31 December 2023 , 17:24
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Christian Eriksen has admitted Manchester United's latest defeat to Nottingham Forest was "hard to swallow" but "nothing new", with the result summing up their inconsistency so far this season.
Since the last international break in November, United have struggled to put together any real momentum. A 3-0 win over Everton in November was followed by a disappointing 3-3 draw with Galatasaray in the Champions League and a woeful 1-0 defeat to Newcastle.
United then responded well with a 2-1 win over Chelsea, before being comfortably beaten 3-0 by Bournemouth and knocked out of Europe thanks to a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich. They then picked up a hard-fought point against rivals Liverpool, but slipped to a 2-0 defeat against West Ham just six days later.
An impressive 3-2 comeback win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day was then followed by the 2-1 loss to Forest and Eriksen has bemoaned United's struggles to consistently win games. "We have to look forward, we have to work to get back," he told club media.
"This season has been a lot of ups and downs so it's nothing new for us which is, of course, hard to swallow. But we have to get back up and there’s no other way than to focus on the next game.
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"[We must] be together as a team. In our career, all football clubs, there will be ups and downs and you have to go through them. The best way forward is to work hard and really look ahead. I think that will be the same aim for us as players.
"We have to put this behind us, first of all of course see what has gone wrong, change a few things but in the end, we have to work hard and try to get through to the next one." Eriksen echoed these comments in a separate interview with BBC Match of the Day, adding: "This season in general has been one step forward and two steps back and it felt like that today.
Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen has bemoaned their lack of consistency (Ryan Jenkinson/MB Media/Getty Images)"Our aim was to get three points so it's definitely disappointing to come away with zero. We tried our best but sometimes the luck and the better decisions in the final third, the better defending and the small details don't happen.
"We had our chances. They had a lot less but scored them. At the moment we don't. We need a few chances to score goals and it makes things more difficult. Everyone is just trying to get goals to help the team.
"We are in the situation to score but at the moment it won't go in. Things will heal and get better. There's only one way forward and that's to work hard. Sometimes it goes against us. As a footballer you want the best game every day but the only way to do that is to work."