[Idxomer]

Not really. He usually runs more than most in the time he is on. He has issues after 60 minutes which is why it would be better he was a backup to De Jong. But he offers far more control than McFred.

I meant overrun in midfield. He's better than McFred but that's not good enough to compete at the top.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

Said it and got jumped on but he is not it. Very much the Spurs player.

 

[Lyng]

Arsenal at Old trafford? we were dominated in that game especially in the second half. He wont be dominating any game we play against the likes of City, Arsenal, Brighton or Liverpool because he just doesnt have the legs. I like him as aplayer but we need better.
Lets be honest, do you think he is good enough to be a starting player if we want to compete for the league next season?

His legs are fine the first 60 minutes. But ideally he is a backup to Bruno / DeJong that I agree with. But given the options we have right now he should absolutely start.

 

[united_99]

He has been overrated since day 1. Next season the midfield needs to be Bruno, Case plus a Scholes clone.

 

[padzilla]

I think he's a cracking player but it looks like he is too deep when we play him and less skilful but more energetic opponents tend to push him out of games. He needs to be higher up for us.

 

[E-mal]

His legs are fine the first 60 minutes. But ideally he is a backup to Bruno / DeJong that I agree with. But given the options we have right now he should absolutely start.

So were is the hyperbole in my initial post? Or you have a completely different definition of hyperbole?

 

[TMDaines]

Eriksen came across as remarkably relaxed about this repeated spankings in that interview with BT.

 

[Lyng]

So were is the hyperbole in my initial post? Or you have a completely different definition of hyperbole?

You said he shouldn't even be at the club which is insane to me.

 

[Lyng]

I think he's a cracking player but it looks like he is too deep when we play him and less skilful but more energetic opponents tend to push him out of games. He needs to be higher up for us.

When playing that role he needs an energetic partner to pick up his passes and a strong 6. Case was off his game and Bruno was suspended. Eriksen will not be able to work as a 8 in that scenario.

 

[Rajma]

His legs and physicality has gone, a very intelligent player and can be useful against smaller teams but really lacks mobility now at this stage of his career. We need a good amount of first team midfielders in the summer.

 

[E-mal]

You said he shouldn't even be at the club which is insane to me.

I said he should be a squad player next season and beyond next season he should not be at the club. That is not hyperbole considering he will be more than 33 ten coupled with his physical limitation

 

[Lyng]

I said he should be a squad player next season and beyond next season he should not be at the club. That is not hyperbole considering he will be more than 33 ten coupled with his physical limitation

Look at how much distance he covers when playing. He just can't play like that more than 60 minutes. That's not new. That has been him since his Spurs days. He is still a very intelligent player and would be a fine backup for s few years.

 

[E-mal]

Look at how much distance he covers when playing. He just can't play like that more than 60 minutes. That's not new. That has been him since his Spurs days. He is still a very intelligent player and would be a fine backup for s few years.

Whatever you say boss

 

[11101]

Good news he is back but i fear a few of you are doing the usual trick of building our players up whilst they are out injured. Eriksen is a great passer but he is lightweight and bypassed easily. We've got quite an easy run in with teams that should suit him but he would not have done us much good against Newcastle and i'd rather keep Casemiro and Fred against the better midfields in the league.

Got jumped on for this post. He's like Mata in the early days of his decline, very easy on the eye but we get overrun with him in midfield.

 

[MadDogg]

He's a 'good' central midfielder. Great option to have in the squad and someone who can start plenty of games, but ideally we do upgrade that position. Or at least somebody at a similar level who brings slightly different options to handle higher intensity games.

His legs are fine the first 60 minutes.

In most games that is true. But there's been a number of games this season where he's struggled massively right from the start when the opposition are playing with a lot of intensity and pressing us hard.

 

[A-man]

From great to this on a couple of days… like many other.

 

[Sylar]

I didn't understand Eth putting him out wide when it was 2-0 and we had a sub left (and pellestri on the bench).

Anyway it wasn't a great game. He didn't have one last week v Sevilla but did so v forest. We defo needed more energy for this game especially given how the first half went. Him or sabitzer had to come off at ht

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He's a 'good' central midfielder. Great option to have in the squad and someone who can start plenty of games, but ideally we do upgrade that position. Or at least somebody at a similar level who brings slightly different options to handle higher intensity games.


In most games that is true. But there's been a number of games this season where he's struggled massively right from the start when the opposition are playing with a lot of intensity and pressing us hard.

Yep. He's a great option in many games but against very intense opposition it costs us, especially when we didn't have Bruno's legs either.

 

[Sylar]

Yep. He's a great option in many games but against very intense opposition it costs us, especially when we didn't have Bruno's legs either.

This is fair, one thing Bruno does is track back a lot and makes himself an option for eriksen and casemiro to pass to.

Having eriksen and sabitzer together wasn't gonna work against a team like Sevilla who we invited back into the tie last week

 

[The United]

Eriksen is a class act still, but he is obviously not as good as he once was.

