[Malone_Post]

He’s a better footballer than Bruno has ever been. Just a shame he’s not 10 years younger.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Where was he hiding last season. Been class recently.

 

[The Irish Connection]

Would love to see him start in the 10 position. Mainoo and Ugarte behind. Unlikely though as Bruno seems undroppable.

 

[Woziak]

Would love to see him start in the 10 position. Mainoo and Ugarte behind. Unlikely though as Bruno seems undroppable.

Yeo was thinking the same thing, we need to rotate our midfield options more frequently but the other option is to play Zirkzee in the 10 and Hojlund as the 9

 

[The Irish Connection]

Yeo was thinking the same thing, we need to rotate our midfield options more frequently but the other option is to play Zirkzee in the 10 and Hojlund as the 9

Yes, it would be interesting to see what Zirkzee could do as a number 10 but something tells me he prefers the false 9 role, linking up from starting up top with back to goal kind of a thing.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

He’s a better footballer than Bruno has ever been. Just a shame he’s not 10 years younger.

He's better than him now. Let's just play Eriksen over Bruno. The former is just a far more intelligent player.

 

[Redstain]

Where was he hiding last season. Been class recently.

Nowhere Mount was identified by the manager as being his alternative and that's the result.

Eriksen still has a place in this team because he was never adequately replaced, however he's playing due to the circumstances rather than a strategic decision.

However the best United have looked under this managers tenure in the midfield was the Eriksen / Casemiro pivot before Andy Carrol recked proceedings.

 

[DarkXaero]

Nowhere Mount was identified by the manager as being his alternative and that's the result.

Eriksen still has a place in this team because he was never adequately replaced, however he's playing due to the circumstances rather than a strategic decision.

However the best United have looked under this managers tenure in the midfield was the Eriksen / Casemiro pivot before Andy Carrol recked proceedings.

I also think that if ETH had it his way and McTominay wasn't sold, then McTominay would still be playing over Eriksen right now.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

If he had Ugartes legs we would be sorted, was great first half, tired in the second.

We have to accept the fact that there is no player that the club could have signed that can pass as good as Eriksen and is very physical and tenacious like an Ugarte.

 

[Strachan8]

Nowhere Mount was identified by the manager as being his alternative and that's the result.

Eriksen still has a place in this team because he was never adequately replaced, however he's playing due to the circumstances rather than a strategic decision.

However the best United have looked under this managers tenure in the midfield was the Eriksen / Casemiro pivot before Andy Carrol recked proceedings.

Tackles like Carrol’s, especially on a player who had undergone such a health issue and fought back, are, to me, the worst thing a player can do on the pitch.

Eriksen is such an intelligent footballer. He dropped into the space vacated by Dalot and ran the game. He might lack the legs but it is the job of ETH to find players around him who do (Ugarte etc) to allow him to play when he is in such fine form and drop Bruno if so required.

 

[caid]

I'd be pretty tempted to drop Bruno for him too. But he's played 3 games this week and i think i'd rather keep him for Spurs next weekend. Maybe someone else can fill in against Twente - give Mount 30 minutes for a start. Zirkzee for an hour?

 

[MadDogg]

Eriksen has looked good these last few games, but let's be honest they've been against very poor teams. That's been a bit of a trend ever since the Andy Carroll 'tackle', where Eriksen has had some great games against bad teams where we all start talking about how he should be in the starting line-up, but then he gets utterly overrun and dominated when we come up against a better team who don't give him any time in midfield.

We'll see if the same happens this time, but unfortunately that is what I'm expecting.

 

[kouroux]

I shat on him way too often last season, sometimes unfairly I can concede, not to give him his flowers.
How I wish he was 5-10 years younger...

 

[Zico1982]

Drop Bruno and put Ugarte/Casemiro or Ugarte/Mainoo in the pivot and Eriksen at 10. That is our best midfield at the moment.

 

[Marwood]

Drop Bruno and put Ugarte/Casemiro or Ugarte/Mainoo in the pivot and Eriksen at 10. That is our best midfield at the moment.

Why Eriksen as a 10?

We're currently praising him for his is ability to control a game, set the pace, knitt it all together.

You want that player deeper. On the ball as nuch as possible.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Why Eriksen as a 10?

We're currently praising him for his is ability to control a game, set the pace, knitt it all together.

You want that player deeper. On the ball as nuch as possible.

Agree with this, you drop Bruno for Mount if anyone. Also feel people are missing the point by saying Zirkzee should be a 10.

