- The Danish midfielder criticized his side’s lack of clinical edge during the weak defeat
- The match was accompanied by a volley of boos towards head coach Ten Hag
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
Christian Eriksen has called on Manchester United’s underperforming stars to take a look at themselves and bounce back quickly after a ‘tough’ defeat to Brighton.
United raced out of the blocks but were soon blown off in a 3-1 defeat that will be remembered mainly for the loud boos towards boss Erik ten Hag.
The Dutchman opted for a diamond in midfield for a system change, but that yielded little and Eriksen, who started on the left of that diamond, believes ‘little things’ are holding United back.
‘It’s a tough one. We have to look at ourselves. We have changed some things, but we are disappointed,” the Dane told the BBC.
‘In the first half we had a lot of moments and we had good control. They had a lot of ball possession, but few chances.
Christian Eriksen suggested his side needed to take control after a ‘tough’ loss
Erik ten Hag’s side were overwhelmed by Brighton in their first home defeat in 31 consecutive games
‘They then score on their first chance and because of the system they play, they hold the ball a lot and we had to go after it. But we still had chances to get back into the game.”
The chorus of boos that greeted the decision to sign Rasmus Hojlund, who was making his first start for the club, for £72 million in summer contracts was indicative of a club in crisis, even with Ten Hag’s insistence that things are not as bad as they seem. .
Hojlund thought he had scored his first United goal in the first half to make it 1-1, but a VAR check showed Marcus Rashford had let the ball go out before crossing it. Then Pascal Gross and substitute Joao Pedro were able to add something to Danny Welbeck’s opener. Hannibal Mejbri’s late strike for United was only a consolation.
Three defeats from five league games is a first in the Premier League era for United and the boos at the end highlighted the shame surrounding United.
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New signing Rasmus Hojlund almost scored his first goal at Old Trafford before it was disallowed
But Eriksen, like his manager, believes it is ‘little’ issues holding them back, rather than bigger issues at play.
“The little things,” he said when asked what needs to be done to turn things around.
‘We had offside at Arsenal and when we scored today, but it was offside. The little things we miss and a little bit of luck to get across the finish line and get something out of the effort we put in.
‘Every match at the start of the season, no matter who you play against, is very important. We focus on our games and whoever we play against, we want to win. But we’ve already lost three and we need to change that.”