We won’t dig him out in public and yes I am aware of the stigma around ITKs and a huge club like United but Brentford is a different story. There are genuine fans who have direct access to the owner, manager and director of football which means information does get out. I’ve no particular axe to grind with Eriksen just passing on information that will be legit and explain where the issue is some Brentford fans have with him.
Christian Eriksen | Man Utd player
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We won’t dig him out in public and yes I am aware of the stigma around ITKs and a huge club like United but Brentford is a different story. There are genuine fans who have direct access to the owner, manager and director of football which means information does get out. I’ve no particular axe to grind with Eriksen just passing on information that will be legit and explain where the issue is some Brentford fans have with him.
I’m happy.
It's likely United didn't allow him to do that.
Can you imagine what United fans would say on socials if Brentford were announcing our signings?
Yay let's be happy together. I'm excited for the new season.
I just want to see him play. Is he heading to Oz?
Hm, I get the situation, I think. On the other hand, I’m from a small place where my local club is a dwarft in size compared to Brentford, and yet I know the ‘ITK’ rumour mill to be inherently unreliable for any precise understanding of the situation. Even if a friend of mine at the supporter group say ‘the director told me so-and-so’, I’ll take it with a pinch of salt, especially if it’s about some emotional matter. Not saying you or the ones you hear from are unreliable, it’s just what my experience have told me, not to put to much into the stories of club drama that are relayed.
But then again, maybe I’m less interested in passing moral judgement than some, at least than the couple of journo’s that have made a lot out of this story seem to be.
Genuine question...
Why do we give a flying feck what Brentford fans think of him? If the pwecious wittle bees are upset he didn't tell them "first" of his decision, they need to get a hold of a therapist immediately if they are over the age of 8.
Can't believe this topic has lasted three pages.
Why do we give a flying feck what Brentford fans think of him? If the pwecious wittle bees are upset he didn't tell them "first" of his decision, they need to get a hold of a therapist immediately if they are over the age of 8.
Can't believe this topic has lasted three pages.
Don’t think so… him and martinez won’t link up with the squad until they return to England.
On form I’d say Bruno followed by eriksen. If we get de Jong however then I’d say he tops it.
I don't think it's comparable to the Ronaldo situation at all really. That was a spur of the moment PR signing for a 36 year old (at the time) who we didn't really need.
The Eriksen signing makes a lot more sense for a few reasons:
- The manager actually wants him, and has done for a while.
- Eriksen came through Ajax's academy, and trained with them before signing for Brentford. I don’t think it will require a massive adaptation for him to play ten Hag's football as you suggest.
- We've lost a lot of bodies this summer, particularly in midfield. Eriksen is joining on a free. He could be a starter or a squad player, but even if he acts as a replacement for Pogba/Mata/Lingard, that is worthwhile business.
Basically, it's a low risk signing which will enable the manager to get his ideas across more quickly. If we can De Jong through the door as well the pair of them will more or less transform how we play with the ball in midfield.
honestly, was about to sayDeranged freak is what you meant to say, yeah. When he was blasting off about Sancho for literally no reason. Think someone forgot to supply his eccies for that evening
It depends on whether you are talking about AM, CM or DM. What i meant is you cant say best midfielder as midfield consists of many positions and the attributes for each position is different, thus it wont be a fair comparison.
We only have 1 CM and 0 DM, so we cant have any best there. For AM, its Eriksen for sure.
I think the local Brentford fans here sounds like nice people, so I understand if they are a bit hurt in lack of a better word.
But it's football (business). Perhaps Eriksen forgot to tell Thomas Frank, perhaps he wasn’t allowed, who knows. I'm sure they'll survive either way.
good point
Yeah exactly was just putting some context around the situation as some were digging us out without knowing what was behind it.
Happy to have him and he's a very good player but 3 years? Have we learned nothing?
If it bothers you that much my advice is ignore it not continue the conversation by asking why, comes across a bit pwecious otherwise
Now that sucks. Then again. The travel would account for at least 2 days and that’s 2 days better spent getting fit to take on Athletico Madrid in Norway which is a day before the grand ETH home game vs Rayo Vallecano, weirdly.
Can't wait to see him in a deeper role. Ideally we'd have a more defensively minded/positionally sound midfielder next to him but ehh, his quality is undeniable, some of his Brentford highlights remind me of Scholes so much. Looking forward to seeing us this season.
