The Inspirational Story of Christian Eriksen, Manchester United Midfield General
Manchester United is eager to recruit new players in the 2022 summer transfer market. Those who were brought in to start the Erik ten Hag era were Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Antony, and Martin Dubravka.
Among them, only one player was recruited for free, aka the status of free agents, he was Christian Eriksen. He is no longer young (30 years old) but like red wine, the older he gets, Eriksen does the same.
With his insight, experience from his spells with Ajax Amsterdam, Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan, Brentford, and the Denmark national team, as well as his quality of play, it didn't take long for Eriksen to take control of the game in midfield. Man United.
Eriksen could have been in the team when Man United lost back-to-back against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, but Ten Hag still believed in him leading the game from midfield and it paid off.
Man United won four consecutive wins against Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester City, and most recently against Arsenal who are on fire and lead the standings at Old Trafford, Sunday (04/09) night WIB.
Man United won 3-1 over Arsenal with one goal from Antony and two goals from Marcus Rashford, from which Eriksen provided the assist for Rashford's second goal - the first goal was the assist from Bruno Fernandes.
"When you have players like that (Fernandes and Eriksen) playing the ball, it's important to run and give them options, and we did that today," Rashford said.
Statistics
Eriksen was then voted Man of the Match with the stats: most touches (56 times), most passes in defense (16), most passes in the opponent's box (four) and most chances created (three times).
Done? Not really, Eriksen also has a passing accuracy of 76 percent, three times successful in sending the ball, two key passes, and one assist. It is fitting that Eriksen is by far the best free signing of the summer of 2022 for Man United.
"There's a big difference compared to the first two games, it's true," Eriksen told Sky Sports.
"But I think the whole arrangement with the manager coming in, I'm new in the dressing room, a lot of new players come in late and get used to all the players, you can feel it now (the difference). It's a very good group and all the players want to do their best and compete ."
Inspirational Story
Christian Eriksen's journey so far can also be used as an inspirational story. How not, no one would have thought before that if Eriksen was currently the general of Man United's midfield.
He completed Man United's second line with his vision of play and his accurate passing as if the club had found a player like Michael Carrick.
What is an inspirational story is that exactly a year ago at Euro 2020, there was a moment of horror in Denmark's match against Finland. In that match Eriksen had collapsed before his compatriot, Simon Kjaer gave first aid and then the medical team arrived.
After that it took time for Eriksen to recover, with the assistive device in his heart, he was unable to continue his career in Italy with Inter Milan due to regulations. Brentford accommodated him, and Eriksen's career slowly rose before finally moving to Man United.
"Christian Eriksen's heart stopped. He's lucky to be alive, let alone playing football again in seven months. Now, a little over a year later, he's boss of England's biggest game. A real man," says Dominic Booth, author in the Manchester Evening News.
"Eriksen played a great game, accentuated by the way he played and also the assist for Rashford's second goal. It's great to see him perform so well at this level after what happened last year. What a beautiful story," added football pundit Gary Lineker...
Christian Eriksen can be an example, either for young players or an example in everyday life: don't give up easily to get up and achieve your dreams. Eriksen also has a dream of playing in the 2022 World Cup.
