10 Hag has to give up 4/10. Man Utd player who missed 14 passes vs Fulham

During the weekend, this Manchester United player gave Fulham a 4/10 performance.

Bruno Fernandes, the club captain, scored a late goal to help Manchester United defeat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Still, it was by no means a throwback Red Devils game.

Despite sharing 55% of the possession, Erik ten Hag’s team was unable to dominate the match and struggled to penetrate Fulham’s compact 4-4-2 defensive formation. According to FotMob, the English powerhouses ended the game with 64 long passes after resorting to repeatedly blasting it long.

As has been a recurring issue this season, United’s troubles against the Cottagers were primarily caused by a lack of balance in the center of the park. One guy in particular may not start after his below-average performance in London.

Stats for Christian Eriksen against Fulham.

On Saturday afternoon, Christian Eriksen was Man United’s lone pivot in the midfield. Sofyan Amrabat was benched, while the manager revealed that £70 million acquisition Casemiro will be out until after Christmas due to an injury he suffered during the team’s EFL Cup loss to Newcastle United last week.

Even though the 20-time winners prevailed, Eriksen’s performance from the deepest midfield position was underwhelming once again.

The Manchester Evening News gave the Denmark international a 4/10 rating following the match, saying he was “positionally awry” and “careless with the ball”. Eriksen’s performance was given a Sofascore rating of 6.7 out of 10. Of the starting eleven, only Antony scored less for the visitors.

Eriksen’s stats from the match support these evaluations. The 31-year-old had 55 touches of the ball, but only 76% of his passes were completed, and he lost possession 14 times, according to data from Sofascore. Furthermore, throughout his 79 minutes on the field, the former Tottenham Hotspur player did not manage a single shot on target.

The midfield player’s defensive statistics are also unimpressive; he was dribbled past twice during the match and only won 25% of his duels. Despite Fulham having 18 shots on goal, Eriksen only made one tackle, one interception, and one shot block.

Christian Eriksen’s comparative statistics for 2022–2023 and 2023–2024.

After joining on a free transfer in the summer, Eriksen became a fan favorite at Old Trafford last season, mostly playing in the middle with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes.

With all three in the lineup during the previous season, Man United went on a 17-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, which included 15 victories and 2 draws. The trio got along exceptionally well together.

In contrast to his first season with the club, Eriksen’s performances have drastically declined in the current campaign. The former Serie A winner averaged 0.28 assists per 90 minutes across all competitions for Man United the previous season; this year, that number is down to 0.16 assists per 90 minutes. Additionally, according to FBref, Eriksen was averaging an xG of 0.22 per 90 as opposed to 0.07 in the current season.

Eriksen’s ability to advance the ball up the pitch has also suffered; during the 2022–2023 season, he averaged 7.19 progressive passes per 90, but that number has since dropped to 4.92 per 90.

Eriksen currently averages 4.13 passes to the final third per 90 and 1.27 critical passes per 90, down from 6.54 balls to the attacking third per 90 and 1.58 key passes per 90 the previous season. Additionally, his overall pass completion percentage has decreased to 78.8% from 81%.

Ten Hag has been forced to stick with his number “14” because Manchester United doesn’t currently have another player in the same mold as Eriksen in the first team. However, tonight’s Champions League away game at Copenhagen provides the ideal opportunity for the Dutchman to try someone different in his place.