Matteo Darmian, joining them in October 2020 from Serie A club Parma, where he’d been transferred by Solskjaer for €1.5m on September 2nd, 2019, while Sánchez in 2019-20 would score for Internazionale 7 times in 12 starts and 18 appearances.
The Solskjaer upheaval doubtless assisted McTominay, 9 starts and 7 appearances for 2 goals in 2018-19, and Fred, 13 starts and 4 appearances for 1 goal. Of the established midfield players only Pogba, winner of the World Cup in Russia with France in 2018, 4-2 against Croatia, at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, and top scorer in 2018-19 with 13 goals, seemed unchallengeable. While Moroccan Marouane Fellaini, brought with him from Everton by Moyes for his height and vision in support of the attack for £27.5m, and Serbia's defensive midfielder, Nemanja Matić, bought by Mourinho from Chelsea for £40m for 2017-18, were over 30 years, at 29 Spain's playmaker Ander Herrera, 'man of the match' in the 2017 Europa Cup Final defeat of Ajax, bought by van Gaal for his first 2014-15 season for €36m, was approaching 30, which suggested right footed McTominay, then 22 years, who could double as a center forward if necessary, had a future alongside left footed Brazilian, Fred, age 25, bought by Mourinho from the Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk on July 1st, 2018 for £47m.
'McFred', as the pair in midfield were called by fans, flourished, while Fellaini, appearing only twice as a substitute for Solskjaer, before being transferred to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan in January 2019, captained the team to the Chinese Super League in 2021, and the Chinese F.A. Cup in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Herrera, given a free to Paris Saint-German, won the French double of league and cup twice in 2019-20 and 2020-21. Matić, though his tenaciousness on the pitch survived Solskjaer's purge, his age couldn't. Freed by Solskjaer's Dutch successor for 2022-23, Ajax of Amsterdam's boss Erik ten Hag, Nemanja joined Roma for 2022-23 at 34, where opposite another casualty of ten Hag's purge, loaned to Spain's Sevilla for that season, Brazilian left back, Alex Telles, bought by Ole for £14.5m from Portugal's Porto, runner-up in the 2023 Europa Cup Final against Sevilla, 1-1, a.e.t., on May 31st at the Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary, 1-4 on penalties, he also made way for McFred.
Solskjaer's failure in four semi-finals and the 2021 Europa Cup Final on May 26th at Gdańsk Stadion, Poland, against Spain's Villarreal, 1-1, a.e.t., and 10-11 on penalties, with only Spanish 'keeper, David de Gea, missing his spot kick opportunity, was the cause of his dismissal, although clipping the wings to make inverted inside forwards to compensate for Fernandes' centrocampista role with a lone striker ahead of him, was a contributory factor. The McFred partnership lasted until ten Hag's taking over from former German boss at RB Leipzig, Ralf Rangnick, interim manager, appointed in December 2021, with Brazil’s hard-bitten attack-minded creative midfield destroyer, Casemiro, being brought from Real Madrid for £60m, while the emergence of calmly composed controller, new precocious midfield talent, left footed teenager, Kobbie Mainoo, was enough to convince ten Hag to transfer Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos, otherwise known as ‘Fred’, on August 13th, 2023, for €9.74m to Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe, Istanbul, for their 2023-24 season, which effectively dismantled McFred's engine room.
With Mourinho having guided the side to a runners up spot in European Champions League Group H, behind Juventus, Solskjaer’s selection beat Paris Saint-Germain, 3-1 away in the 2018-19 season's Round of 16, with Lukaku opening the scoring on 2 minutes, seizing on German right half back Thilo Kehrer's back pass to round PSG's ‘keeper and strike left footed from a tight angle, then left footed again on 30 minutes, making it 2-1, after Italian ‘keeper Gianluigi Buffon was unable to hold onto a distance effort from Rashford, while Marcus converted a 94th minute penalty, 3-1, after French left half back Presnel Kimpembe was adjudged to have handled a shot at goal by Portuguese right back, Diogo Dalot, on as a 35th minute substitute for Ivory Coast's injured Eric Bailly, to ensure United’s progress on the ‘away goals counting double’ rule, after losing, 0-2, at home. However, the team lost to Barcelona, 0-4 on aggregate in the quarter final; 0-1 at Old Trafford, and in Spain 0-3 at Camp Nou.
