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Christian Eriksen has made an honest admission about the travelling during Man United’s pre-season tour.
Manchester United Football Club wrapped up the US-leg of their pre-season tour yesterday evening, during a 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund.
The Old Trafford side were pretty ordinary throughout the game, though it would have been good for the lads, who did get some more minutes in the tank ahead of the serious stuff starting in about a fortnight.
After the game, Christian Eriksen became the first United star to bemoan ‘too much travelling’ during the tour so far – and it’s hard to disagree. Although the Dane was pleased to see the fans, you can absolutely see where he’s coming from.
“I think it’s been good. There’s been a lot of games and too much travelling, to be honest,” the midfielder told MUTV, per The Mirror. “It’s been nice to see all the fans and to give back to them. I think we played a strong game apart from the result.”
United have gone from Scandinavia, to Scotland, then over to three different states over in America. It’s not quite done there, either. There’s still a match to be played over in Ireland, while another fixture will be played at Old Trafford.
Eriksen will obviously feel it more than most due to his age. The Dane is now among the more experienced players in the group and the travelling will take that little bit of extra toll on his body, in comparison to the younger players within the squad.
I admire his honesty. It would be easy for him to just fall in line and force the fake smiles during the interview. Instead, he’s sending a message to the club. Yes, we understand that United are massive and this is a rare opportunity to utilise that global reach. However, these players need to be in the best shape possible. Clearly, they’re feeling like they’re exerting too much energy with all this travelling.
Let’s hope the club take note, with a view to rectifying these issues next summer.
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