Christian Eriksen | Signs for Manchester United

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Worth it for the set pieces alone to be honest.

We know how god awful Bruno and Telles are with a dead ball.
 
His heart problems are done and dusted?

Lovely player.

I said it times and times again, you can never have enough of players who know how to play football.
 
I don't know how his work rate is now, it used to be good under Poch.

Yeah, I don't think he will be a regular starter but he is good enough to push for starting position. We are short on both quality and quantity, we need to address both.
The thing is Poch's time was ages ago now and Eriksen was one of the first of that batch to lose their legs in that Spurs team.

I don't mind adding him if we still make signings in all the other positions but if this is a way of getting out of signing another forward or a second midfielder then I'm not in favour of this at all.
 
I'd have him in the squad no questions asked.Quality player.
 
Well let's hope we get replacements, for Cavani and Lingard also.

With that being said, De Jong and Eriksen, likely won't even happen either.
This is the issue, we've never replaced when (supposedly) key squad members have left, for years now. Whether Cavani, Lingard etc actually offered anything isn't the point, and is partly why we performed so badly last season.

Pogba - was supposed to be a key player
Cavani - based on 19/20 was expected to play a key squad role
Mata - should have offered more on his salary
Matic - the only DM in the squad - replacing him with a version who can play every week is essential.

The liklihood of finding replacements for all of the above is unlikely. Then on top of that we need quality starters. It's an almost impossible task that we can only blame ourselves for.
 
Good player, but not what we need.
He's exactly what we need.

He's also too old. We should be looking for younger and quicker players that are capable of getting about the pitch
He's not old. He gets around the pitch plenty and quickly enough.

This would be a typical United signing.
This would be a very atypical signing for United.

I guess he would be an okay squad player, but we have other pressing needs.
Why yes, yes he would. And indeed, we do have other needs which is why a free transfer makes so much sense.
 
On a low value, 2/3 year deal this would make sense. He proved in the second of last season at Brentford that he can still contribute to a high level in the PL. He would be really handy in Europa as well, I reckon. As mentioned, it would also give Bruno a bit of much needed competition. Could be a very astute signing.
 
Eriksen is better than Bruno

That's not remotely true though is it? Eriksen was a bit part player for Spurs come the end, then bench fodder for Inter and now at Brentford.

I don't think people on this forum can look past recent form sadly. Bruno was magical for us for 18 months
 
That's not remotely true though is it? Eriksen was a bit part player for Spurs come the end, then bench fodder for Inter and now at Brentford.

I don't think people on this forum can look past recent form sadly. Bruno was magical for us for 18 months

Recent form you mean more like a year and counting ?

Also Bruno's best time has come under a brief stint under Ole. If you look beyond that he failed at Italy and was playing in the Portuguese league.
 
I see this as fantastic depth. This is the kind if ball-playing depth you need in a ball-dominant playing style. Currently, we have no top quality possession based ball-dominant midfielders. Bruno is more of a splicer of defences and advancer of the transition. Eriksen can play deeper and played deeper for Brentford. So when Frenkie goes down with injury ( if we get him), Eriksen is the perfect foil. VDB doesn’t have the same passing range as Eriksen and FDJ.
Fair enough. So he can play alongside Bruno?

I'd just be concerned we don't get in the situation with too many players in the same position.
 
This move makes me think even more that ETH will play Bruno in a freeish role off the left. Eriksen/DvB to compete through the middle. I like it.
 
Sign him and let them battle it out for the place in the team,he's a quality player there is no doubt about it,ideally you need two players for every position in your squad
 
This screams to me of signing a well-known player just because he is available cheap. Eriksen's good at a lot of things but where is he supposed to even play for us? VDB already never gets game time because Bruno plays every game as cam. Eriksen can't play cm in a double pivot at this stage in his career. Unless we're intending to play him wide which again seems like a waste of his best abilities. We have so many areas that need to be improved in the 1st XI, I'm surprised so many seem happy with us essentially getting a replacement for Mata who never played anyway.
 
This screams to me of signing a well-known player just because he is available cheap. Eriksen's good at a lot of things but where is he supposed to even play for us? VDB already never gets game time because Bruno plays every game as cam. Eriksen can't play cm in a double pivot at this stage in his career. Unless we're intending to play him wide which again seems like a waste of his best abilities. We have so many areas that need to be improved in the 1st XI, I'm surprised so many seem happy with us essentially getting a replacement for Mata who never played anyway.

Towards the end of last season, he was better than Bruno, let alone Van de Beek.
 
Towards the end of last season, he was better than Bruno, let alone Van de Beek.

Bruno and our entire team had a terrible end to the season. Eriksen is not actually a better player than Bruno at this point in his career. He was also playing in a team with players far below his level so of course he was going to stand out as by far their most talented player. He did brilliantly, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't mean he can suddenly come in to this Utd team and perform to the exact same levels he did with Brentford where the whole team was shaped around him.
 
This screams to me of signing a well-known player just because he is available cheap.

Not just cheap. FREE!

I also wouldn't consider Eriksen to be a very well known player in the superstar mould I think you're referring to. He played for Spurs the Inter (not a regular starter) then Brentford.

I'd say this is quite unlike our transfers under Woodward and more akin to the Gill days.
 
Bruno and our entire team had a terrible end to the season. Eriksen is not actually a better player than Bruno at this point in his career. He was also playing in a team with players far below his level so of course he was going to stand out as by far their most talented player. He did brilliantly, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't mean he can suddenly come in to this Utd team and perform to the exact same levels he did with Brentford where the whole team was shaped around him.

