Christian Eriksen

Erik ten Hag gave first starts to Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez against Brighton on Sunday, but it was a poor game all round for Manchester ...

Martinez and Maguire also crossed paths for Gross' second, with the captain realising he was in the wrong position and facing away from play to gesture to his teammate to stay in the area he should be. In the second half, the Dane was moved back into central midfield after Ronaldo was subbed on for Fred - an interesting decision considering Eriksen was the man Ten Hag picked to play the furthest forward at the start of the match. In the first half, Eriksen had a great opportunity to score when he was teed up in the box by Fernandes, but the ball got caught under his feet and the chance came to nothing. It wasn't that he wasn't in the game - he had his fair share of touches - but he was unable to influence anything meaningful and continually dropped deep to try and change this. Ten Hag doesn't believe the Portugal international is up to speed, but Eriksen didn't have a pre-season with United either so it's therefore interesting he got the nod to play in an unfamiliar position. Secondly, Ronaldo was named on the bench because he hasn't had much of a pre-season with Man United after he missed the club's tour of Australia and Thailand due to personal reasons.

Manchester United 1-2 Brighton: The Dane was unable to impress as a false nine with the Dutch coach's tactics backfiring in his first game in charge.

United have not: when Rangnick tried a pair, in Paul Pogba and Fernandes, in the Manchester derby, it was a conspicuous failure. The Dane was persistent and offered moments of invention – a backheel in the box, a menacing cross – but he was miscast, looking to his footballing intelligence to compensate to turn him into something he is not in a team who lack the cohesion to excel in a conventional formation, let alone an unorthodox one. He donned the No 14 shirt, Johan Cruyff-style, and Ajax had a great false nine, even if the term had not been configured then, in the early 1970s. Pascal Gross became the first footballer to score in United matches in the reigns of Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and now Erik ten Hag. If it suggests a switch in United’s transfer policy, from the current approach of bidding for anyone with an Ajax connection to going for Gross, may be a logical damage-limitation strategy, his double was delivered while Ronaldo glowered on from the bench. If Christian Eriksen’s career has taken some improbable turns – few others will boast a CV that goes from Inter Milan to Brentford to United – there was another element of the unexpected as his time at Old Trafford began as a makeshift spearhead. Three decades after United’s most iconic Eric was a transformative presence in their attack, Eriksen lasted 52 minutes in the forward line before taking up his more familiar duties when Ronaldo came on.

Man United fans have ripped into the position Christian Eriksen has started, despite one of the most prolific forwards sitting on the bench as Erik ten ...

People had their say on social media, with a number of fans kicking off at the odd lineup. The Dutch manager lined up his side this afternoon without an out-and-out centre forward, with Cristiano Ronaldo kept on the bench after just 45 minutes of game time in preseason preparations. @jamiemcnee tweeted: "The arrogance of ten Hag to play Eriksen false 9 with arguably the best goal scorer to play the game sitting on the bench."

Thomas Frank has criticised those who suggest that Christian Eriksen was the reason for Brentford staying in the Premier League last season.

“Two, we actually consistently performed quite well throughout the season, even in the bad patch. Obviously he helped us. “Obviously he’s a top player.

And so, as Cristiano Ronaldo had declared, the king was back. Indeed, Old Trafford witnessed a clinical display by a player who has proved prolific in ...

It may be a one-off outing in attack and not just because Eriksen can add class to the midfield. Until then, there had been some fluidity among the front four, some moments when United had no one in attack as he retreated into midfield. Three decades after United’s most iconic Eric was a transformative presence in their attack, Eriksen lasted 52 minutes in the forward line before taking up his more familiar duties when Ronaldo came on. If the tale was familiar, the indignities differed only in the detail. Instead, Ronaldo first witnessed and then participated in a dispiriting start to a new era. If it switches United’s transfer policy from the current approach of bidding for anyone with an Ajax connection to going for Gross, it could be a logical damage-limitation strategy.