Paul Fennessy

THERE ARE TWO players generally credited as being key to Man United’s revival under Erik ten Hag.

Casemiro and Marcus Rashford are frequently cited as the Red Devils’ difference makers and both have undoubtedly had terrific campaigns, with the former shoring up Man United’s midfield and the latter registering 31 goals in all competitions this season so far.

Yet there is a third player who tends to go under the radar but has been similarly influential.

As Erik ten Hag acknowledged afterwards, a last-minute injury suffered by Marcel Sabitzer before the game on Sunday hardly put Man United at a disadvantage when the man coming in to replace him was Christian Eriksen.

The Danish international proceeded to produce an accomplished display as his side convincingly defeated relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest 2-0.

He is still only 31, but already, there is a case to be made for Eriksen as one of the best and most underrated players in Premier League history.

Currently, he is 13th on the list of all-time assists in the Premier League, one of four active players in the top 20, and two of those (James Milner and Ashley Young) are surely close to retirement.

Moreover, Kevin De Bruyne is the only player in the top 20 to have made fewer English top-flight appearances than Eriksen’s 257 while others are still well ahead of him in that regard — fourth-place Frank Lampard, for example, has played a total of 609 games.

All of those other players also did not have to come back from a traumatic, near-death experience, and it’s remarkable to think that less than two years on from that cardiac arrest at Euro 2020, Eriksen is excelling once again at an elite level.

Despite often playing in a deeper midfield role of late compared to the majority of his time at Tottenham when he tended to be closer to the attackers, Eriksen has registered seven assists, more than any other Man United player this season.

Sunday was his first start in Man United colours since an FA Cup win over Reading in January, and his absence was certainly felt.

Ten Hag clearly considers Eriksen a key player. He failed to start just two of Man United’s opening 20 Premier League fixtures and that was on account of an injury setback.

In top-flight games Eriksen has started this season, United have won 13, lost four, and drawn two.

In matches where he has been absent at the outset, they have won six, drawn three, and lost two, including their worst performance of the season — the humiliating 7-0 defeat by Liverpool. In other words, they have dropped points in almost half of their matches without Eriksen.

It is not just Eriksen’s own contribution that is vital, but it feels as if he makes other players around him better.

There had been some debate at the start of the season as to whether United could accommodate both the Dane and Bruno Fernandes in the same midfield, but the two have invariably worked excellently together.

Ten Hag spoke on Sunday about how the pair complemented one another, adding that Eriksen’s late arrival into the team in place of Sabitzer also changed Fernandes’ role to an extent, with the Portuguese international subsequently impressing with a man-of-the-match display.

“He (Eriksen)’s a natural talent,” Ten Hag told reporters after the game. “Everything is going so smoothly with him, so many skills, game understanding. He would not have started if Marcel hadn’t dropped out but also when Marcel’s dropping out, we’re really happy with his performances in the last games. When you bring on Christian it’s not a disadvantage for your team and he proved it.

“Yeah, at the last minute [Bruno Fernandes's role changed]. It’s a little bit of a different role but it’s not that huge because we want rotation there, to be fluid and our full-backs play an important role in our game in possession there. I think both did very well, they played a very good game.”

And another telling stat per the Manchester Evening Post — the Red Devils have won 15 games, drawn two and lost none with Casemiro, Eriksen and Fernandes in the starting XI, as was the case yesterday, and that trio will almost certainly be the first-choice midfield going forward if they can all stay fit.

So if United do end up securing Champions League football, Eriksen will be a big reason why.

And the Dane has had an impact on the top-four race in another respect too. 

One of United’s biggest rivals in recent years has been Tottenham, with whom Eriksen spent seven seasons.

Furthermore, tellingly, in the Danish star’s last full season with the club, Spurs reached the Champions League final.

In his last four full campaigns — Tottenham’s Premier League finishes were as follows: 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

In subsequent seasons, the North Londoners’ seasons were less impressive: 6th, 7th, and 4th.

This year could be their worst yet of the post-Eriksen era, as they threaten to implode following Antonio Conte’s exit, with United in stark contrast looking set to go from strength to strength with a top-four finish close to being secured.

It’s therefore not hard to imagine a long-term United target and Tottenham legend in Harry Kane seeing what Eriksen is achieving and wondering if he too might be better off at Old Trafford.