Ex-Man Utd Midfielder Blames Former Players for ‘Negative’ Atmosphere

Christian Eriksen has called for “realistic” expectations of success at his former club.

Roy Keane (left) and Paul Scholes have been notably critical of Man Utd. / Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/Justin Goff Photos/Getty Images

Ex-Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen has claimed that former players in prominent media positions don’t “help” the current squad when opinions become too “negative”.

Eriksen suggested that fans are likely to “follow their heroes on TV”—the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes who have been ruthlessly critical of their former club in recent years.

“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,” the Denmark international, now at Wolfsburg after leaving Old Trafford in the summer, told ESPN.

“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.”

Man Utd player were used to winning more often in the past. / Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images

Eriksen suggested it was time for people to be “realistic” about United, who have failed to win a Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but have continued to triumph in cup competitions at a quicker rate than the vast majority of clubs.

The Red Devils picked up the FA Cup little over a year ago and the League [Carabao] Cup the season before that. There have been other FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League successes, making it five trophies in the last 12 years. In pure numbers, it’s only two fewer trophies than Liverpool, albeit not similar Premier League or Champions League successes, and one more than Arsenal.

“I think obviously [fans] want to get back 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 of to have done,” Eriksen said.

“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 is a small thing, but at that moment it is a big thing.”

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Man Utd Trophies Since 2013 Compared to Main Rivals

Club	Major Trophies
Manchester City (17)	7x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 2x FA Cup, 6x League Cup, 1x Club World Cup
Chelsea (8)	2x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 1x Europa League, 1x Conference League, 1x FA Cup, 1x League Cup, 1x Club World Cup
Liverpool (7)	2x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 1x FA Cup, 2x League Cup, 1x Club World Cup
Manchester United (5)	2x FA Cup, 2x League Cup, 1x Europa League
Arsenal (4)	4x FA Cup
Tottenham Hotspur (1)	1x Europa League
Newcastle United (1)	1x League Cup
Aston Villa (0)	-

*excluding UEFA Super Cup, Community Shield

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