There is no getting around it: Manchester United have had a thoroughly disappointing season so far.
They have endured a genuinely dreadful Champions League campaign and stand on the precipice of going out at the group stage. There have been murmurings of a discontented dressing room, and the team's Premier League form has been erratic at best.
However, as dreadful as the last few months must have been for the United faithful, Erik ten Hag's men sit just three points behind Manchester City in fourth place and picked up a tremendous win against Chelsea during the week thanks to two goals from the increasingly potent Scott McTominay.
The Scotsman looks as if he has totally changed his role this year and is starting to produce numbers that a former United midfielder used to be well known for, in the form of Paul Pogba.
Scott McTominay's stats this year
The Lancaster-born midfielder has long been a player that fans and pundits alike have derided as being below par or lacking in technical quality – having even been dubbed "not good enough" by club legend Roy Keane last year.
While that may well be true to some extent, he has quickly turned himself into one of United's most influential players this year.
The 26-year-old is directly responsible for two of the Red Devils' wins this season, scoring two late goals to secure a comeback win over Brentford and then scoring two goals against the Blues this week.
Goals
Assists
2
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
2
0
The Lancaster-born "goal machine", as dubbed by the PA's chief football writer Simon Peach, also scored the club's opening goal in their 2-1 away win over Sheffield United and put the ball in the back of the net once in the away draw with Galatasaray.
Ten Hag must employ the in-form midfielder against Bournemouth on the weekend, as he could once again prove to be the difference should the Cherries put up a good fight.
Scott McTominay can emulate Paul Pogba
Now, it is a rather bold statement, but could Ten Hag have found Man United's new Pogba in the academy graduate?
It's not to say that the Scotland international is of the same quality that the World Cup winner was during his pomp; he's not even close, but he is proving to be just as effective in an attacking sense at the moment.
At his best, the Frenchman was a goal-scoring box-to-box midfielder who could and would influence games in the final third even when he might not have been in the best form, notably scoring 16 goals in all competitions in 2018/19.
That, at present, is precisely what the £60k-per-week youth product is doing for the three-time European champions this season.
Stat
Paul Pogba
Scott McTominay
Matches Played
26
16
Goals
1
6
Assists
9
1
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists per 90
0.34
0.46
Shots on Target per 90
0.48
1.08
Tackles Won per 90
0.64
0.83
All Stats via FBref for Premier League and European Appearances
The "fabulous" midfielder, as described by Ten Hag himself, isn't going to start replicating the very best version of Pogba, but so far this season, he has shown that there is perhaps more to his game than many first gave him credit for.
Many areas of the team need work in the coming transfer windows, but perhaps a goalscoring midfielder isn't one, so long as the Flying Scotsman is still around.