Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund were both in action for Denmark against England on Thursday evening, here’s how Danish media reacted.
As four Manchester United players met on Thursday night, it was only the two Danes who featured for their country as Luke Shaw remains injured and Kobbie Mainoo was an unused substitute.
Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund both started for Denmark as they helped secure a 1-1 draw with England that didn’t really suit either side and now leaves the Danish in a perilous position for the final game.
After the game, both players had their performances reviewed by Danish media, here’s everything they said about the two United players.
How Danish media have reacted to Christian Eriksen’s display vs England
Eriksen is without a doubt still Denmark’s gem and against England despite scoring he still exuded pure class throughout the game.
This has led to the Danish press presenting him with favourable reviews. This includes a 7/10 match rating from Bold, with the outlet also writing him a review.
“Another great international match by Eriksen, who was involved in many good plays. We know he has a good shot, but so do the English. Several times it was a little too obvious that he had to kick on goal, so it was blocked. But he was strongly instrumental in the Danes winning the battle for midfield.”
Tips Bladet also singled Eriksen out for praise following the game, labelling the Manchester United midfielder an ‘instrumental’ player.
“Christian Eriksen did not get on the scoreboard, but it is really encouraging to see how he is getting in better and better playing form. He is getting the right pace and touch – and proved again that he is instrumental to Danish success. He is still the player others look to when they have the ball.”
Quite harshly PL Bold disagreed with the notion that Eriksen was good as they rated him a 3/6 before explaining that he was ‘not worth much’ without the ball.
“Without the ball, Eriksen was not worth much in Denmark, and with the ball, he was also far from as good as against Slovenia. There were glimpses of good moments from the Danish creator.”
Next to review Eriksen was Sport TV2 which gave him a match rating of 8 and praised his creativity.
“Took his tow as part of the strong Danish midfield trio and created good situations for his teammates and himself. As long as the strength lasted. He seemed battered at the end and was sensibly replaced.”
Finally, Eriksen was scored a 7/12 by DR which also complimented the legendary Dane for his output.
“This time, however, he was not the decisive player, but combined brilliantly and also came up with a couple of finishes himself. Feels nice and light on the feet.”
How Danish media reacted to Rasmus Hojlund’s display
While Eriksen was complimented, his club and country teammate Hojlund wasn’t as highly regarded after the game.
This is evident as Bold awarded him a match rating of just 3/10, before giving a detailed explanation of how concerning his form is.
“His physique and speed are so important for Denmark – especially in such a match against England. But wow, how sloppy he was offensively. The striker won surprisingly few duels and was far too often offside. A worryingly bad start to the Euros final round for the man who has to get going if it’s really going to be fun for Denmark.”
Next up was PL Bold which scored Hojlund as being below average at 2/6, as the article mentioned once again his worrying form.
“The Manchester United striker had a very difficult game in the front row. He lost his duels against the English and was quite anonymous. It has been a slow start to the final round. One goal in the last ten international matches is worrying.”
Sport TV2 were more positive with their review of Hojlund, giving him a 6/10 and handing him credit for working hard.
“Important to the Danish game with his willingness to run deep and take part in every fight. Had come on a hard post and must have plenty of credit. Even if he didn’t score this time either.”
Finally, DR commented that Hojlund doesn’t look very dangerous right now, scoring him 4/12.
“With a club address at Manchester United, the English players knew everything about young Højlund, who was carefully looked after in relation to his dangerous deep runs. He took them anyway and threatened and fought bravely, but Højlund just doesn’t look very dangerous at the moment, which is naturally a problem as a striker.”
For Hojlund, these reviews are harsh as Denmark didn’t really give him any chances to score from. Therefore, it’s worth taking these with a grain of salt.