A strange appearance was seen on Manchester United's teamsheet when it was made public an hour before the start of their Premier League match against Newcastle United on Sunday. The match was a goalless draw.

Christian Eriksen's name was absent from the team sheet for a league match for the very first time since he joined the club during the summer transfer window. This was the first time that this has happened. The lack of his name on the teamsheet as well as on the Twitter account for the club instantly prompted a degree of fear among the fans and marked the beginning of the inevitable question that was raised, which was "where is he?"

During his pre-match interview with United's in-house media, Erik ten Hag immediately delivered the answer that the fans were searching for, confirming that he had been ruled out due to illness. This was the explanation that the fans had been looking for. However, it was clear before that the Dane had been omitted from the lineup not because of his previous performance but rather because he was unable to participate. This was in contrast to the notion that he had been dropped due to his poor showings in recent games.

This early in the season, he has already established himself as one of United's best players and has quickly adjusted to life at Old Trafford. Because of the manner in which he has performed in his first 12 matches for the club, he has quickly established himself as a fan favorite. As a result of his absence, Fred was able to maintain his position in the middle of the field, where he now works alongside Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes. Scott McTominay was also unable to play because he was serving a suspension, and Donny van de Beek has been dealing with an ongoing injury problem.

In the middle of a grueling schedule of matches, Christian Eriksen was given a day off, therefore Neymar da Silva began for the team against Omonia Nicosia throughout the week. He played alongside the same two players. Before the Danish player came off the bench to replace Fred with 20 minutes left to play, United lacked the creativity and control that the Dane brought to the team.

After his introduction, United had a greater degree of control and the level of creativity started to move through the gears during their match against the lesser teams from Cyprus. Because Eriksen was quicker and smarter in possession, Ten Hag was eager to add him to his squad in the summer. This is one of the reasons why Ten Hag was so interested in adding Eriksen.

It was the same story against Newcastle, with the exception that this time United were unable to rely on the services of the player who formerly played for Tottenham Hotspur with twenty minutes remaining on the clock, as they looked for another late winner. United did not get into advanced areas frequently enough, and there were holes in the middle of the field where you just knew Eriksen would have taken up possession and attempted to make something happen with his extraordinary football brain.

Fred, who in many cases wrongly has been made a scapegoat for United's failures in recent years, did little to assist his cause when he missed a wonderful opportunity to win it for Ten Hag's side with two minutes of regular time left on the clock. This occurred when the clock was still running. Marcus Rashford, who had come off the bench earlier to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, sprinted past the goalie for Newcastle, Nick Pope, and then put the ball on a plate for the Brazilian, who shot wide. Rashford had earlier come off the bench to replace Ronaldo. That one instant encapsulated the entirety of his afternoon.

But it wasn't one error that brought home how badly United needs Eriksen; rather, it was the Brazilian's whole performance, particularly in the first half, and how it contributed to United's loss of composure in the middle of the field. They have strengthened their defensive capabilities in the middle of the field by signing Casemiro, which means they require a player of Eriksen's caliber to match the tenacity with which Casemiro defends. Casemiro formerly played for Real Madrid.

United lacks the ability to command play and midfield creativity without Eriksen, which is especially true when Fernandes is not operating at full capacity. No one could have possible foreseen how significant the former Brentford player would become in Ten Hag's thinking, but Sunday's draw with Newcastle provided irrefutable evidence of this fact.

He is United's conductor, and their performance in their two most recent games without him demonstrates that they are unable to exercise much control over the action. His absence against the Magpies was deeply felt because of the vital role he plays in the team's midfield.

United will be hoping that Eriksen recovers from his current bout of illness soon so that he can be fit and ready to play in back-to-back games against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea this week. They are at a lost without him, so much so that he may have become their most essential player in ensuring that the Reds put Ten Hag's plans into action as quickly as possible.