Quality player but the worry for me is if we'd be set up to get the best out of him.
Barce should seriously consider going for him
Barce should seriously consider going for him
Christian Eriksen
- Thread starter Robbie Boy
- Start date
Unless he's happy playing deeper as a #8 rather than #10, we don't need him.
Fabulous player. Should have signed him while he was Ajax. Hopefully, our scouting system helps us find what we need. Lets see if we can get top full backs for relatively affordable price or will we switch into galactico mode.
I can't see where we fit him in and get the best out of him.
If he plays deeper, he'll be doing the job Pogba is supposed to do. If we play him wide, he'll struggle for us. He's not the kind of wide player we need.
If he plays deeper, he'll be doing the job Pogba is supposed to do. If we play him wide, he'll struggle for us. He's not the kind of wide player we need.
Sign him, keep Mata
We need depth as well
Players voted him, doubt he'd be in MOTDs or MNFs team of the season even though he's arguably been their most consistent player this season and some may say their best as well
Edit: seems like @Damien answered that earlier
Not sure. I think he's a v good player, but needs a certain style and team around him. And I am not sure how 'influential' he is, week-in, week-out. Where would he play? He doesn't provide pace, and would conflict with Pogba and Sanchez/Rashford. And he doesn't defend.. so good luck with that under Mourinho..
Can't say I agree with you...
From my point of view:
He's two-footed, good at free-kicks, good at crosses, good at through-balls, good at short-passing, good technique to get past a pressing team, good work-rate for a attacking-player and figures well all across the 3 behind the striker or even in a midfield 3 based on his skillset. He's the ultimate versatility player within the midfield area in my opinion.
That's nonsense.
Which part?
The fact that he is underrated or that he would be a lot more valued had he been from a nation that is a footballing powerhouse or that he is as good as KdB?
The first 2 are generally accepted opinions, while the 3rd is slightly controversial but a significant proportion of people would agree with that as well.
Those are technical qualities. People get completely beguiled by technique, stats etc... it's a little frustrating... how good a football player is he? that's what i question... your assessment of him sounds like a number of players.. (for example remember David Bentley?...).
I state that he doesn't add pace (which we can lack in our game, in both passing and movement).. and I don't know how effective he is, week in, week out... that's just an opinion I have, because I still, still think he is a little bit of a player that plays well, at certain times.. Liverpool under Klopp maybe (as a Couthino figure,although I think Couthino was more inspirational at Liverpool than Eriksen at Spurs..) La Liga would be perfect for him, although I do not see him at a Barca / Real TYPE team (as I, personally, don't think he is in that league yet... Iniesta, Modric, Rakitic, Kroos..) but given the challenge, who knows... PSG would also suit...
I think he is at the right club, at the right time for him, in a Prem League that suits him. United would be a bigger club, the demands far greater, and I am not sure he has that 'leadership' and inspiration that a player like him would need at a club like United. And.. he would be expected to have defensive responsibilities, at least some.
Personally, I would rather see Mahrez come in, offload Mata who is stagnating at United.
Sell martial, sign him
We lack pace in our game, not because we lack players with pace (Rashford, Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial to mention the most obvious ones) but we lack pace in our play due to tactical or player deficiencies in making quick, offensive passes and moves less likely to happen. We play quickest when Pogba is "on" because he pushes our play to move faster in attack. Eriksen would've provided the same for us if he were to play in that role (or a role behind the striker or out on the right).
I could say big striker with a physical presence & bit shit first touch and that could be said for both Andy Carroll & Romelu Lukaku, but there is a world of difference in their qualities. I obviously hold Eriksen to a much higher regard than anyone ever held Bentley to, and bringing up Bentley to me seems more like a straw-man argument than anything else. Hell I'll take it a step further, small technical player that can glide past multiple opponent, set up goals and score them. I could be speaking of Messi or Jesse.
