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The Manchester United players left the Ulleval stadium in Oslo Tuesday night after their fifth consecutive pre-season victory.
It was a mediocre match on a wet night, but hundreds of spectators were waiting near the Premier League team coach to catch sight of the players as a result of the 1-0 win of Juan Mata on the penalty spot.
Marcus Rojo was the first to embark, far ahead of the others, an isolated figure with an uncertain future for United.
Nemanja Matic, a man of high society, dominated local journalists and celebrities who interviewed him.
Taller was still the Scott McTominay suit, who came to speak at the National.
At only 17 meters at 17, he is now at 1.92 meters, the highest on the team but, given the muscle he has built, is no longer the thinnest.
McTominay joined United at age 10 and the club stayed with him and allowed him to grow. They thought he was still a brave player, which he noticed when Nicky Butt trained with the young man.
Butt told Jose Mourinho, who gave him his debut. Now 22, he is the first player to play more and more.
"I really enjoyed this pre-season," he said. "It's different, we worked a lot.
"I think the boys have understood and that in the games we had, we showed a glimpse of what we can do, with offensive football.
"We have so much to improve and tonight everyone made some mistakes, but it's time to fix the situation in the pre-season and get it right for the first game.
"I'm definitely in better shape than I've ever been, I feel cool and ready to go, competing for a place in the first XI."
The words are not going to go so far after a sixth place finish in 2018-19, something McTominay admits.
"It was a difficult season, we have to leave it behind," he said. After my departure from Everton, I went home and I was almost in tears. It was so difficult to manage.
Last May, in Huddersfield Town, in the penultimate League game of United, he was sitting in the dugout after the match, seeming to curse how terrible his team had become.
It may have seemed artificial, but the feeling was sincere and contrasted from the previous year, when Mourinho had invented the new "Best Player of the Year" award for McTominay.
Mourinho, who nicknamed him "The Kid", was a defender of the player who grew up in Lancaster, 20 km north of Manchester.
United is popular in Lancaster, which has its own semi-professional team, although McTominay has watched the neighboring city of Preston in the North End, and even closer to Morecambe, the second worst support of the 92 clubs in the English league and who did well to stay in the league.
McTominay's mother is from Morecambe, his father in Scotland. Both are sitting at Stretford End among the fans and watching him play.
They also follow him for Scotland – and closer to home when he was in Lancaster and he bore the glorious name of Giant Hatch located in the shadow of the city's castle this week.
"We had a charity football match for one of my companions whose mother had had cancer a few nights ago and had raised a lot of money," he said.
Fundraising took place between the pre-season Asian tour and a trip to Norway.
"There were 300 people there, friends that I can not always see. We have raised a lot of money for a cause that is dear to all friends of my friends. "
When Mourinho left, fans doubted the future of McTominay in the United States. A cynical point of view was that Mourinho used him as an anti-Paul Pogba with whom he often ran into trouble.
The eyebrows rose when McTominay took the best out of Pogba during a match outside the UEFA Champions League in Seville, as he was when he was in the game. He debuted as a central defender in a terrific defeat at West Ham United in September 2018, where McTominay was not the only one to fight. .
Mourinho may have wanted to argue his point of view by praising McTominay's attitude and talent, but the pragmatic Portuguese also seemed to instruct McTominay not to be pbadionate – to block, intercept and close spaces. And Manchester United are not traditionally exhilarating.
McTominay was in Mourinho what Darren Fletcher was to Sir Alex Ferguson, a player for whom the manager had the most weak points.
Still, Fletcher has become a vital part of United's winning machine and the future of McTominay is brighter than ever.
"The manager was very good to me," he told Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. "I had to be patient at first."
Solskjaer did not pitch in a league match for two months. McTominay was rather lucky because of injuries to others. He seized it when he had the opportunity.
"I had shown him so much that I could be a Manchester United player and trust me in big games, but I feel like that's what I did last year."
McTominay's decent performances at the end of last season were crumbs on a plate that United fans have long enjoyed.
He was encouraged to advance, to play a little, to attack. Solskjaer still wants a midfielder to arrive in the box. Most were too exhausted to get there in the spring, but McTominay scored the club's only two goals since the start of the game, between March and May – a startling statistic.
Hitting the ball in the corner of Wolverhampton Wanderers was pretty much the only brilliant moment in three games against the Midlands last season.
Young No 39 was also much better than supposedly stellar names around him.
The Team He described him as the best player on the field for United against Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in April, the United player showing the most desires after dominating the Catalans in the first 15 minutes.
United have faced Barcelona after eliminating Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round, a feat that still resonates at McTominay.
"This night in Paris was probably the best of my life, there was so much adrenaline," he said of the overwhelming 3-1 victory in Paris, where a Marcus Rashford penalty allowed United to score.
"The penalty, go to the fans after to celebrate. We do not just want more of that in this club, we need more of that. We will work hard to make sure we do it. "
He is optimistic, he speaks well too. "What I want is to be that player on the team where you are a leader, it's you who tell people. You respect the standards, "he adds.
McTominay has only played 47 games in the first team. He is not yet a pillar and the decision to put him under the cover of the Pro Evolution Soccer 2020 video game has raised eyebrows, but he is moving forward and his teammates are helping him out.
"Nemanja and Paul were very kind to me," he says of Matic and Pogba. "I learn from them, the little details not only on the field, but also on life and on how to manage oneself on and off the field, how to be with the fans, for the respect.
"I was raised in humility, have good standards, anyway, but young players can be followed aside.
"Nemanja tells me to keep your feet on the ground, to focus on football and not to worry about material things like cars."
This is Matic, who has devoted a sizeable portion of his salary to improving his hometown, Serbia. "I love Nemanja, he's like a big brother to me," adds McTominay.
Mourinho did not hesitate to scandalize him either as he entered the locker room of the first team. Regardless of the quality of a young player, the first teammates must love them.
This did not always happen – Adnan Januzaj, confident, was an example of what not to do to win friends and influence people. Mourinho encouraged McTominay to respect his elders and learn the nuances of the locker room.
Now the training is mainly taken by people promoted by Mourinho – Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick.
"Kieran and Michael are so good," said the midfielder. "Incredible attention to detail, planning and many tips.
"If I do not listen and do not learn, someone else will do it and take my place, my father has always told me."
"It's extremely important that this club puts the players in the academy. I remember when I made my team debut after going through the academy.
"I went to the training ground and everyone in the canteen was buzzing about how proud they were – and they also played their part, I want the other boys to be heard, follow the traces of Marcus and Jesse (Lingard), two of the best examples.
"It's good when players come from the same teams, when they've known each other for 10 years, that creates a real spirit."
McTominay played with Rashford in the under 16s, then as No 10, now usually in front of the defense. He is in competition with Matic, Fred, Andreas Pereira and Pogba, but he will also have more opportunities since the departure of Ander Herrera and Marouanne Fellaini.
"There are many things that I know I can improve," he said. "I work constantly, I do not want to sit on games that I played, I want to go to the next level."
He has the support of his manager. "Scott is a good example of what we expect and hope from our young people," said Solskjaer.
"He is patient and I hope he will be doing well this season and will have a big impact on the team."
He is no longer the kid, he will not be softened to be one anymore. Like many United players, it's time to deliver.
Last Updated: July 31, 2019 19:09
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