In Solskjaer's first full 2019-20 season, McTominay started 20 games, 7 as substitute, scoring 4 goals, while Fred had 23 starts, 6 as substitute, with the team, finishing 3rd in the league, making the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, the League Cup, and the Europa Cup, the major innovation was the introduction in January 2020 for £47m of Bruno Fernandes from Portugal's CP Sporting, Lisbon, who'd complete a diamond behind a lone striker in front of him, while a left footed inverted winger on the right, and a right footed inverted winger on the left, essentially functioning as inside forwards, constituted the cutting edges.
With McTominay being earmarked for the role that England star, Paul Scholes, had formerly in midfield, as the player freed by the holding midfielder to go forward in support of the attack and score, Fernandes' 8 goals in 14 starts, with Marcus Rashford, 17 goals, and left footed inverted right winger, Anthony Martial, 17 goals, ahead of him, indicated a change in the way McTominay's midfield role could develop.
Failure to progress beyond the semi-final stages, against Manchester City in the League Cup, losing the first home leg, 1-3, with the side 0-3 at half time, before Rashford produced some hope in the second half with a clinical finish on 70 minutes, right of the penalty area, right footed, left corner, low, following a run from the halfway line by Mason Greenwood, and a defense-splitting pass from the 21 years center forward, but winning the second away leg, 1-0, with Matić, right of the penalty area, squeezing his shot inside the post, low into the right corner, left footed, on 35 minutes, after a City defender failed to head clear a Fred free kick, but Matić later sent off on 76 minutes, indicated that problems with the twin McFred engine in midfield, aligned as it was with Fernandes’ playmaker, behind a lone striker, and clipped wings, indicated the need for a tune up; if the ball was to be driven home by the forwards.
In the F.A. Cup semi-final the team lost, 1-3, to Chelsea, with Fernandes’ consolation penalty on 8 minutes, after winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi, appeared to kick at Martial, while they were defeated, 1-2, by Spain's Sevilla in the Europa Cup semi-final, despite taking the lead through a Fernandes' penalty on 9 minutes. The absence of McTominay from the semi-final starting line-ups in favor of Fernandes' diamond signified Solskjaer's preference for the then apparently unchallengeable left foot of Pogba alongside Fred for the latter stages of the cup competitions.
In his first full season, 2020-21, Bruno Fernandes top scored with 18 league goals, as the club finished 2nd in the Premier League on 73 points, albeit 10 behind Manchester City on 83, while failing to progress beyond the League Cup semi-final stage again, losing 0-2 to City, although McTominay, 25 and 7 appearances for 4 goals, did start with Fred, 27 starts and 3 appearances for 1 goal, as well as alongside Pogba, although it was Fred who made way for Scott in the team that lost, 10-11 on penalties to Spain's Villarreal, after 34 years Uruguayan center forward, Edinson Cavani, brought by Solskjaer on a free from Paris Saint-Germain, struck home an equalizer on 55 minutes, which wasn't enough to save either Solskjaer, or Pogba in the aftermath of the appointment of ten Hag.
What looked like desperation brought Cristiano Ronaldo for 2021-22 from Italian side Juventus for £12.85m. Called CR7 for his preferred shirt number, opening the scoring with a header on 26 minutes from a cross on the right by right full back, Wes Brown, Ronaldo had won the European Champions Cup with United against Chelsea, a.e.t., 1-1, and on penalties 6-5, on May 21st at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia, but failure to beat Barcelona at the Stadio Olympica, Rome, on May 27th in the 2008-09 Final, 0-2, led the Portuguese right winger, bought from CP Sporting Lisbon for £12.24m by Scot Alex Ferguson for 2003-04, to seek a transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid for £80m, where he won the European Champions Cup in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018, as well as the World Club Cup in 2014, 2016, and 2017, before being transferred to Juvé for £88m, where he won Serie A titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Ronaldo struck 18 times that 2021-22 season, 12 of those, including hat tricks against Spurs at Old Trafford, 3-2, on March 12th, 2022, and Norwich City at home, 3-2, on April 16th, coming after Rangnick became interim manager in December 2021, while McTominay’s 28 starts and 2 appearances for 1 goal, compared to Fred’s 24 starts and 4 appearances for 4 goals, was a sign of the adroitness with which McFred negotiated the Solskjaer-Rangnick interregnum.
Solskjaer, and after him coach Michael Carrick, had steered the side to win Group F in the Champions League, leaving Rangnick to negotiate the Round of 16, but a late 80th minute equalizing goal, taken with aplomb and apparent maturity by teenage Swedish striker, Anthony Elanga, 1-1, away at Spain's Atlético Madrid, persuaded Rangnick to persevere with him, and with England center forward Rashford on the bench, lost 0-1 in the second home leg, 1-2 on aggregate. Rangnick's chance was gone and ten Hag was appointed for 2022-23.
