Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen has indicated the team’s defensive struggles are behind Erik ten Hag’s decision to drop him from the starting XI.
Eriksen played the full 90 in three successive United fixtures in August and September, against Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Brighton, and was selected against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. He has not started since, though, playing just 102 minutes across the next five league, Carabao Cup and Champions League matches – including missing one game entirely through illness.
Nearly half of those minutes came last time out against Brentford, with Eriksen replacing Casemiro at half-time as Ten Hag’s team went in search of a comeback victory which only came their way in second-half stoppage-time. And as he prepares to play for Denmark in a Euro 2024 qualifying double-header, the former Internazionale star opened up on the state of play at club level.
“I think you should ask the coach what he thinks,” Eriksen told Danish outlet Ekstrabladet. “We have been hit hard by injuries in defence. We have simply conceded too many goals. I was sick last week, but I’m doing fine. I don’t have any flaws. The body feels good and of course I want to play every game.
“But if you have seen the matches yourself, you may also see that (Ten Hag) plays with slightly different types than me,” he added. Ten Hag started with a central midfield pairing of Casemiro and Sofyan Amrabat against Brentford, while Hannibal started against Galatasaray in United’s last European game.
Ten Hag’s explanation for withdrawing Casemiro early against Brentford may be good news for former Bees man Eriksen, though. “I wanted more football,” Ten Hag said after the victory. “One who brings passing, distribution, link-up play. So I thought bring [on] Christian Eriksen for Case.”
United’s next game is against Sheffield United, who sit bottom of the Premier League. It is another fixture where they will be expected to set the tempo, and Ten Hag will need to decide whether it’s the sort of game that calls for Eriksen in the middle.
Before then, though, the Dane has a pair of important international matches to take care of. The top four teams in Denmark’s Euro 2024 qualifying group are separated by just one point, but victories against Kazakhstan and San Marino would go a long way to helping them book their place in Germany next summer.