Most of the things I mentioned with Eriksen were technical qualities, but his technical qualities shows he isn't limited to one style of play & I mentioned that I think he works hard defensively for a attacking-player (which most often shows in interception, based on positioning & pressing abilities), as players from the Ajax-school of training tend to do. Which are qualities that Mourinho would certainly appreciate. I also think the mix of these (high) qualities makes him available for multiple styles of plays in different positions. He's a absolutely brilliant player in my view based on being high-quality across the board as someone without a weakness in his play apart from pace, which is what i put forward to counter your view of seeing him as someone in need of a certain style to do well.
You are free to have your opinion, I'm not going to say It's flat out wrong, but my view of things disagrees with yours and I bolded out the part where you question his qualities because of his speed due to how well balanced a player he is who performs at a level similar to the absolute best in the league (who also don't have pace, apart from Hazard).
In a team like ours who have a lot of pace but aren't making good use of it, he'd be as good as he is at Spurs, if not better. In his current team he has Alli who is fantastic when it comes to timing and finishing & Kane who is good at most parts of the game and great at finishing. Neither of those have loads pace to burn and Son who has pace at Spurs has had to make way for Lamela from time to time who is back to not being fast or slow, yet he still functions well as their creator.
My point being pace isn't the be all end all. It's important to have around players like Eriksen but they don't need to have that pace themselves as long as they are either good dribblers or exceptionally versatile passers. In both situations a good work-rate is a great addition for balancing play between defending and attacking.
I'm not against the idea of signing Mahrez and letting go of Mata, I think it would be a very good move for our club. But getting hung up on the idea of one player joining will most often leave you disappointed. Be open to the opportunities around & look at the different qualities and how they have worked in similar roles. Mahrez could add pace out on the right, but the same could come from better passers around the 10-to-midfield area and a high quality right-back.
It's time for him to leave imo. At 26 he is entering his prime and i'm sure he would like to look back at a career with some trophies that his talent deserves.
Question is where he would fit in. I don't see Barca or Real with the need for a player like him and Bayern already have James. I think we could have a chance here, if he demanded a transfer of course.
Question is where he would fit in. I don't see Barca or Real with the need for a player like him and Bayern already have James. I think we could have a chance here, if he demanded a transfer of course.
Has only two years left.
I reckon he's off next year.
I reckon he's off next year.
I agree, just simply better than the Spurs side he's in. Although struggle to believe the Barca rumours after they spent enough to fund a small nations military defence budget on Coutinho. Does not mean one of the other big spenders are out of the equation.
I think he'll be put on the market this summer because of his contract, if he runs down to 1 year, he would be a lot cheaper.
Very good player but with Pogba and players we have, i think it's time to move on from a traditional no. 10. Son is the only attacking player i want from Spurs team. The Korean has pace and eyes for goal, could play on both flanks, he'll be perfectly fit with the rest of our attacking players.
Plus shirt sales. Get him in
He'd be a great successor to David Silva 
Similar in style, new legs
Similar in style, new legsIn the current climate, don't think so.
City were going to pay 60m for a player with one year.
We paid 30m(Mkhi's worth) for a player with 6 months left.
I think Spurs will keep him for another year and get 60/70 odd million for him.
Don't think he's anywhere near as good as Silva at beating the press and getting away from players.He'd be a great successor to David Silva
I'd say he's more like Mata with legs.
Spurs are not under pressure of selling him because he has 2 years left on his contract, they may keep him if they want, it'll take a big offer to convince Spurs to sell Eriksen. Once Eriksen run down to 1-year contract left, they may set bid price, if it doesn't go high, Spurs will settle for that rather than letting Eriksen going on free. 60m is cheaper, and if he has 2 years left on his contract, he'd be worth 100m in the market.
If Spurs found a perfect replacement for Eriksen this summer, they'll be ready to offload Eriksen for big money.
You took time to post a lot, so I appreciate that. (I rarely read such long posts)We lack pace in our game, not because we lack players with pace (Rashford, Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial to mention the most obvious ones) but we lack pace in our play due to tactical or player deficiencies in making quick, offensive passes and moves less likely to happen. We play quickest when Pogba is "on" because he pushes our play to move faster in attack. Eriksen would've provided the same for us if he were to play in that role (or a role behind the striker or out on the right).
