Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen says his ‘good connection’ with Bruno Fernandes has helped settle in at Old Trafford.
The Dane has become a vital part of Erik ten Hag’s United side and has found himself operating in a slightly deeper role than used to, now often paired with Scott McTominay in a midfield duo.
However, Eriksen says that he’s not concerned with ‘the positional things’ and suggests that he is still the ‘same player’ from his days at Tottenham, not long ago.
When asked if he and Fernandes had struck up an on-field relationship, Eriksen told the club website: ‘Definitely and it doesn’t surprise me. I mean some people see us as very similar players but they probably only look at the stats and don’t see us, the player and the qualities.
‘We have different qualities, a different style of play and, with Bruno and in general, I think I’m learning to get to know all my team-mates better. I also get to know how they run, how they want to have the ball, how they move around and how I move around the pitch for them.
‘We’re starting to get that connection. With Bruno, it’s a good connection and it’s nice to have such a good footballer in front of me.’
In ten Hag’s side, the Dane has been used in a deeper role which in turn has given Fernandes a license to create in the final third – with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho either side of him.
This came to fruition in United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal last month, where Eriksen split the midfield with a pass to Fernandes, who then found Rashford through on goal.
Talking on his deeper role, Eriksen said: ‘I don’t know, I’m quite surprised about all the positional things. All the games, even when I was at Spurs, I started as a winger but would often drop down to get the ball, collect it and help the build-up back then so that hasn’t really changed in that sense.
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‘Obviously, you start on the pitch in different positions, then it’s how the team play and how the team wants to move, how the manager wants the team to move and then you move from there.
‘I still feel I’m the same player like before maybe I’m a little bit further from goal in some games but it’s not like I haven’t been there before.’
At Tottenham, while Eriksen did often operate in a more attacking position – alongside Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane he was also tasked with joining the midfield and helping build play during Pochettino’s tenure.
