Where Christian Eriksen fits into Erik ten Hag's Manchester United

Christian Eriksen has had a very topsy-turvy last 2 years, to say the least. From winning the 2020/21 Scudetto with Inter, then collapsing on the field while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020, subsequently having been fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, returning to the Premier League with Brentford in the January transfer window of the 2021/22 season, and now finally on the verge of signing with Manchester United - it is one of the best comeback stories in the sport.

There were many doubts as to whether the Danish international will ever be able to play professional football again, but Eriksen proved everyone wrong as he took to the Premier League like a duck to water - assisting four and scoring one for Brentford in just 10 starts. He also made an emotional return to the international scene, when he came on at half-time against the Netherlands on 26th March 2022 and scored just 2 minutes into his return.

Video credit: DBU (Youtube)

Now a free agent, Manchester United have seemingly wrapped up the signing of the former Tottenham midfielder, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Contracts are now ready for Christian Eriksen to sign with Manchester Utd, just waiting for medical and then it will be completed. 🔴🤝 #MUFC

Three year deal confirmed, Eriksen will be next United signing after Tyrell Malacia. pic.twitter.com/bnfHw1zFw4

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 5, 2022

So, in this article, I will take a look at how Eriksen will fit into Manchester United's team, what role he could play, and how prominent he could be.

Eriksen's Evolution

For this section, let's take a look at his three most recent, meaningful seasons - his 2018/19 season with Spurs, 2020/21 season with Inter, and his 2021/22 season with Brentford.

As we can see from both these visualizations, his touches have started to come deeper in midfield as seasons have gone by, and his most common passing cluster has also gotten deeper. With age, as Eriksen has started to lose his pace (plus the health issues post the Euros), he has started to rely more and more on his passing ability from deep.

Credit: Transfermarkt

Eriksen operated behind Kane at Spurs, while also playing on either side of their midfield to accommodate a goal-scoring 10 like Dele Alli. Even if he occupied the wide spaces, he didn't really play like a natural winger - he was always more of a wide 10, starting on the wings but drifting inside to create chances.

With time, he has started playing deep in midfield, where he has runners ahead of him who he can find with his crossing and long passing ability:

 

As visible in these clips, Eriksen is excellent at finding runners from deep. This is particularly helpful when it comes to addressing one of the most significant issues that has plagued United for a while now - breaking down a deep block.

What Would Eriksen Bring To Manchester United

With Ten Hag at the helm, United will look to use set patterns of play to break down teams that sit in a low block. To do this, they will need players who are technically secure and have the imagination to play passes that unsettle the opposition and the ability to pull off such passes consistently. Bruno can do that, he certainly has the imagination to do so, but the Portuguese is inconsistent with his deliveries and often resorts to hero-ball when he gets frustrated due to the team being under pressure. This is where Eriksen comes in - with him sitting deep and being able to spray passes, Bruno doesn't have to drop back each time to collect the ball. He can focus on something he's exceptional at - being a goal-scoring 10, someone who can arrive late into the box to score goals (does that remind you of someone else Eriksen has played with?). Someone like Donny will also benefit massively by having someone who combines a huge passing range with technical quality as well as Eriksen.

The Dane also has an excellent cross in him, again something Manchester United have lacked over the past few seasons. The crosses United put in are usually overhit, and when they aren't, they can't seem to clear even the first defender (this applies to corners too). Shaw is probably the best crosser of the ball at the club, with fullbacks Dalot and Wan-Bissaka inept at doing so while the wingers at United like to cut inside. This makes the attack quite predictable, and Eriksen can once again help solve this to some extent, by being very good at crossing either from the wing or from half-spaces.

Another positive Eriksen brings to the team is exceptional set-piece delivery. According to StatsPerform, Eriksen had an expected assist total of 2.77 in 989 minutes, with about 50% of that coming from set-pieces. While this may be exaggerated by how dominant (and dependent) Brentford are on set-plays, it's easy to see that number going up when Eriksen plays for a team that actually dominates possession.

To sum up, Eriksen brings the technical quality, chance creation, and progressive passing that Erik ten Hag would welcome with open arms to his United side. While he may not be the assist king he once was, given he was a free agent, Eriksen could very well prove to be an astute signing for the Red Devils.

Why He Cannot Play in a Pivot with Frenkie de Jong

Despite playing deeper over the past few seasons, Eriksen still isn't the best at defending, especially when it comes to defending that's 'easy to see'. What I mean is that he's not some tenacious midfielder who'll go harry down opposition players; his defending comprises of pressing someone when the situation arises and cutting off potential passing lanes. He's not a lazy midfielder, and he does actively fall back and help the team maintain a good defensive shape, but the game can still pass him by.

This clip isn't to necessarily show that he is a defensive liability, or that being a tenacious tackler is the only way to defend, but my point here is more to highlight the fact that his defensive ability isn't good enough for him to be paired with Frenkie de Jong in a midfield pivot. The Dutch international would arrive at Old Trafford in his prime, and optimizing his elite ball progression ability is what Ten Hag will focus on. To do that, de Jong needs to be paired with another midfielder with better defensive ability.

I saw a lot of people on Twitter making hypothetical line-ups with Frenkie and Eriksen in a midfield pivot behind Bruno or Donny, and unless the intention is to commit transitional suicide, that should never happen. Both de Jong and Eriksen are #8s, and are best utilized starting deep, aiding build-up and ball progression, and joining the attack once the team has pushed up. 

As evident with the above scatterplot, while Eriksen remains a very good progressor of the ball, his defensive actions simply aren't high enough for him to play in a midfield pivot with someone like Frenkie de Jong.

So Where Does Christian Eriksen Fit In?

Now that we have gone over his strengths & deficiencies, let's discuss what role Eriksen could fulfill under Erik ten Hag.

Assuming Ten Hag goes with a 4-2-3-1 with Lisandro at defensive midfield, this is what I suspect United's shape to look like on the ball. This isn't going to be static, and of course, there are going to be plenty of rotations (Shaw/Malacia inverted, Sancho out wide; Dalot overlapping + Rashford receiving in the half-space, Martial dropping deep to allow Bruno/Donny to make runs into the box).

For me, Eriksen cannot be a primary starter for Manchester United. He is a good player but does not fit well at all to play next to Frenkie de Jong (around whom Ten Hag will look to build the team around), and Bruno or Donny bring more to the team in terms of movement, goals & assists from an advanced midfield position. To me, Eriksen should be a primary rotation option to Frenkie de Jong in the league, and can be a primary starter in central midfield for the initial stages of the UEFA Europa League. He will also get starts in the Carabao Cup, and given that there will be five substitutions allowed in the Premier League from 2022/23, he should still get a healthy amount of minutes for United. There's also a chance that he gets games as a wide 10, similar to his time at Spurs, but since he hasn't played there for a number of years now, I will not speculate on that. It does, however, remain a possibility.

To summarize - Eriksen is a good addition to a squad that has lost Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, and Nemanja Matic in midfield. United have lost not only a significant number of players, but also a lot of experience. Eriksen's personality and quality will help bridge that gap that has been created in the squad, and his age plus health factor would mean that he would not be expecting to start every single game under Erik ten Hag. He will be an important squad player who raises the technical floor at United and helps Ten Hag implement his system quicker. He also brings in excellent chance creation from set-pieces to a United team that has faced a lot of criticism for not scoring enough from dead-ball situations. A 3-year contract seems a bit much to me, but as long as the wages aren't exorbitant, it should be a relatively low-risk, high-reward signing.

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References:

Premier League & Serie A for video clips

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