Christian Eriksen believes that Manchester United have moved on from the Cristiano Ronaldo scandal.
United were forced to act before the World Cup when Ronaldo gave an unauthorised interview to Piers Morgan in which he openly criticised manager Erik ten Hag and said he felt "betrayed" by club chiefs. After assessing their options, United decided to terminate Ronaldo's contract by mutual consent, thereby depleting Ten Hag's squad.
Ronaldo's exit does not appear to have cast a shadow, with United picking up two wins upon their return after the break for the World Cup by beating Burnley 2-0 in the Carabao Cup and Nottingham Forest 3-0 in the Premier League. Speaking after the comfortable win over Forest, Eriksen paid tribute to Ronaldo's legacy at the club, but insisted it was now time to move on.
"First of all we are sad that Ronaldo is not part of it," he said. "His legacy and his name at any club is special, and 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."
United did not miss Ronaldo on Tuesday night as goals from Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Fred saw them ease past Forest and make it four successive wins in all competitions. Eriksen started the match and provided the assist for Rashford's opener from a well-worked corner routine. He gave an insight into the feeling inside the dressing room after the win.
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"It was the first Premier League game after the World Cup, so obviously to get going again is important, and now, of course with a 3-0 win at home, it is a good feeling and a good start," Eriksen said.
"We have a lot of people coming back from the World Cup, the last guys are coming back and everyone is coming together.
"The atmosphere is good. It helps winning games and also before we went away for the World Cup, we had a few good games and wins, and it makes it easier to come back and start like this. 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 and 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 now."
Despite their strong run of form, United remain fifth in the Premier League table, a point outside of the top four with a game in hand. They travel to play Wolves on New Year's Eve before hosting Bournemouth on January 3.
