Eriksen's praise for improved young Reds
Manchester United's current crop of young talent have matured over the past year and finding their own way into the first-team squad is healthy for their development, according to Christian Eriksen.
Of course, giving youth an opportunity has long been a hallmark of this iconic club and Erik ten Hag has given a number of Under-21 players a chance to show their potential since he became manager, including during the current pre-season programme.
At 31 years old, Eriksen is one of the more senior members of the squad whom the youthful Reds will undoubtedly look up to, but the Danish international admits they haven’t needed much in the way of advice.
“The young guys are doing well, I met a lot of them last year in pre-season and through the season some of them have trained with us,” Christian told club media in the United States.
Exclusive interview with Christian Eriksen
Christian talks about our young Reds and the return of competitive action soon in a sit-down chat in the States...
“I think they’ve grown up and they’ve even become better than last season, I think I can see that in training and how they act. There are some good players and really some nice guys all of them.
“They haven’t asked for much advice yet but I do think the new generation is they know best [laughs] and I think it’s also healthy they get to know their own way, to find their own place in the first-team squad if they get here but also just to show off [what they can do].”
The likes of Noam Emeran, Joe Hugill and Marc Jurado have been on the scoresheet in pre-season so far and, with three more fixtures to come before the competitive action begins, there’s plenty more minutes available for the young players.
Christian believes they will seize any time on the pitch they get with both hands in a bid to impress the manager.
“For young players trying to break into the first team, when you get the chance you have to try to take it and to show what you can do,” said Eriksen. “I think and I know all of the young lads will definitely try to do that to break in the first team and stay there.”
Tour 2023 is our no.14’s first experience of a pre-season tour as a United player and it isn’t lost on the midfielder just how popular the Reds are Stateside.
“You always get the feeling of how big United is and of course being here, full-out games and full-out stadiums, a lot of fans, a lot of publicity, it’s special,” he explained.
“It is weird always when you go to a different country and then all of the fans are following your club, it’s always different.”
The Reds are bound to face a stiff test in our next outing as German giants Borussia Dortmund await at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with kick-off at 2am UK time on Monday morning. As with all of our senior men’s pre-season fixtures, it will be screened live on MUTV.