Christian Eriksen looked back on his experience under Rúben Amorim at Manchester United, following his move to the Bundesliga this summer. The Danish midfielder, who only played 22 matches in all competitions under the Portuguese, spoke of the difficulty for certain players in managing their coach’s media frankness: “It didn’t help, really didn’t. I mean, it didn’t help the players at all. Some things you can say on the inside, but it’s not very smart to say them on the outside, to put extra pressure and put a label on the players who were already doing their best. » These remarks were made in an interview with The Timeswhere Eriksen notably referred to the January press conference in which Amorim had described the team as “perhaps the worst team in Manchester United history” : “I don’t think it helped at all, no. Then if he’s right or wrong, it doesn’t matter, but for us it was a bit like, “Whoa, another headline.” »
The Dane also highlighted the added pressure Manchester United players are under due to incessant criticism from former players and pundits: “Whatever the position, you say to yourself: ‘We have Casemiro now, but we have to compare him to Roy Keane’, or ‘We had Van Persie here, so this striker must now do the same’. » This historical expectation, combined with frequent changes of managers and structures, makes success difficult, according to him: “Everything at United is straight away: when you wear this logo, you bring all this history with you, you have to follow what has been done before and change it or do better, which is almost impossible when you win eight titles in 11 seasons in the Premier League. » Eriksen concluded on the club’s mixed role in the face of external pressures: “The outside noise puts a lot of pressure. From the inside, if you could silence everything else, I think you could succeed. »
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