Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag seems to be blessed with his very own star midfielder who the same kind of mindset as the Belgian playmaker Kevin de Bruyne.
Ten Hag ended up with his football dopperganger version of the Belgian ace at Manchester United this season with the arrival of Christian Eriksen as both the midfield aces share the same football philosophy on the pitch.
Understandably when Marcus Rashford headed home his 100th goal for United against West Ham, all praise and credit were given straightaway to the forward. The breathtaking header had goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski flabbergasted.
However when the dust had settled, the replays showed clearly the pin-point cross from Eriksen pick out his teammate at the back-post, leaving many speechless at the finesse of the delivery.
Despite this being ‘only’ the Dane’s third assist in the league this season, he has been right smack at the heart of all things positive for United’s creative and attacking outlets this campaign, although his relatively low direct goal contribution comes as a bit of a surprise to those who are familiar with his prowess.
Eriksen has registered 69 goal-providing passes over his career, and is just 11 assists behind David Beckham in the Premier League’s all-time records. That notwithstanding, he is very close to the top 10 – just five away from drawing level with Thierry Henry in 12th.
De Bruyne himself currently sits 5th on the list for all-time assists, already registering nine contributions for his teammates while leading the way this season. Despite this gap between Eriksen and his City rival, Ten Hag is already well aware of just how valuable the former Spurs man is to his team as the former Ajax gaffer values selfless players in his squads, especially those willing to sacrifice individual glory for the benefit of those around them.
Along this line of thinking, he said: “The most important thing is to try to do your best. And if that is a pass to someone, who then gets the assist, or creates something else, that should be the aim for every game. Of course it will help if you make a goal or assist.
“I think mostly for people on the outside, it’s a lot about numbers or stats. More and more, that’s how the football world is going, in that direction. But I’m not really looking into it. I’m just trying to be the best I can, to create as much as possible. That’s just how it is.”
De Bruyne’s mindset is similar to that of the United midfielder where statistics are concerned as he revealed the value in learning from errors and ignoring the data behind certain actions on the pitch this week.
He said: “A lot of time when people make mistakes, they don’t do it anymore. When I make a mistake I try to do it twice more.
“I think it’s a way of learning where you go wrong and you understand more when you make errors. Maybe I look at it in a different way to other people. For instance, pass completion is a word that I don’t care about.
“It’s not important to me because it doesn’t define, in any way or form, the way that I play football. So I don’t take it into account.”
De Bruyne and Eriksen are both aware that helping their teammates to succeed on the pitch is far more valuable than any individual success, something invaluable that some of the more self-ingratiated players in the United squad can certainly learn from.
Ten Hag will be tickled pink with his midfielder’s approach to matches so far this season so long if Eriksen continues to put in performances of the standard that he has managed so far this season.