Christian Eriksen has been more important to Manchester United this season than most anticipated.
The 32-year-old has been one of the biggest surprise stories of the season so far after fighting to claim a starting spot in Erik ten Hag‘s squad.
Christian Eriksen came close to leaving Manchester United this summer amid interest from Anderlecht and former club Ajax, but those moves collapsed late in the summer.
Eriksen ended up staying put at Old Trafford and was expected to have a reduced role this season, especially after the £42m arrival of Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain.
However, the Danish midfielder has been in great form and has scored three goals and registered three assists in eight appearances this season.
READ MORE: Manchester United 2024/25 player ratings just 10 games into the season, including one 3/10
Christian Eriksen’s one flaw at Man United this season
Eriksen was particularly impressive against Barnsley after scoring twice and picking up one assist in the 7-0 win.
He was also Ten Hag’s saviour against Porto after impressing in midfield with six chances created – including his corner which found Harry Maguire for the injury-time equaliser.
However, Eriksen’s set-pieces this season have actually been his biggest flaw.
Against Tottenham, Eriksen was giving Spurs fans unwanted flashbacks after coming off the bench and delivering awful set-pieces one after another.
It is one area of the game where United have really struggled, despite hiring set-piece coach Andreas Georgson in the summer.
Eriksen’s set-piece deliveries have often been well below par and it seems that trend has continued to the international stage.
Danish media react to Christian Eriksen vs Spain
After playing the full 90 minutes in the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa last Sunday, Eriksen was back in action on Saturday evening as Denmark lost 1-0 to European champions Spain.
Eriksen started in an advanced position on the right, while United teammate Rasmus Hojlund was named as a substitute.
Martin Zubimendi scored the only goal of the game to give Spain the three points.
The Danish media were complimentary about Eriksen’s performance but singled him out for his poor set-pieces.
Danish outlet Bold gave Eriksen a 5/10 rating and added: “It wasn’t supposed to be more than 72 minutes for Christian Eriksen against Spain, but he left an approved impression.
“He didn’t make many mistakes in midfield and was constantly scanning for the next pass. Instead, he has to go back to the training ground and practice corner kicks. They weren’t in the cupboard today.”
TipsBladet handed Eriksen a 3/5 rating and wrote: “Nice international game by Christian Eriksen, especially in the first half, where the Manchester United player already after a few minutes made an excellent pass to Dolberg.
“Was later very close to assisting Dolberg, but just a centimeter was missing. Eriksen was involved in several good tiki-taka plays and again showed his well-known overview.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