I could say big striker with a physical presence & bit shit first touch and that could be said for both Andy Carroll & Romelu Lukaku, but there is a world of difference in their qualities. I obviously hold Eriksen to a much higher regard than anyone ever held Bentley to, and bringing up Bentley to me seems more like a straw-man argument than anything else. Hell I'll take it a step further, small technical player that can glide past multiple opponent, set up goals and score them. I could be speaking of Messi or Jesse.
Most of the things I mentioned with Eriksen were technical qualities, but his technical qualities shows he isn't limited to one style of play & I mentioned that I think he works hard defensively for a attacking-player (which most often shows in interception, based on positioning & pressing abilities), as players from the Ajax-school of training tend to do. Which are qualities that Mourinho would certainly appreciate. I also think the mix of these (high) qualities makes him available for multiple styles of plays in different positions. He's a absolutely brilliant player in my view based on being high-quality across the board as someone without a weakness in his play apart from pace, which is what i put forward to counter your view of seeing him as someone in need of a certain style to do well.
You are free to have your opinion, I'm not going to say It's flat out wrong, but my view of things disagrees with yours and I bolded out the part where you question his qualities because of his speed due to how well balanced a player he is who performs at a level similar to the absolute best in the league (who also don't have pace, apart from Hazard).
In a team like ours who have a lot of pace but aren't making good use of it, he'd be as good as he is at Spurs, if not better. In his current team he has Alli who is fantastic when it comes to timing and finishing & Kane who is good at most parts of the game and great at finishing. Neither of those have loads pace to burn and Son who has pace at Spurs has had to make way for Lamela from time to time who is back to not being fast or slow, yet he still functions well as their creator.
My point being pace isn't the be all end all. It's important to have around players like Eriksen but they don't need to have that pace themselves as long as they are either good dribblers or exceptionally versatile passers. In both situations a good work-rate is a great addition for balancing play between defending and attacking.
I'm not against the idea of signing Mahrez and letting go of Mata, I think it would be a very good move for our club. But getting hung up on the idea of one player joining will most often leave you disappointed. Be open to the opportunities around & look at the different qualities and how they have worked in similar roles. Mahrez could add pace out on the right, but the same could come from better passers around the 10-to-midfield area and a high quality right-back.
At no stage did I say that it's all about pace. A game is far more than that, which I appreciate. I stated a number of observations which leave me to question whether Eriksen would suit United. Where would he play? And he would slow our attacking game down as he doesn't move the ball quicker than our current attackers.. (possibly Martial aside, who is a different style of player..) and he certainly doesn't run faster.. how would he add value? Because I tell you, he doesn't make a Mourinho midfield three... no way
I didn't compare Eriksen with Bentley, I stated technically they have similar attributes.
And above all, I stated his personality on the pitch. Old Trafford is a place where v good players have to be better, and create their own identity and impose it on the team. Consistently. No hiding place at all... look at members of our current squad!!!
It's just so annoying to hear the word "bottling" is it just every time we lose a game, we've bottled it? is that it? Just trying to understand better.
As for Eriksen, he's on a long contract, highly doubt he'd be sold especially to a PL rival.
What you originally wrote (with the parts I was to some degree disagreeing with in bold), I also did a bad job in addressing the second bolded part:
First of I'll concede that it's fair to say you didn't in any way say it's all about pace, I mixed that up with another thread I was following, I think. Bolded a tldr further down if you don't want to read too much.
What I meant to counter with was that Eriksen's lack of pace doesn't conflict with Pogba, Sanchez, Rashford or Martial as Pogba very much operates as a midfielder who travels up and out on the left while we could have used Eriksen as the opposite for the right side or as a 10 or wide playmaker drifting inwards like David Silva used to play for City in earlier years or Juan Mata does to a insane degree for United (so much so that he often plays as a extra attacker on the left when his starting position is on the right). I spent time going over how he's consistent if we look at his statistics and good with interceptions and compared him to De Bruyne & Silva in that regard to show that he could be used in a midfield 3 with his skill set, and his general stats and skill set shows that he can do that job quite well and wouldn't be a defensive liability.
