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Christian Eriksen has signed for Manchester United and there’s now the small matter of how Erik ten Hag will get him within the crew.
All through his profession, the Dane has usually performed as an attacking midfielder, be it as a quantity ten or off both wing.
Arguably a few of his greatest work has come taking part in off the proper, as he did throughout Tottenham Hotspur’s 2016/2017 marketing campaign, by which they completed second within the Premier League.
In that system, Dele Ali pushed up from the quantity ten place to help Harry Kane, leaving house in entrance of the opposition defence for Eriksen to roam into.
This allowed him to help their combative midfield pairing of Dier and Dembele in possession.
Eriksen completed that season with eight targets and fifteen assists from 36 Premier League appearances, and one might see him used in a similar way at United.
Lots of his new teammates have comparable profiles to that Spurs setup, with Fernandes liking to push up in help of the striker, and McTominay and Fred a midfield pairing that might use the technical help.
Halfway by way of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure, Juan Mata truly had a run of video games performed off the proper for exactly the aim of supporting that duo, though United lacked a high quality quantity ten on the time, with Andreas Perreira and Jesse Lingard sharing the minutes behind the striker for a lot of that season.
In any case, this Manchester United crew can depend on Jadon Sancho on the proper wing and Ten Hag normally likes his wingers to have the ability to stretch the play and take defenders on, so whereas Eriksen does provide an possibility there it’s unlikely that his most typical place might be broad.
There may be video games the place Eriksen performs straight behind the striker, though with Bruno Fernandes first alternative for that position, and it additionally being Donny van de Beek’s greatest place, United wouldn’t have signed the Denmark worldwide with the intention of taking part in there repeatedly.
The Folks’s Particular person beforehand took a have a look at how all three attacking midfielders might slot in the identical line-up.
There may be additionally the participant’s personal improvement to think about.
Eriksen has at all times been a tough employee off the ball, having been schooled as an Ajax attacking midfielder in his youth.
Nonetheless, even earlier than his cardiac arrest within the Euros, there have been indicators that he was turning into extra of a deep midfielder.
Tottenham used him in a double pivot way back to 2016, subsequent to Wanyama or Dembele in a 3-4-2-1, and when Antonio Conte signed him for Inter Milan, it appeared he wished to make use of him as an eight as usually as a ten.
In deeper positions, Eriksen’s capacity to dictate the sport by taking care of the ball and discovering raking by way of passes involves the fore.
And even after his well being troubles, the Dane has been a prepared contributor to his crew’s defensive efforts.
Solely Vitaly Janelt and Christian Norgaard made greater than Eriksen’s 13 tackles throughout his half-season at Brentford.
Eriksen is greater than more likely to get nearly all of his begins taking part in in the identical position that Lasse Schone as soon as occupied for Erik ten Hag, solely with increased high quality.
Schone himself was a transformed attacking midfielder with a penchant for set items earlier than Ten Hag took him to a Champions League semi-final.
That position would turn into much more of a probability ought to Frenkie de Jong full his transfer to Manchester United.
Whereas De Jong, Eriksen and Fernandes collectively in midfield might appear like too attacking a trio, as Ajax demonstrated underneath Ten Hag, a co-ordinated press with prepared staff makes pure destroyer-type midfield gamers redundant.
In one other article, we took a have a look at a possible permutation in a 4-3-3, though taking a look at it as a 4-2-3-1 can be equally viable.
And as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester Metropolis have proven, it’s doable to defend in England through the use of the ball effectively, and Eriksen will definitely assist the Purple Devils obtain that.
As argued by TiFo within the following video, Eriksen’s capabilities as a progressive passer are one thing the United midfield is crying out for.
Taking a look at United’s set-up in opposition to Melbourne Victory, it was notable how a lot of their assault got here down the right-hand facet.
If Ten Hag’s plan is to modify McTominay out for Eriksen, then the prospect of Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Christian Eriksen combining out on that flank is a tantalising one.
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