 

[Marwood]

Agree with this, you drop Bruno for Mount if anyone. Also feel people are missing the point by saying Zirkzee should be a 10.

Yeah absolutely. Or even try Mainoo further up. Free him up a bit.

 

[Olecurls99]

Eriksen has looked good these last few games, but let's be honest they've been against very poor teams. That's been a bit of a trend ever since the Andy Carroll 'tackle', where Eriksen has had some great games against bad teams where we all start talking about how he should be in the starting line-up, but then he gets utterly overrun and dominated when we come up against a better team who don't give him any time in midfield.

We'll see if the same happens this time, but unfortunately that is what I'm expecting.

Palace aren't a poor team. They beat us 4 nil 5 months ago for Christ's sake.

 

[stevoc]

Palace aren't a poor team. They beat us 4 nil 5 months ago for Christ's sake.

While I agree, United of last season were so easy to beat it shouldn't be held up as a measure of a good/decent team.

 

[stevoc]

I also think that if ETH had it his way and McTominay wasn't sold, then McTominay would still be playing over Eriksen right now.

Probably.

 

[MadDogg]

Palace aren't a poor team. They beat us 4 nil 5 months ago for Christ's sake.

They've been poor this season, which is the more relevant comparison. And they were clearly very poor against us, barely able to pass the ball around properly. While us actually playing well certainly played it's part in that, they were still poor in their own right.

 

[Olecurls99]

They've been poor this season, which is the more relevant comparison. And they were clearly very poor against us, barely able to pass the ball around properly. While us actually playing well certainly played it's part in that, they were still poor in their own right.

I thought they were a typical mid table team. Very organised, very intense. It took some great football to break them down for example. They also showed danger on the counter and could have had at least 2. No team will relish going there this season.

In that scenario Eriksen was fantastic and would have looked even better if Ugarte was in there instead of Bruno. Winning balls and letting Erik's spring our own counters. Hopefully it's something we see lots of going forward.

 

[M Bison]

Played very well, kept the ball and his passing was quality. I don’t buy into the narrative that his legs have gone (not Casemiro) and believe he can still play an important role this season.

 

[Bobby_2024]

Before his injury against Reading, I was telling my mates how we were falling off and losing ball control as soon as Eriksen was subbed off, and in last few games he showed us again what a good midfielder can do in middle of the pitch.

I know he is not our long term answer but we should find an young attacking midfielder in that mould if we want to reach the top again.

I don't think Bruno is the answer to be honest, we cant argue against him stats wise but we can play good football if we have good ball controlling midfielders.

 

[Lash]

I thought they were a typical mid table team. Very organised, very intense. It took some great football to break them down for example. They also showed danger on the counter and could have had at least 2. No team will relish going there this season.

In that scenario Eriksen was fantastic and would have looked even better if Ugarte was in there instead of Bruno. Winning balls and letting Erik's spring our own counters. Hopefully it's something we see lots of going forward.

They were shite in midfield though. Even Wharton who's hailed as the second coming of Christ on here at points, was extremely poor. They were intense in their defending, but their midfield pressed like us last season, was a cake walk for Eriksen.

 

[1988]

It's baffling that people think he could play 90 minutes again considering he just played the full duration against Barnsley. Yup, we were worse for it him coming off but he doesn't have the legs. He would have had zero presence had he stayed on.

 

[CM]

I've been pleasantly surprised by Eriksen over the last week or so - I really didn't think he had anything left in him after last season. I don't expect it to continue but it's nice to see a positive contribution from him, however fleeting it may be.

I get that he struggles to play 90 minutes most weeks but I would've kept him on a bit longer yesterday when we were still chasing a goal. He was playing a lot better than Bruno Fernandes was (and so were Amad and Zirkzee).

 

[Catalandevil]

A clear examply why we should have gone for a player of his profile rather than to Ugarte.

 

[Olecurls99]

A clear examply why we should have gone for a player of his profile rather than to Ugarte.

We need both types. And now we have both. What's the problem?

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

He’s a better footballer than Bruno has ever been. Just a shame he’s not 10 years younger.

He's better than him now. Let's just play Eriksen over Bruno. The former is just a far more intelligent player.

Talk about an overreaction. Eriksen lacks a lot in his game. He is not capable of putting it the type of performance that Bruno managed in the FA Cup final vs City.

