Ten Hag reviews Man Utd's Carabao Cup win over Crystal Palace
Christian Eriksen had few doubts where he stood in the pecking order under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United last season, starting 25 out of 29 matches when fit and available. But as he makes his recovery from illness which ruled him out of the mid-week Carabao Cup victory over Crystal Palace, the Denmark international will step back on to ground which has shifted considerably.
Even allowing for Antony and Jadon Sancho’s off-field issues, United boss Ten Hag suddenly has what appears to be a full deck of cards to fill his favoured midfield slots – two holders and three attacking, with one central and two wide men.
The return of Mason Mount from injury – he played a promising half against Palace – the emergence of the supremely energetic Hannibal Mejbri and the belated arrival of holding midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, albeit as a makeshift left-back against Burnley, has Ten Hag smiling again.
Throw in Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri, Scott McTominay and it is no wonder. Yet where that leaves Eriksen is unquestionably a place or two down the pecking order and that is before the return of the highly-rated Kobbie Mainoo from an ankle injury, hoped for in mid-October.
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With a contract worth £150,000 a week running to the end of next season, Eriksen may well be comfortable with the emergence of challengers. Few players in the top flight have been afforded the life perspective he has given what he has been through and, with 124 caps for Denmark under his belt aged 31, he has little to prove to anyone.
Yet against Burnley, Eriksen will have watched Hannibal, in the attacking midfield role ahead of two holding players outshine everyone in terms of workload. And he will have noted Ten Hag’s glowing assessment of the effort afterwards.
His 12.9km shift was the the most ground covered – and with the highest number of sprints – of any Manchester United player this season. It is exactly the sort of all-round pressing effort that ten Hag wants from his team and helped set a benchmark that will not have gone unnoticed in the dressing room.
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Eriksen looked to be unable to cover that sort of ground towards the end of last season. After coming back from a bad ankle injury which ruled him out of eight matches between February and April, he did not complete 90 minutes in any of United’s final 10 games.
The classy Denmark international’s experience remains valuable to Ten Hag in the dressing room and on the pitch given they are fighting on multiple fronts both domestically and have the Champions League campaign to factor in. He proved with an had one goal and eight assists in the league last season and has matched the former and added one to the latter tally this season already.
But the growing feeling that there has been a shift in the midfield pecking order as United emerge from a difficult start to the season is hard to escape. And it feels inexorably that Eriksen has shifted into a bracket with Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek as a bench warmer heading towards winter.
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