He signed for them in the middle of the season, so the team wasn't really built around him, unless they imagined the acquisition, while he was still recovering in the summer. If he looked good while passing onto the likes of Ivan Toney, he'd get a dozen assists just by being on the pitch alongside Ronaldo.
 
Fair enough. So he can play alongside Bruno?

I'd just be concerned we don't get in the situation with too many players in the same position.
Doesn't seem to have harmed Citeh, Liverpool or Chelsea. We need a squad, not just a first XI.
 
Surprised people are really taking DVB into the equation. He could hardly get a game at Everton and looked hugely underwhelming when he played. Why would he suddenly become United quality just because ETH came in? All evidence suggests he's not good enough.
 
ETH may want to keep Garner in the squad for next season. We’re currently lacking depth in that area with Matic and Pogba leaving and who knows if we’ll sign more than one midfielder yet, even though we need more.
Surprised people are really taking DVB into the equation. He could hardly get a game at Everton and looked hugely underwhelming when he played. Why would he suddenly become United quality just because ETH came in? All evidence suggests he's not good enough.

Some players are only good enough in some systems. Personally i've seen VDB show flashes of technically being to a very high standard but something about the prem means he's not good enough. However, i'll caveat that with he may well be good enough in ETH's system since I assume he's going to try and replicate what he did at Ajax. Which may well be the only way for VDB to excel in this league. So with the exception of having a manager who knows his game inside out (strength's and weakness) and made him look world class within his system in the CL then if he can implement said system then he may well be an asset for us next season. Obviously i'm living in hope, but it may be that ETH is counting on him to help implement it as a former player and Ajax graduate.
 
Surprised people are really taking DVB into the equation. He could hardly get a game at Everton and looked hugely underwhelming when he played. Why would he suddenly become United quality just because ETH came in? All evidence suggests he's not good enough.
He’s undoubtedly been very underwhelming since coming here. But he’s not had any decent coaches and maybe he’s the type that needs that.

I recognise he could have been better still and others have performed under the same poor coaches, but I’d like to be optimistic here and hope he can be an asset to us. His movement is great and in a fluid system who knows.
 
Like De Jong, he is a proper midfield playmaker and would elevate our midfield game. I feel our fans has gotten so used to runners, statistics and average players that they do not remember what makes good footballers anymore.
 
Like De Jong, he is a proper midfield playmaker and would elevate our midfield game. I feel our fans has gotten so used to runners, statistics and average players that they do not remember what makes good footballers anymore.

Especially at that price. He is a proper footballer with a brain and we desperately need more of these players. I'm not against runners and physical players but we have way too many.
 
He signed for them in the middle of the season, so the team wasn't really built around him, unless they imagined the acquisition, while he was still recovering in the summer. If he looked good while passing onto the likes of Ivan Toney, he'd get a dozen assists just by being on the pitch alongside Ronaldo.

They clearly changed their structure once he signed as before they used more of a 5-3-2/3-5-2 and with Eriksen they used a 4-3-3. They were smart to change also because the improvement was absolutely huge. Easy to forget now but Brentford were showing relegation form before Eriksen joined. They switched to a more balanced system so he could have more freedom in the midfield without being overwhelmed. At Utd I'd be very suprised if we don't play 4-2-3-1 and he would have far more defensive responsibility in our midfield 2 assuming he starts there and we certainly aren't going to change the entire structure of the team to suit his best abilities in the way that Brentford did.

Also if your logic about playing with better players = far better results then Jack Grealish should have done amazingly this season. It doesn't work like that and it's very simplistic and naive way of looking at transfers. There are so many examples of players who have been great for previous clubs moving and not performing at the new club for a variety of reasons, whether that be the style of play, other weak areas in the team not being addressed, the team no longer being built around their strengths the way their previous club was, etc. You really don't have to look far since we probably have some of the best examples of this of any team in the world.
 
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If he had to choose I think he'll go back to Spurs and Conte/CL football.
 
We could have sold Bruno for decent money instead of giving him hefty new contract (70m +), replace him with free agent Eriksen, sign a DM+FDJ on top of that, and all of a sudden our midfield would look completely different.
I think Eriksen is more disciplined and much better fit in ETH system than Bruno and he is free on top of that...
 
How this even in any way controversial. Quality player on a free, not huge wages, and used to playing in an Ajax system.
 
We could have sold Bruno for decent money instead of giving him hefty new contract (70m +), replace him with free agent Eriksen, sign a DM+FDJ on top of that, and all of a sudden our midfield would look completely different.
I think Eriksen is more disciplined and much better fit in ETH system than Bruno and he is free on top of that...
Or, we could have sold Bruno, fail to bring in Eriksen, have Barcelona demand a lot more for FDJ and have a bit of money spare but nothing to really spend it on the creative front to replace Bruno as the players with his productivity would either most likely be headed to Champions League clubs or the asking price would be close to what we sold Bruno for in the first place.
 
That's not remotely true though is it? Eriksen was a bit part player for Spurs come the end, then bench fodder for Inter and now at Brentford.

I don't think people on this forum can look past recent form sadly. Bruno was magical for us for 18 months
I m far from a high bar thinker on Bruno (I think he’ll be gone or at best a bench warmer before we become consistently strong), but you must know that any player who doesn’t play for Manchester United is a better player than any player who does play for Manchester United.
 
Recent form you mean more like a year and counting ?

Also Bruno's best time has come under a brief stint under Ole. If you look beyond that he failed at Italy and was playing in the Portuguese league.

Every single player in the squad bar two were totally out of form so this point doesn't count. Clearly it's a bigger squad problem than loss of form
 
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