A couple of good performances this season and people have forgotten about the number of times he would cost us by not having his windmirrors on and getting dispossessed in key areas.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

Talk about an overreaction. Eriksen lacks a lot in his game. He is not capable of putting it the type of performance that Bruno managed in the FA Cup final vs City.

A couple of good performances this season and people have forgotten about the number of times he would cost us by not having his windmirrors on and getting dispossessed in key areas.

Eriksen keeps the ball far better than Bruno so no point in talking about getting dispossessed. Never seen a more wasteful player than Bruno over the last couple of years. One performance vs City changes nothing

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Eriksen keeps the ball far better than Bruno so no point in talking about getting dispossessed. Never seen a more wasteful player than Bruno over the last couple of years. One performance vs City changes nothing

Bruno's wastefulness is predominantly in the final third. I can name more examples of Eriksen costing us goals by getting dispossessed in his own half than Bruno, despite the fact that Bruno played hundreds more minutes since we signed Eriksen.

 

[Zico1982]

Eriksen at 10, because his defensive work does not cover it for more than 45 minutes. He played 10 against Barnsley and for Denmark and that is by far his strongest position. At 10 he can go 90 minutes. He is shoehorned in at 6/8, and it works agains teams where we have the ball. Else he is useless there.

 

[El Jefe]

A lot of you are getting carried away. He looked good but a big part of that was due to who he was up against. We probably won’t play a more lightweight midfield than Wharton and Kamada this season. We had a man advantage in midfield and they didn’t have the legs or physicality to get close to us.

He will get exposed soon enough.

A clear examply why we should have gone for a player of his profile rather than to Ugarte.

We did need a DM but yes it was absolutely clear we needed a younger version of Eriksen.

 

[Fortitude]

It was a well known fact we had a good midfield in him and Casemiro. What we failed to do was replacing them (not like for like) but with younger players with similar qualities. Instead we went for uhhh.. I guess Sabitzer temporarily? which is understandable considering injury issue. But then we went for Mount right after that. And abandoned a proper midfield setup. It's so silly.

It's an interesting point, isn't it? The club and management saw that those two together at their best gave us the best period of ten Hag's entire tenure, so surely the prudent thing to do is to scour the markets for mini-me's of the both of them. In Casemiro's case, given what he was at his best, it's nigh on possible, but at least try?

Eriksen is not some Beckenbauer one of a kind figure, and even if you can't find a player exactly like him, you can surely find a high percentage likeness.

It makes it even more baffling that we didn't prioritise Neves from before the summer window even opened.

 

[TheReligion]

It's an interesting point, isn't it? The club and management saw that those two together at their best gave us the best period of ten Hag's entire tenure, so surely the prudent thing to do is to scour the markets for mini-me's of the both of them. In Casemiro's case, given what he was at his best, it's nigh on possible, but at least try?

Eriksen is not some Beckenbauer one of a kind figure, and even if you can't find a player exactly like him, you can surely find a high percentage likeness.

It makes it even more baffling that we didn't prioritise Neves from before the summer window even opened.

It’s not that baffling. We will replace him next summer or possibly in Jan.

Can’t do it all at once. I imagine the next stage of the build will be Casemiro/Eriksen and a review of the Antony situation.

 

[RedIan]

I’ve always said we play better with Erikson in the team. Without him we rarely ever have any control.
He was quality yesterday and it’s no coincidence when he went off we lost control.

 

[Olecurls99]

Bruno's wastefulness is predominantly in the final third. I can name more examples of Eriksen costing us goals by getting dispossessed in his own half than Bruno, despite the fact that Bruno played hundreds more minutes since we signed Eriksen.

Go on then

 

[Redderp]

Eriksen has looked good these last few games, but let's be honest they've been against very poor teams. That's been a bit of a trend ever since the Andy Carroll 'tackle', where Eriksen has had some great games against bad teams where we all start talking about how he should be in the starting line-up, but then he gets utterly overrun and dominated when we come up against a better team who don't give him any time in midfield.

We'll see if the same happens this time, but unfortunately that is what I'm expecting.

I don’t think anyone is calling for Eriksen to play CM against top 6 teams…

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Go on then

There was the goal in the Allianz where he didn't have his windmirrors on and got dispossessed in his own half. One of the goals in the 6-3 vs City. I don't want to act like I'm hating on Eriksen as he's a good rotation option. He's put in a couple of good performances vs a mid table team and relegation fodder, and I'm glad to see him getting the minutes that were given to Mctominay last season, but the overreaction on here to say that we should be dropping Bruno to give Eriksen more gametime is madness.