Scott McTominay reveals Jose Mourinho's words of wisdom ahead of Manchester United debut against Crystal Palace
A much-changed United side, their youngster-ever Premier League line-up, beat Crystal Palace thanks to goals from 21-year-old Josh Harrop and Paul Pogba
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Your support makes all the difference.Scott McTominay has revealed Jose Mourinho's advice before he made his Manchester United debut on Sunday.
A much-changed United side, their youngster-ever Premier League line-up, beat Crystal Palace thanks to goals from 21-year-old Josh Harrop and Paul Pogba with 20-year-old McTominay starting in midfield.
Demetri Mitchell, McTominay and Joel Pereira joined Harrop in making their full debuts on an afternoon when 16-year-old Angel Gomes came on to become the first player born this millennium to play in the top flight.
And McTominay revealed manager Mourinho had some words of wisdom for his young side before the game.
"He was just saying be calm, be composed and go and play your normal game and enjoy it," he said. "Obviously it was a brilliant experience today with all the young lads making their debuts and having a positive result in the end.
"We wanted to go out and win the game and that is what we did. It was an unbelievable feeling going out there in front of 75,000 people - the biggest crowd that a lot of our lads have played in front of.
"You've just got to embrace that whenever you go out there and play like it is a normal game, and go and grab the opportunity. If you want to be a top, top player, you have to play in pressured environments in these games.
"Throughout my career I want to be playing in the Premier League so that's the most important thing for me, to get as many of these games as I possibly can and hopefully push into the first team."
Youngster Joel Pereira started between the sticks with Mourinho recently suggesting his compatriot could be "the best Portuguese goalkeeper of the next generation".
The 20-year-old thanked his boss for the kind words and Sunday's opportunity, which he is determined to get on a far more regular basis moving forwards.
"(Being number one at United) is what I want to do most and I will work hard for it," he said. "Obviously I need to be patient - I am a young goalkeeper at one of the top clubs in the world.
"But my goal is to be the number one of United and hopefully I will get there and I will make sure I do that by working hard."
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