Napoli’s Scott McTominay Shines In Serie A Debut

Copyright – @en_sscnapoli

Scott McTominay was thrown into the deep end as he made his first start for Napoli in their recent away trip against Juventus.

The Serie A clash didn’t seem to phase the Scottish internationalist. Napoli boss Antonio Conte decided to change his formation to a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 and give Scott a prominent role as an attacking threat sitting behind main striker Romelu Lukaku.

After the 0-0 draw with Juve, Conte explained his tactical tweaks via Football Italia:

“The idea came to me because on the last day of the transfer market we got McTominay and Gilmour, plus brought Folorunsho back into the squad. The midfield then became a pretty strong group of players and we had to make the most of that,”

“We had already started working on it last week against Cagliari, alternating between the systems, and 3-4-2-1 will be useful, but I also concentrated on this tactic. It fits this team, they can do it, let’s say I was a little concerned about our defending with this approach, but we did very well.”

This shows that McTominay offers the Partenopei something different in the middle of the park and that he already has the trust of his new manager.

The twenty-seven year old looked particularly dangerous in the open yet extremely tactical first half. He was direct and powerful. That front foot mindset unsettled his opponents. His shot from outside the box was spilled initially by goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio and proved that the attacking midfielder was a threat that couldn’t be ignored.

The more he works alongside the likes of Lukaku, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Matteo Politano, David Neres and Giacomo Raspadori the better understanding he’ll develop with the exciting forwards at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The more he plays in Italy’s top flight the quicker he will understand when will be best for him to push forward with this late runs that has seen him become a regular goalscorer in international football with Scotland.

I have no doubts that with Scott’s technique and physique that he’ll be a real handful in opposition penalty areas up and down Serie A. He completed his two dribbling attempts and won his aerial battle too, Conte will hope that he can see his new combative midfielder do more of those as he settles in to life in Naples.

McTominay lasted the full 90 minutes, which again shows the trust he has already gained from his manager, and his passing was pretty decent too. He completed 81% of his 21 passes, although he didn’t have as much of an influence in the second half as both sides started to really cancel each other out. But you can never accuse the new number eight of going into hiding, he has a terrific work ethic and is always a willing runner for his teammates.

I am extremely excited to see how Scott McTominay grows as a footballer under Antonio Conte at Napoli. I think the move should be great for all sides and this first start shows that the Scotland star can really make a strong impact in Italy’s top tier.

 

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