"He will be an example of passion and desire" - Ten Hag reveals reason for naming 27-year-old as Manchester United captain against Liverpool
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has explained why he handed the armband to midfielder Scott McTominay for the Premier League clash at Liverpool on Sunday (December 17).
The Red Devils are coming off consecutive home losses across competitions: a 3-0 league defeat to Bournemouth last weekend followed by a 1-0 reverse to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
Currently sixth in the league standings, Ten Hag's side are 10 points behind Liverpool and can ill-afford to further drop off the pace with a defeat at Anfield. With regular captain Bruno Fernandes suspended because of yellow-card accumulation, the United boss explained why he gave McTominay, 27, the captain's armband:
“He is one of the examples of what it means to play for Man Utd, to play with the badge on his heart," the Dutchman said about McTominay (as per transfer expert Fabrizio Romano). "I'm sure he will be a communicator. I'm sure he will be an example of passion and desire”.
McTominay has been one of the form players for a struggling United side this season, bagging six goals and an assist in 18 games across competitions.
"We have to believe in our opportunities" - Manchester United boss on Liverpool clash
Manchester United have made a dismal start to the season across competitions, losing a whopping 12 times. Seven of those losses have come in the Premier League, where they're sixth in the standings.
Coming off back-to-back defeats across competitions, United couldn't have had a tougher fixture to return to winning ways. Acknowledging the quality of the Reds, Ten Hag said in his pre-match press conference (as per United's website):
"They are top of the league and so, in a tough league as the Premier League, it tells that they are doing very good. That it's a very good team, it's very good players, individual-wise.
"And so, yeah, all the rewards to the manager, to the coaching staff and how they perform, but there are opportunities against them, and we have to believe in those opportunities."
United crashed to a 7-0 hiding on their last league visit to Anfield in May at the fag end of last season, a result Ten Hag and Co. would hope to avoid an encore of.