Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen has said the five-substitute rule will be a big help to the team moving forward in the season.
Speaking to club media, the Dane highlighted the importance of a quality-stacked squad with sufficient depth, especially in a season that will also see the World Cup take place.
He said beyond the manager, who will of course welcome the advantage of different player options, the players will also benefit massively.
Eriksen said, “[The whole squad] is going to be very important. I think this is a good year to have five substitutions – it will help the pressure on a lot of the players and also I think it will give the manager a few more options.”
He hailed the players who have not played significant minutes and have had to contend with a bit-part role, insisting that they have had to prove themselves, in the same way as the regular starters.
“So it’s a good and a strong push that I think we need [from everyone] because we have a lot of games and there is a lot of quality in the team.”
“So we all have to fight for our places.”
“Everyone has different qualities and it’s up to the manager who he’s going to put down to play in which games and see what qualities will work.”
One player the 30-year-old especially pointed out that he had formed a partnership with is Scott McTominay. He said that a connection is currently developing between the pair.
“Scott has done very well and I think you can see that from the games,” Eriksen said.
“I think in the first few ones we were looking for each other a bit and seeing where we are, but now I think we are starting to get a good connection and a good feeling of where you should be, and also because of the instructions of the manager as he has the positions he would like us to be in.”
The Dane insisted that the only way the squad would continue to improve and build confidence is by winning games.
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