Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has laughed off claims he bullied Alejandro Garnacho during a training session as he praised the youngster who can go on to be “one hell of a footballer”.
McTominay caused some controversy during a training session ahead of a Europa League clash with Real Sociedad back in November. The Scot was filmed removing Garnacho’s woolly hat from the youngster’s head and kicking it away.
The footage went viral online, with some hasty accusations being made that McTominay was bullying the teenager.
McTominay has now cleared the incident up, telling The Athletic : “I had a lot of people saying that was bullying! That was just a bit of a joke. But he needs to keep his feet on the ground and keep working hard and he can be one hell of a footballer.”
Erik ten Hag turned to McTominay regularly at the beginning of the season, before Casemiro eventually went on to displace McTominay in the middle of the park. The academy graduate opened up on his own development as a footballer, as he revealed what the Dutchman wants from his United team.
He said: “I like scoring goals and being in the box, but I like the other side of it too. I like a bit of everything, the horrible side of the game. I need to start doing it all. He [Ten Hag] likes to fill the box with players. He wants players in the box ready to score goals. If you don’t have enough players in the box you never are going to score goals, because a striker can’t beat four players by himself.”
After United’s sobering 4-0 defeat by Brentford in August, Ten Hag made the headlines after it emerged that he had organised a training session after the loss to put the players through their paces off the back of a lacklustre display. The former Ajax manager came under some scrutiny for the decision, with some pointing to the potential injury concerns involved in further strenuous activity after a high-intensity match – yet McTominay has now cleared up what actually went on after the match.
“It wasn’t really a running session,” he said. “It was more a case of, ‘Get your running trainers on and do a few laps.’ It wasn’t like people were dying after a game, because it’s unsafe. It was to flush the legs, run around, and he joined in as well, because when we lose, we all lose together, that was part of the process behind it.”
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