Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker believes Christian Eriksen is being “disrespected” because people are not talking mournfully about his absence through injury.
It is an odd point to make – even by Parker – because a) the absence of Eriksen has been mourned and b) Manchester United have lost only one game in his absence, and that was the 7-0 shellacking by Liverpool that would probably not have been prevented by the Dane.
United have won the Carabao Cup, are in third place in the Premier League, the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and have one foot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League without Eriksen.
Their bigger issue now is the absence of Casemiro after his second red card of the season, with Scott McTominay under huge pressure to fill his boots and save his United career.
But Parker clearly believes that all the talk of replacing Casemiro has drawn attention away from Eriksen, who has not played for United since the end of January.
“The blow of missing Christian Eriksen has been bigger than expected. And the fact that no one is talking about it makes me feel that he is being disrespected,” he told SpilXperten.
“He is a very important player but no one notices it. He controls the pace of the game, he is the one to decide if Man United are going to attack or just relax on the ball.
“I would say that Man United are less capable of controlling games when he is not there. Fred and Sabitzer are brilliant players but they don’t have the same brain as he does.
“But of course, Man United has made some really good results without him and that might be the reason why no one is talking about him.
“But I have to say that Eriksen would make a good Man United team to a great Man United team.”
Eriksen is expected to be back at the end of next month, which might be just in time for the finals of the FA Cup or the Europa League, or even both.
“I think he [Eriksen] will play [again in 2022/23]. Definitely,” said boss Erik ten Hag. “But I can’t tell now an expectation, but I think his progress in the rehab is OK. It is going according to plan, so definitely we will see him. But not before the international break.
“Yes, he is [still part of the group]. But of course, his main focus is, in this moment, to get back as soon as possible because we need all the players.”
READ: Casemiro gives McTominay a month to prove himself an able deputy at Man Utd
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