HOW MARCEL SABITZER FITS IN AT MANCHESTER UNITED! | Deadline Day

Hello and welcome back to our Deadline Day coverage on Football Daily. We've done two live streams and we've got a bit of breaking news for you now because Christian Erikson, Man United midfielder Christian Erikson, has been ruled out till April slash May with an ankle injury sustained in the FA Cup clash against Reading at the weekend after a nasty challenge from Andy Carroll. Interestingly, well I thought interesting, a Deadline Day signing in 2011. Yeah. In January 2011. So it's funny how things work out. Either way, Erikson is out now. This is a big blow for Man United, isn't it Henry? It really is. He's been so impressive this season. It's great to see. It always will be with Erikson. Loved him at Spurs. Thought he was awesome for Brentford last season. They're probably rueing the fact they couldn't quite get that deal permanently. But yeah, he's next to Casemiro. What a base from that midfield. I don't like to have a go at McFred. I think they've got a lot more abuse than necessarily deserve. But this is quite clearly an elite step up on those guys, isn't it? And Erikson is very much part of that. One goal, seven assists in 19 league games this season. Only KDB has provided more assists this term, I believe, in the Premier League. I mean, yeah, he's fourth for shots on target, third for completed passes, first for passes into the final, third and second for progressive passes. I think Ten Hag probably really admires the consummate professional that Erikson really is. And we've seen the influence he had. I know Denmark had difficult Euros, didn't they? But certainly in the qualifiers, he was superb in the Nations League before that. Yeah, it's a huge loss. It really is, because you finally felt like United have got some stability, some momentum. We're seeing Rashford come out of his shell, play some great football. And so the chopping of change in the previous years, you felt like we've been moving on from that. So yeah, they've got four competitions that they're going for as well. So to lose one of their main midfielders, one of their main creators in the side, he's so important. I mean, United don't actually do much in the midfield. They basically get the ball and they knock it quickly. They bypass the centre of the pitch and they get it out to their wide men who burst forward and create opportunities. I think they've scored five goals from counter-attacks this season. It's more than any other club in the Premier League this term. So they've gone back to that really quick transitional play that I guess we really came to admire, the attack, attack, attack of Old Trafford of many years. They've gone back to that. And Erikson is so key at that because his passing is so pinpoint that he can find the man and he can release these attacks and he can move on and progress up the pitch. So he's so important at that. But finding a replacement for him is hard. But I think, I think, I think they've got the right man. Yeah. No, we'll come on to that in just a second. But just to echo your thoughts, it's been amazing to see how crucial he's been to United this season. I think he's fourth in their squad for league minutes behind De Gea, Bruno and Rashford. And he's not really been rested that much, which Ten Hag might now be rooing for that FA Cup tie against Reading, not playing a change side. Reading haven't been pulling up any trees in the championship this year. I watched them play Sunderland earlier this season at the Majeski and they were pretty terrible, to be honest, on the day. Things have slightly improved for them in recent weeks. But could Ten Hag have made a few changes? It's easy to say in hindsight. But it felt like Man United were going to have a really quiet deadline date until this news broke that he's going to be out for a considerable amount of time. And it looks like they're going to be making a loan move or trying to make an attempt to sign Marcel Sabitzer, the Bayern Munich midfielder, on loan. It was taught that Chelsea also were interested in this, thus still trying, sorry, to get that Enzo Fernandez deal over the line. But Henry Marcel Sabitzer, particularly at his time at RB Leipzig, proved himself to be an excellent player as well. Yeah, absolutely. I think he got, what, like 17 goals and 10 assists in his final two seasons there. He was a really attacking outlet, great dead ball specialist, got an excellent free kick on him. Really exciting guy when he's in full flow. And I feel slightly sorry for him going to Bayern Munich. Obviously, it was his dream to go there. But it's really hard to usurp a midfield with Kimmich and Goretzka. They're one of the best midfield partnerships in world football full stop. And yeah, he's naturally found his minutes spared there. And unfortunately, certainly with Musiala progressing into one of the great attacking midfielders of his generation, he's not been able to play really in the attacking hole that he perhaps would have preferred under a more quick RB Leipzig side. So as a result of that, he's been pushed into a more defensive role at the midfield when he has been allowed to play. Only really, I think, 900 minutes last season. Frank's 15th in the squad this season for minutes. So it shows that he really is just a rotational option. Often plays as many games off the bench as he does as a starter for the sides. And if you look at all of his kind of numbers, his defensive numbers have shot up this season for Bayern Munich and his touches in the defensive third. But what he is great at, which is where he will kind of fit into the mould of this