Danny Murphy has responded to his own Christian Eriksen comments ahead of the midfielder's transfer to Manchester United.
Murphy, who played 246 times for Liverpool between 1997 and 2004 in all competitions and won nine caps for England, spoke in an interview on talkSPORT on Monday. He said that while Eriksen is a good player and "easy on the eye," claimed he's not world-class and that he'd be an "underwhelming" signing for United.
Now, Murphy has responded to the comments he made about Eriksen, who impressed at Brentford at the back end of last season, having returned to football after suffering a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at the European Champions last year.
Murphy, speaking on behalf of 888, told Mirror Football: "First and foremost, I'm pleased for him. To come back from what he suffered and to have the impact he did on the Premier League at Brentford last season is a remarkable story. You can't help but be pleased for him and be happy that somebody has a wonderful comeback as he has from such a scary moment in life.
"He's a super technician, Eriksen, he's easy on the eye, he's very creative, he's got two great feet, good set plays. He's going to add quality to any squad he goes to. Does he improve United's best 11?
"Is he going to play in their best 11 to try and compete with Liverpool and Manchester City? I would suggest not. Eriksen's best position has always been one of three if you like, an attacking midfielder even coming off the wide areas, but more centrally, he has to have legs around him and athleticism around him.
"If you look at United's squad and I am sure there will be more players coming in, of course, it would be highly unlikely that you would see him start the big games alongside Fernandes with only one holding player. I just don't see that."
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"When I got asked the question, will United fans be excited by this, I think they will be underwhelmed.
"I think they will understand it because he is a talent and they have to replace the likes of [Jesse] Lingard and [Juan] Mata and have some strength and depth because they are a big club, but if you are looking at bridging the gap to Chelsea, Liverpool and City and even Tottenham, who finished above them, then you need more.
"You need more quality and bigger names who are going to make United's 11 better. I don't think he does that, but I understand why they've signed him. I also understand for him of course why he's gone to Manchester United because he's probably got great self-belief in his ability and thinks he really will start more games than he won't.
"When you break it down, what do Manchester United want? They want to get back to winning trophies and being competitive in the Champions League, which is the aim of one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"Is he going to help them bridge that gap, I'm not so sure. Will he fill a hole that has been left by some of the squad players? Yeah, of course he will and he will have an effect on some games but I really don’t think in the big games against the likes of City and Liverpool and Chelsea that we will see him start in the United 11.
"I think one of their biggest problems of course is how easy they were for the majority of last season, conceding a lot of goals, don't look good defensively, didn't have a good shape. You can't go from being a team that’s easy to play against to playing like Man City with two number eights, wingers and a forward and expect to dominate games. You don’t flip the coin that easily.
"I think it's an exciting move for Eriksen, to go from where he was from a physical condition to now being part of the United squad, he must be ecstatic, but I don't think in answer to the original question that I was asked that Manchester United fans would be particularly overly excited by Eriksen coming in. They will understand why but I think they will be expecting a hell of a lot more."
During his short spell at Brentford, Eriksen scored once and provided four assists in 11 appearances for the Bees as they steered clear of relegation in their first ever Premier League campaign.
* Danny Murphy was speaking on behalf of 888. Head to 888 now to play a range of exciting and entertaining games.