I would say there is no point, realistically he would only play a bit part of the last game against Villa.
I would say better to stay, train at Carrington, no jet lag and he plays against A Madrid in Oslo 30th July.
That players with great technical ability can’t kick a ball straight beyond the age of 33?
Luka Modric says hello!
No matter how much football has changed, no matter how many (copious) examples there are of players who are in the 30-35 age range performing exceedingly well (sometimes even better than they were in their late-twenties), there will still be people bringing their age up, despite the fact that it's becoming less and less relevant. Yeah, obviously when you start getting to the 35+ then it's an issue. But come on, the man turned 30 a few months ago FFS. He's good for another few years.
Football has changed so much in that aspect. It's becoming more and more of a myth.
Football has changed so much in that aspect. It's becoming more and more of a myth.
I would argue unless the player has a long history of injury problems they should be able to maintain optimal performance until 33.
Players these days at the top level are probably in better shape than they've ever been.
30 year old is not that old. Eriksen doesn't rely on pace or physicality. He will be good to start some game and coming on as sub when the opposition is tired or we have a difficult time breaking down a opponent. It is still an upgrade to Mata for me. I feel once FDJ signed, our midfield is set for the next 2-3 years. Next season, we will have to focus on forwards.
Teddy Sheringham was 31 when he signed for us. He won PFA player of the year when he was 35. It’s not even particularly new, it just depends on the player.
Yeah, 100%. It's just becoming more and more of a myth, yet it's still brought up every time a player reaches his 30s. There are so many examples out there
Yup easily, he's never had physicality issues that Mata sometimes has had
To be fair there were plenty of players performing in their 30's during the 90's and 2000's.
I'd say the bigger myth is that football has now changed allowing people to perform longer. It's always been the case for some individuals.
We didn't sign Sheringham till he ws about 29 I think. Mark Hughes was with us into his 30's, starting in league winnimg teams. Then there's Giggs and Scholes. Gary Neville was hitting his best form ever in his early 30's before he got that injury. I could go on.
Agree with everyone saying Eriksen can give us three good years.
If you look at Liverpool and Citys depth in central midfield, we're still far off - even with FDJ. I'm sorry but McFred simply isn't in the same caliber as Eriksen, Fernandes and FDJ. I know Donny has played for EtH before, but that doesn't mean he is good enough either. There is a reason he's been benched or loaned out by several of our managers.
Liverpool’s midfield depth is rubbish.
The issue with players over 30 is more a financial one, which is why you get clubs with policies around how many years contracts you offer players around that age. Because at that point the player is likely to be at the peak point of their career in terms of earnings but with their potential sell-on value declining year on year. So from a value-for-money perspective you do have to weigh up what a player is actually worth at that point.
But in our case that's not an approach we seem to take and even if it was the unsually high turnover recently would likely shift our priorities anyway.
But in our case that's not an approach we seem to take and even if it was the unsually high turnover recently would likely shift our priorities anyway.
Agree to disagree. The way they controlled the midfield in practically every single game last season was very impressive. Also, their roles and skills are not the same as those possessed by Bruno, Eriksen and FDJ. I'd love to have had any of Liverpools CM's last season. They're better than McFred imo.
Fabinho and Thiago are really good. Henderson, Keita, Jones and whoever else they have there are less good.
I think system players like Eriksen will thrive till his mod 30s. Running around busying a gut isn’t a thing when you hold the ball most of the time
People also need to remember that it's not just in football where sports stars are having longer, and longer careers, look at tennis for example, it was unheard of when Agassi rejuvenated his career at 29 and continued to get to win/get to grand slam finals until his mid-30s. Now look at Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and it's becoming common place. Clearly, with more and more improvements in nutrition and training, people can extend their sporting careers.
Eriksen just turned 30 and has been given a three year contract, that feels spot on to me, pace was never a part of his game, and as Scholes and many other midfield maestros have proven, passing and vision tend not to fade. I can see him being first team for a couple of years, and a valuable squad player for a couple more after. I honestly just can't wait to see him in a jersey now.
Eriksen just turned 30 and has been given a three year contract, that feels spot on to me, pace was never a part of his game, and as Scholes and many other midfield maestros have proven, passing and vision tend not to fade. I can see him being first team for a couple of years, and a valuable squad player for a couple more after. I honestly just can't wait to see him in a jersey now.
Bruno is better at AM