Ericsson player, he's an excellent passer, 87% pass accuracy. You can really trust him on the ball. He's 28 years old. He's a seasoned guy at this point in his career. Fair few caps at Austria too. Get the ball to him, trust him. His long ball ability is excellent too. I think if you're looking for someone to try and unlock the United's attack, certainly from further deep, then Sabitsa's got all the skill sets to do that and he can push forward and get into the space, maybe even rest Bruno, because they don't really have anyone to fill in behind Bruno much of the time too. So Sabitsa sort of fixes two problems there and I still think McTominay or Fred could fill in at some points as we've seen this season. Is he a better player than Ericsson? No, he's not. Ericsson is a much more complete footballer than Sabitsa in my opinion. However, for a six month loan deal, having to sort of basically get something over the line on deadline day, I don't think it comes much better than Sabitsa, who apparently didn't even train today. He wants the move. I'm not surprised. It's a great opportunity for him and I think it's a really good stopgap for the United until Ericsson gets back in. And who knows, maybe this could be a longer future for Sabitsa in the Premier League, because he's certainly better than sitting on the bench at Bayern Munich. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's been a number of top midfielders that have struggled to break into that Bayern Munich starting XI in recent years. Mark Rocco, who's made a good impact at Leeds. Ryan Gravenberg, who obviously had such a magnificent reputation after his work at Ajax, but I don't think he started a Bundesliga game or at least hadn't until recently when I last checked. So it feels like a number of players have just struggled to break into Nagelsmann's side. They're also signing Konrad Leimer on a free transfer in the summer. A player that made his name under Nagelsmann at RB Leipzig, has been there for a number of years, is equally more suited to that Nagelsmann system. So that was going to be another player to compete with. So a loan for Sabitsa before signing him permanently, we don't know the fee as we film this at least, is a fantastic move for Man United's sake. And as you say, that versatility having played in that 4-2-2-2 at RB Leipzig for so long on either of those flanks as well. I'm sure he could do a job on the right wing, which Bruno has been asked to do on occasion when they wanted to rest Anthony. He can definitely cover in that 10 zone as you point out, which as you say behind Bruno, you're probably looking at having to play someone like Jadon Sancho as the 10 behind him. So the depth really wasn't there at all. So for a six-month deal, they can play him as that deeper, natural Ericsson replacement, and also get occasional minutes out of McTominay and Fred. Fred in particular off the bench this year, I think has really improved. He seems to be really developing. A number of players under Ten Haag have shown massive improvement this year. Dalot, Shaw, Varane even. And I think Fred definitely fits into that category as well. So it's a nice, solid move. Do you think there's an element of risk from Bayern's perspective, Henry? Because they have signed Jarrick Cancelo on loan, but their central midfield options for the rest of the season, as far as I can see, is Kimmich, Goretzka, Gravenberg and Musiala, who's more of a tent. Well, as you said, Gravenberg really hasn't played much football at all. I think it's telling that he's still there and that they're willing to let Savica go, because Gravenberg is meant to be the future of that side. So if they can get him more minutes this term, it is a gamble, because it's not like they're dominating the Bundesliga by any stretch this term. Certainly, we saw that against Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, where they fell to a score a few goals against them, in all honesty. I wouldn't be surprised if Bayern do a bit more business. But as I think Pat was saying on the live stream earlier, which if you haven't looked, go check out already, Jarrick Cancelo can drop into that midfield role if necessary. I think Thomas Malou can even play deeper on occasion there. He's not getting any sort of, might be a natural progression for a player of his position, style anyway. So yeah, and Gravenberg could come in. So I don't think it's a massive gamble, but really, I'm not sure they can stand in the way of Sabitzer after what I feel like is probably some false promises to him in terms of game time. He deserves the opportunity to go and get some minutes. And if they can get a good loan fee out of it, then I think it's pretty smart business from Bayern Munich. And I don't think it's going to upset the side too much, but let's wait and see. Let's wait and see indeed. But yeah, that's our take on Sabitzer to Man Utd to replace Christian Eriksen. Both really hot on it, actually. I think it's a sensational signing, particularly on deadline day with hours to go. Guys, if you've enjoyed our Football Daily Deadline Day content, stay tuned for more. We're actually switching up the team. So Chris and Joe and McCubbin and numerous other favourites will be on all the live streams later. Henry's giving out a subtle, well I say subtle, not so subtle boo there. But that's us signing off for the day. But stay tuned on Football Daily across Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. We've got you covered this deadline day. Thank you very much for watching, guys. Don't forget to like and subscribe to Football Daily, and we'll catch you later. Goodbye.