Christian Eriksen says Marcus Rashford’s blistering form is helping Man Utd squad move on from Cristiano Ronaldo
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN says Marcus Rashford’s blistering form is helping the Manchester United squad move on from Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Red Devils had no choice but to show their legendary Portuguese ace the door during the break for the World Cup.
But fellow forward Rashford shone for England in Qatar by scoring three goals – and looks full of confidence now he is back at Old Trafford.
He found the net in the wins over Burnley and Nottingham Forest and seems to be enjoying taking centre stage.
Midfielder Eriksen says United are trying to put Ronaldo’s exit firmly in the past – and Rashford is helping them to do that.
The former Tottenham man said: “First of all we are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it.
“His legacy and his name at any club is special, for me to be fortunate to play with him in my career was very nice.
“But the football goes on. You feel that the next game after, people will forget what it was like before and now our focus is really like he is not here.”
Rashford was on the mark in England’s group wins over Iran and Wales – and has picked up where he left off with United.
Denmark international Eriksen added: “You can see that he came back pretty confident.
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“I didn’t see as much of his games but he came back in good shape and luckily he has taken that into United.
“He played very well, and luckily I haven’t been on the pitch where he has played a bad game yet.
“I let him continue that, he is looking sharp and confident, and you can feel that when he is going forward.
“You feel that in the stadium, and you feel that with him. It is a nice thing and I hope he keeps it going.”
Rashford’s goal against Forest came thanks to a short corner routine involving Eriksen.
The ex-Brentford midfielder revealed it was an idea that came from set-piece coach Eric Ramsey and had not exactly gone to plan when they first tried it at Carrington.
However it was very much all right on the night as Rashford lost his marker with a darting run and met the Dane’s low corner with a thumping first time shot.
Eriksen added: “We trained on it on Monday so it was planned. We saw that coming and lucky it went a lot better in the game than it did in training.
“We’d tried it twice, but it was a different pitch, it wasn’t as wet. It is always different with opposition.
“I think it was from the set-piece coach, Eric and it came off perfect.”
United have put a tricky start to the season firmly behind them and seem to be coming to the boil nicely for the remainder of the campaign.
Tuesday’s win over Forest means they are just one point outside the Champions League places with a game in hand over fourth placed Tottenham.
Eriksen said: “We are in a good place, the start of the season is very different compared to now, the football is different now to the beginning.
“It was a bit hit-and-miss in some games but I think after that we picked up, we have been building since.
“You feel that in the group, you feel that the system is working which is something you have to believe in and I think we are doing that.
“The atmosphere is good, we have a lot of people coming back from the World Cup, the last guys are coming back and everyone is coming together.
“It helps winning games and also before we went away for the World Cup we had a few good games and good wins and it makes it easier to come back and start like this.”
One of the big positives for United in recent matches has been the link up between Eriksen and Casemiro in the middle.
The Brazilian stood out in the win over Steve Cooper’s men and capped a great night by setting up Fred for United’s third goal.
Eriksen believes their partnership is showing positive signs, saying: “I think people who watch football and play football, they know he can pass.
“Obviously, he has come here and really taken the league in his own way. We are happy with that.
“It is nice playing next to him. He gets you that extra space, if you lose the ball he will get it back and he is very good on the ball as well.”