Christian Eriksen has made it clear he is “unhappy” with his situation at Manchester United due to his recent lack of game time.
The Denmark international, 32, has played just 116 minutes across all competitions since the start of the year, spending a large amount of time overlooked by Erik ten Hag on the bench as a substitute.
Ten Hag has opted to play Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo in midfield, while Scott McTominay comes in from time to time. The Scotland international has provided some important goals with a tally of nine so far this season.
With Euro 2024 only a few months away, you can understand why Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand would be concerned about Eriksen’s lack of game time – but he is not the player he once was…
Ahead of Denmark’s opener against Slovenia on June 16, a number of his Denmark’s experienced players risk arriving in Germany for the European Championships somewhat undercooked. Hjulmand was criticised for selecting the likes of Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Yussuf Poulsen and Mikkel Damsgaard because none of these players are playing regularly for their clubs.
Eriksen came off the bench in United’s 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday. It was his third outing in 2024.
“Of course, there is a limit of how long something like this can take place,” Hjulmand said, as quoted by Tipsbladet.
“I am calm in the way that I don’t think you can keep quality down. He also showed Ten Hag, with his (performance off the bench) against Liverpool, that he is still here.”
Eriksen helped United keep the ball in Liverpool’s half in the dying moments as we pushed for a late winning goal. Sadly, he doesn’t have the legs he had before and he is likely to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season.
Hjulmand added: “(Man United) will play many games for the rest of the season, so I’m crossing my fingers. Because, with the quality that Christian has, it must be a matter of time before he gets some more playing time.
“Christian’s quality comes into play quickly because he has a natural ability to place himself between players, and he has an understanding and football brain that makes (it impossible to) take the quality out of him.
“It is clear that playing matches is different from training. But the way he is, he can still be between the lines and make the passes you know. So I believe in him.
“But, of course, I hope he gets more playing time.”
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