Lukaku
Martial ------- Sanchez
Pogba - Eriksen
Matic
Martial ------- Sanchez
Pogba - Eriksen
Matic
Martial/Rashford & Sanchez all drift inwards while Pogba & Eriksen both can drift outwards and ping a cross. With good wing-backs it would give us options of overflowing each flank (wingbacks + wings who can go inwards and be replaced by Eriksen or Pogba when needed) while having a lot of men in midfield (with Sanchez working hard from the right giving us 4-men there to press).
Or he could be used in a more traditional 10/wide-playmaker sense:
Or he could be used in a more traditional 10/wide-playmaker sense:
Lukaku
Sanchez - Eriksen/Pogba - Eriksen/Winger
Sanchez - Eriksen/Pogba - Eriksen/Winger
Whenever I watch him for Spurs he is their playmaker. He is their go-to guy to have something be created. He takes that responsibility and makes them tick. Dembele & their style of play gets them past the midfield press but Eriksen is the magic that makes Kane a relatively well supplied for striker and makes work of Alli's ability to find and use space to finish a move. In short I think he has shown that he has the balls to play for a top team, especially if he isn't the only one pulling the strings in it (in my mind every top team should have at least 2-3 creators on the field at all times so man-marking can't cut off the supply-line to the attackers).
I'll try to do a tldr since I gather it's not comfortable to read a large post:
Eriksen doesn't seem limited to a certain style in my opinion.
Being hard-working, technically versatile (2-footed, can play through balls, one-two's, crosses etc) and tactically versatile (presses well, creates chances from both centrally and out wide) is what makes me think that.
Due to this versatility I disagree with the notion that if he was to come to us, we'd struggle to find a place for him or that he'd be in the way for any of the players you mentioned. I would easily question if Mourinho would want him for such a role or if he'd (Mourinho) be comfortable playing that sort of football, but I don't doubt Eriksen would be able to play in different ways that could fit well with our squad.
Do note that I in no way think we'll be getting Eriksen unless he runs down his contract so all of this is of course speculation at best.
It's fair if you don't rate him as highly, which is why I merely said I disagreed and didn't try to say you were wrong.
Out of all the Spurs players I’d take him straight away. He could partner Pogba and Matic perfectly.
Two years left isn't that long but I agree you won't sell to a PL rival.
Eriksen - Kroos - Pogba
Hubba
Hubba
Eriksen would add a lot of balance to our midfield. Him and Pogba in front of Matic against the lesser teams. And him on the RW when we set up more defensively and play a third CM. Makes a lot of sense imo. Would probably have to give Martial as a part exchange if we were to have any chance of getting him though.
That's cool, and thanks. I do see where you're coming from... he is technically a top player... but I can't see him adding pace, or width in our attacking last third. We need that. Imagine an attacking team with him, Sanchez, Pogba, ... no width at all, all trying to pick the same pass. Pogs and Sanchez have shown glimpses of a good connection... but another similar attacker? No... we need Rashford who is different, and excellent and scores goals... not sure if Eriksen would make breaking teams down easier.
Mourinho would need to change his system.
Pogba ------- Eriksen
Matic/Kante
That will do. So many silly talk that Eriksen won't improve/fit/"what we need" talk here. He's a superb player, and just entering at a right age.Matic/Kante
By who?
EveryoneBy who?
Eriksen plays in front of Dier and Dembele who he openly admitted do all donkey work for him
Pogba is one of the worst midfielders around for positional sense defensively
Matic has zero pace. Kante been awful this season
As Bob Dylan sang (kind of)...
"The answer my friend, is the 442 diamond, the answer is the 442 diamond"
------------------DDG--------------
Val-----Smalling-----Jones-----Left-Back
------------------Matic--------------
------Herrera--------------Pogba-----
-----------------Eriksen--------------
----------Rom------------Sanchez-----
With Rashford rotating (as a CF) with Rom and Sanchez based on form.
I really don't see it. As another has said, he's like David Silva to me; hard worker, good pace, with superb vision player. And he's entering his prime, so we're looking of at least another 5 years of service on his peak years.
Apparently the 3rd ever Spurs player to reach double digit goals and assists in a single Premier League season. Pretty good to be fair. Would love to see him here as a replacement for Mata, but Levy would of course charge a massive overprice.