I have been beating the drum that he can't handle the physical intensity against teams that give him that. It was evidence against the likes of City and a few others earlier in the season.

It is not that easy to sub him in place of Bruno to play anywhere in CM or No. 10 because you are losing a ton of intensity, and without it, your creativity means nothing as you and your team would be on the back foot the whole match nowadays.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

This is fair, one thing Bruno does is track back a lot and makes himself an option for eriksen and casemiro to pass to.

Having eriksen and sabitzer together wasn't gonna work against a team like Sevilla who we invited back into the tie last week

Yeah I understand why ETH did it, as Sabitzer is the most natural Bruno replacement with his running behind while Eriksen can help control from deeper, but we really needed Fred's relentless energy to raise the other players levels in this one. We were so lethargic from the get go in midfield, that coupled with an early clown show at the back to further instill confidence in Sevilla, meant we got overran and didn't really give us a chance to get into the game or any sort of rhythm

 

[Escobar]

If you play him too often, his quality drops. We need at least one additional midfielder in summer and have him as an "add-on"

 

[united for life]

When we signed him, my initial thought that he would be a great squad player. Finally a proper back up player to rotate Bruno. We ended up missing on other midfield targets which led to him filling the CM role. He generally did well, his drop in form after the injury (and along with the general drop in form), should not take that away from him. For next year, ETH seems to still be looking to enhance that CM position. If that happens, Eriksen will drop to the bench. But he’ll be an excellent player to have for rotation.

 

[Sylar]

I'm still adamant we only got eriksen because he was free. If he had an extra year left at Brentford we wouldn't have paid to get him nor would we have got anybody else especially after missing out on de Jong

 

[jasveron]

Really don't know what to make of him. The last PL game he was almost a 10/10 and then a few days later this performance.
Well the whole team played like shit. But expected more from him (and Case) in the midfield. It's truly disappointing.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Really don't know what to make of him. The last PL game he was almost a 10/10 and then a few days later this performance.
Well the whole team played like shit. But expected more from him (and Case) in the midfield. It's truly disappointing.

Everton and Forest (and Brentford before that) were easy games. No pressing, zero intensity, just teams with 10 men behind the ball trying to stay compact. We enjoyed >65% of possession in these games without even trying. In a sense, it was the perfect opportunity to ease him back into the side. He's still struggling for match rhythm. But the three league wins made people giddy. You could put Scholes and Giggs in the late 40s in the team and we would still win those.

 

[Godfather]

Chasing shadows

 

[DWelbz19]

Games like the Nottingham Forest one where he and Fernandes can cruise around are what we need to keep him as a starter for. Can’t run in the bigger games

 

[Borys]

What a pickle. On one hand, his passing created our first 2 big chances. On the other, he's completely out of the game when asked to do more running and closing down.

I am not sure if this was the right approach to use him from the start in this game, he did some pressing high up so would make more sense to start Fred. But then again, the two chances he created....

 

[meamth]

Games like the Nottingham Forest one where he and Fernandes can cruise around are what we need to keep him as a starter for. Can’t run in the bigger games

Probably lost match sharpness which is understandable, or he really can't perform anymore at this level where games are played in such fast pace.

 

[Cutch]

Shouldn't be playing him in games we'll have less of the ball in. Today was made for Fred, astonished we left it so long to do the necessary

 

[Kag]

Felt for him today. He’s brilliant, but he’s on a hiding to nothing being asked to lead the press that high up.

At home, when we’re going to get plenty of the ball, then he’s great. But that role is for Fred and Ten Hag should know better at this point.

 

[Idxomer]

We got more football from him than anyone expected at the start of the season but he really shouldn't be a guaranteed starter next season.

 

[11101]

No point having a player who is exhausted 5 minutes after half time.

 

[Sylar]

Him coming off was a turning point for us. We have no control without him.

 

[Abraxas]

I thought he was very good. Once he left the probability of us giving the ball away through the midfield increased massively. But obviously fitness is a concern with him. We need to be able to manage him next season.

 

[Marwood]

No point having a player who is exhausted 5 minutes after half time.

Strange sub I thought. He was playing really well.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Strange sub I thought. He was playing really well.

was getting over run, he needed to be subbed.

 

[Abraxas]

was getting over run, he needed to be subbed.

I might be looking a cow in the ass in saying this, but we took off a guy finding red shirts at 90% for Fred who looked like he was playing for Tottenham. Maybe it was fitness related, but it certainly didn't help us get control of the game or make us more competitive as intended. If Eriksen's legs were struggling then I get the idea of Fred to run around, but it just didn't work.

I think we would have had a few more opportunities to kill Tottenham on the break if his distribution was there.

 

[11101]

Strange sub I thought. He was playing really well.

He was starting to struggle with the pace of the game. Needed to come off earlier even.