McTominay improved since Case's signing. The fact that they won against both Liverpool and Arsenal with him on the pitch proves he's not totally worthless.
There really was no reason for EtH to change as long as they were winning. But now he'll probably think about making some changes to his usual gala XI.
It's clear where things stand. Ten Hag wants a deep lying midfielder capable of driving the ball forward like De Jong; McTominay is the wish version of that (it's also why he attempted Fred in the same position earlier in the season). Casemiro, with all his quality, isn't that. So he persists with McTominay. That's it.
Just because they won those games doesn't mean Mctominay was good - he wasn't. He's a terrible passer of the ball, has terrible positional awareness, hides away from the ball, and is terrible at retaining possession. His only good attribute is fouling people.
Do you know why the games you listed worked for Ten Hag? Because he gave up on possession and positional play and focused on counters; he bypassed the midfield.
The situation with Mctominay and Casemiro has nothing to do with Mctominay being good, Ten Hag is just stubborn and refuses to change his preferences. Guarantee you if it was De Jong he'd be starting immediately from day 1, regardless of form or adaptation. Just like Antony.
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