The club won the League cup, 2-0, against Newcastle United, with a headed goal from Casemiro on 33 minutes, following a free kick by left back, Luke Shaw, and a 39th minute strike from Rashford, deflected over German 'keeper, Loris Karius, but lost the F.A. Cup Final, 1-2, to Manchester City, after being a goal down from German captain İlkay Gündoğan's volley on 13 seconds, and despite an equalizing 33rd minute penalty from Fernandes, after right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka's progress on the right of the city 18 yard box was adjudged to have been illegally impeded by England winger Jack Grealish's handling of the ball. McTominay, 1 goal in 10 starts and 14 appearances in 2022-23, coming on in the League Cup Final as 69th minute substitute for Fred, 12 starts and 23 appearances for 4 goals, and for Swedish center back, Victor Lindelöf, on 83 minutes in the F.A. Cup Final, again indicated trouble with the engine.
Ten Hag had brought Danish ball player age 30, Christian Eriksen, 25 starts and 3 appearances, from Brentford on a free, and until the emergence of Mainoo in 2023-24 the pairing with Casemiro seemed most likely, with Pogba age 32 released to return to Juvé on June 30th, 2022, while Matić signed on a free for Roma.
With Real Madrid, Australia Group champions of the International Champions Cup (ICC) tournament in 2015, drawing with Italy's Roma, 0-0, losing 7-6 on penalties, July18th, before Manchester City beat Roma, July 21st, after drawing, 2-2, 5-4 on penalties, also at the Melboune Cricket Ground (MCG), July 24th, but in front of a 99,382 crowd, CR7 got Real's second on 25 minutes, 2-0, in a 4-1 defeat of City, toeing the ball, right footed, over Costa Rican 'keeper Keylor Navas' head, after collecting, at center field, inside the City 18 yard box, German midfielder Toni Kroos' pinpoint accurate, right footed, long-range pass from inside the half circle, at the City side of the half way line. Organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), CR7's status as a soccer champion became more global than Real.
The arrival of Moroccan international, defensive midfielder, Sofyan Amrabat, born in Huizen, Amsterdam metropolitan area, Holland, and on loan for £8.5m from Italy's Serie A club Fiorentina, together with England's attacking midfielder, Mason Mount, from Chelsea for £55m, put further pressure on McTominay, survivor of seven managerial purges, if the interim roles of legendary United and Welsh left winger, scorer of the 6th penalty that gave United victory over Chelsea in the 2008 European Champions Cup Final, Ryan Giggs, coach after Moyes' dismissal, before 2013-14 season's end, April 22nd - May 11th, 2014, and United and England midfield stalwart, Michael Carrick, November 21st - December 2nd, 2022, who coached the team to qualify for the European Champions League Round of 16, beating Villarreal away, 2-0, after Solskjaer, were to be considered managerial.
Ten Hag’s solution to his engine trouble was to bring Danish striker, Rasmus Højlund, from Italian Serie A club Atalanta for £64m to profit from Fernandes’ promptings, while Rashford would move to the left as an inverted right footed inside forward, with left footed Argentine winger, Alejandro Garnacho, on the right flank, although Casemiro’s 32 years suggested that, if McTominay, 27 years, needed to improve, and couldn’t, teenager Kobbie Mainoo would need a partner who wasn’t waiting to be retired, and although Mason Mount, 25 years, England’s attacking midfielder, bought from Chelsea for £55m for 2023-24, fits the description, 4 starts and 4 appearances, before retiring to the physiotherapist’s treatment room, indicate either that the emperor doesn’t want to wear any clothes, or at least one of the twin engine turbo needs replacing, rather than maintenance and a routine repair.
Luke Shaw, due a testimonial at the end of season 2023-24, as were Martial and Rashford for playing at 'the theater of Dreams' for a decade at the close of 2024-25, is a true measure of success. While 2023-24 is only McTominay's 8th year hoping to wear away a red strip, Lindelöf has another three seasons to serve, before a game played in his honour, against such luminaries as FIFA’s Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football's (CONCACAF's) New York Cosmos, for whom Germany’s ‘Kaiser’, sweeper Franz Beckenbauer, and Brazil’s magical Pelé played together, appearing for Paul Scholes’ on August 5th, 2011, recognizing loyalty as a portion of the take.