Christian Eriksen insists Man U have put football first in pre-season

Christian Eriksen believes Manchester United have learned their lesson from last summer's overloaded US tour by putting football first during their stay in Los Angeles.

United are training in LA – where they lost to Arsenal at the SoFi Stadium at the weekend – before travelling to San Diego to face Real Betis on Wednesday and then Liverpool in South Carolina on their way home. 

It's in contrast to last summer's tour of the US when a convoluted four-game schedule involved Erik ten Hag's side making a 3,000-mile round trip from San Diego to Houston to play Real Madrid.

Eriksen feels the club have been more considerate in their planning this year to give the players a better chance of acclimatising to the 11-hour journey and eight-hour time difference, putting football ahead of commercial obligations.

'Yes, 100 per cent,' he said at the team hotel in Beverly Hills. 'I do think so. It's different being at a base and travelling less to the games.

'Obviously last summer is what it is. It's also a sponsor trip at the same time as fitness, and the football was pushed a little bit backwards last season looking at it.

'I do think this year, the football has been pushed forward and the focus is on that.

'There were a lot of flights in between, there were a lot of short trips for one or two days in this city and then the next one. We need to really slow down and acclimatise because it's a different environment and a different place to train.

'It did feel like a lot of stuff was going on in a very short period. This tour is also going to be a lot of stuff, but it does feel better already.'

Eriksen is one of a number of United players who went into the summer facing an uncertain future. The 32-year-old midfielder only made 14 starts in all competitions last season and has entered the final year of his contract.

However, he enjoyed a good summer with Denmark, scoring at Euro 2024 against Slovenia in England's group and in a pre-tournament friendly against Sweden.

Eriksen insists he is planning on staying at United for the remainder of his contract, saying: 'I have one year left so, for me, I am a United player and for the last year as well.

'I haven't been told "leave or extension", so in that sense I have one year left on the contract and I feel good. My family is feeling good living in Manchester and United is a nice club.

'In terms of the football, yeah you want to play as much as possible. Obviously I didn't play as much in the season. But you also think in terms of "how do I see myself, how do I fit into the team, how they play?". I feel that I'm in a good place.

'I felt fresh and ready to go (at the Euros). I played less so maybe I was a bit fresher going into the tournament than the past. The Sweden game was a confidence boost before we travelled.

'I think I had a good tournament and I think that helps, but national football is different to club football: a lot of different players and a different manager. But hopefully I will bring the confidence I had at the Euros into the season.'

Eriksen is hopeful that United's victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final will be the 'restart' the club needs under new co-owners Ineos. It was enough to put some gloss on a difficult season and save manager Erik ten Hag's job.

'Obviously it was a relief,' added the former Tottenham and Inter Milan star. 'When you look at the season in general, to finish up with a trophy and a medal and go on holiday, that's what people are going to remember going into this season: the last game was a final, you won it and you have a trophy. Okay, start again.

'We have to do better than we did last year. It was a disappointing season. Obviously, the FA Cup was a good finish and I think also a good restart towards this season. But obviously it has to be better.

'Everyone has an opinion about United. It doesn't matter if you're a fan or not a fan, you're either with or against. There's nothing in between. There are no neutrals, it's hate or love. And obviously when it's going badly, there's a lot more haters coming out than the lovers.

'I think also it's calmed down a bit now with the manager and with all the people around, let's say the directors or CEOs or whatever. Now you know everyone is in place and now you can build from that. This is what it's going to be.'

Although Eriksen and his teammates enjoyed their celebration party after the Cup Final at the Marriott Hotel in Mayfair, there was still some uncertainty over Ten Hag's future. He is pleased that the Dutchman eventually got the backing of his new employers to be in charge for a third season.

'We had a good night. There was a bit of music on the bus and a bit of music at the hotel afterwards,' said Eriksen. 'I didn't sing. I will set someone else up to sing. I'll get my Danish friend (Rasmus Hojlund) to sing. It's easy to get him up. It was a good night, it was good fun. Obviously there was a holiday or Euros coming up after, so it was good saying "see you later" on a happy note.

'To be honest, I can't remember what was said (to Ten Hag). It was nothing to do with the booze!

'At the time, there was a lot of focus from the outside on what was going to happen in terms of the manager but also in terms of the club. Because the new owners and sporting directors, not everyone was in place or we were waiting for them to be at the club.

'We were also saying: "What's going to happen? What will the decision be?" We didn't know the people who were going to make the decision, but we're pleased that he's still here, very much.

'As a player, you play for yourself, you play for your club and you play for the manager. You're obviously going to be focussed on yourself, but as a manager you're focussed on a lot of stuff.

'I do think the manager had a lot of critics last season. Definitely, I'm very happy for him that he won another trophy. Also, of course, personally to win another trophy in the end was something very positive.'