Christian Eriksen joins Manchester United debate after brutal Roy Keane criticism

Former Man Utd midfielder Christian Eriksen spent three seasons at Old Trafford and left the club on a free transfer.

Christian Eriksen believes former Manchester United players can be too critical in the media.

Eriksen said goodbye to Old Trafford on the final day of last season. He wrote a farewell post on social media to thank United fans for their support during his three seasons at the club.

The creative midfielder won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in Manchester. Eriksen's contract with United officially expired at the end of July and he signed for German club Wolfsburg on a free transfer.

In an interview with ESPN, Eriksen reflected on his time at the club and suggested recent trophy wins have been underappreciated because of United's successful history.

Eriksen said: "It probably depends who you ask. If you ask a fan, they want to be back to winning the league every year for the next 20 years like they did... this time of football it is almost impossible, to do that with so many other clubs having that many good players around. It's tough.

"I think obviously they want to get back to that to being stable as a top club, but even being there, winning the FA Cup and the Carabao in the last two seasons is something that any other club would be proud to have done.

"Then there is also the size and the image and the feeling at United - it's like it's not good enough. I think hopefully that will change. Even the Carabao [Cup] is a small thing, but at that moment it is a big thing."

When asked about whether the opinion of ex-players has an impact on United, Eriksen said: "You see how big the club is, how much people want to be involved with the club, even on the media attention. I think even now we speak about United here. It's just the power of the club.

"Obviously the more opinionated, the more feelings towards the club are negative, the tougher it is, because the fans follow their heroes on the TV and it doesn't help the players at the club.

"At the same time at United, as a footballer, there's always someone who has an opinion on one or the other, but you're just playing football. You try to focus on that bit, and I think United were good at that. The focus was on the game itself and not so much what people say."

Roy Keane criticised Luke Shaw after the Manchester derby, claiming he "gave up" for Phil Foden's opening goal before suggesting the defender "has been getting away with murder for years.".

Speaking after the Chelsea win, Shaw responded: "I think people have opinions. Sometimes you just have to take it on the chin. He’s got a lot of experience, he was one of the best captains ever for Manchester United and, of course, it hurts. But for me criticism is part of being a football player. I listen to it but I think he was right.

"Last week, I wasn’t at my level at all and I don’t need Roy Keane to tell me. After the game, I knew that. But of course it hurts. The most important thing is knowing how good I can be and I think the manager knows that and the managers who I played under in the past know that.

"I’m always in the team, I’m always playing, so there must be something the managers [see and] must believe in me. I’m not getting any younger and I need to be consistent, I’ve had lots of ups and downs and it’s about keeping that consistently high level because I know I can do that.

"And that’s why last week hurt me a lot because I know that’s not my level and I think the criticism is completely understandable, I take it on the chin and listen to it and I move on."

-

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

Click here to read article