Scott McTominay believes he is close to returning to his best form after scoring twice in Napoli's 4-3 victory over Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The Scotland midfielder, who recently returned from minor heart surgery, helped his side secure their first win of this season's campaign.
Brace eases pressure on Allegri
The result also relieved some of the pressure on head coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has won only four of his 10 matches in all competitions since succeeding Antonio Conte in the summer. Napoli have endured their worst ever start to a Serie A season under Allegri.
McTominay, a key figure for the Tartan Army, is hopeful the 2023 Scudetto winners can now build momentum across all competitions.
McTominay on fitness and performance
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia after the match, McTominay said: "I still have to make progress and continue my athletic work to get into top shape. I think I'm now very close to my peak. I've embarked on a journey to regain my fitness and hope to maintain it for the rest of my career."
He added: "My goal is to make the best possible contribution to the team, especially in front of our fans. I'm just saying it's amazing, truly wonderful. Thank you."
Reflecting on the match, McTominay said: "I think it was a fun match to watch. We know that in certain situations we could have managed certain phases better, avoiding conceding goals to our opponents. We'll revisit the game tomorrow and throughout the week, analyzing the mistakes we made to understand how to correct them and move forward."
He stressed the importance of the result: "The priority was to bring home the result in front of our fans, regardless of the difficulties we would encounter."
Ten Hag criticises United over sale
Earlier this week, Erik ten Hag, McTominay's former manager at Manchester United, expressed his anger at the club's decision to sell the midfielder to Napoli two years ago. Ten Hag stated: "In Ibiza, we agreed. I said, 'No selling Scott McTominay'. We would go aligned in the transfer window. I make an argument, a reason: we don't have scoring abilities. Scott brings scoring abilities and great mentality. He has United in all his veins. So when they bring up the subject, 'No'. And in the end they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed."
