Monday afternoon in a larger market in Manchester. Rays of sunshine beating on the street. Taken every table, couch and chair outside the café bars. Faces confronted with the warmth of the sun.
It was the day after the Manchester Derby, in which, six miles away in Old Trafford, the two Manchester clubs played a scoreless draw for the first time in five years.
There was many consequences and talking in the aftermath of that result. But the mood in the streets of Altrincham seemed to have been elevated by the glorious weather.
Sky Sports is in Toast, a cozy café-bar that had closed its doors to the public while we patiently waited for Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund to arrive.
The expression 'coffee is always a good idea' is decorated on a red brick pillar near where we were. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed.
Hojlund ordered a cappuccino with oat milk, but Eriksen went for water. He has never been anyone for coffee, as he told me before we sat down to talk about Manchester United's season.
Neither of the players shun away from the disappointment, because both tried to explain and understand why it was so difficult to reverse things.
The European League of the club still lives away after a 2-2 draw to Lyon in the first stage of their quarterfinals on Thursday, but the night ended on a low note when Andre Onana's second fault of the game saw them losing their lead in the stop time.
Eriksen said to Sky Sports: “There is a lot of talk in this season, but at the same time we are at United, so you know that there will be a lot of focus on the club and on the players and such.
“There have been many ups and downs and a few more downs than what we wanted. But we are still in the Europa League and then we will continue to push the competition until the end.”
Eriksen is in Manchester United in his third season after his predecessor Erik ten Hag by Ruben Amorim.
“When I arrived with ten hag, it was of course a bit of a different playing style, a bit of a different feature philosophy,” he says.
“Now it's a bit of a different system and you have to adjust to it. It is often more difficult to turn things around because everyone is already in the manager's rhythm, but I think you see a progression.
“People get used to the system more, the positions in which they play. It's more about getting that right transformation in a good way.”
Hojlund are with his colleague Denmark International and adds: “I think if you ask the manager, he wants it to be done tomorrow.
“But it is also the same for us. We want to do it as well as possible and we want to change it as quickly as possible. There is no recipe for things like this. It comes with time.”
Much has been said about Hojlund's figures for the goal this season. He only scored three times in the Premier League and he ended a difficult night against Lyon on Thursday.
Hojlund is aware of the need for improvement, but Amorim said that the lack of goals is a “team problem” and not the fault of the no. 9 of Manchester United at the start of the year.
Hojlund is grateful for the support of his manager and determined to change his fortunes.
“I want to score 100 goals tomorrow if I can, but it's about progression and continues to concentrate on what you can do, and how you can get to that level,” he says.
“That is what we try to do every day, are interested in learning new things that want to get better.
“I think we are now trying to build an environment where we can grow and where we can develop ourselves.
“I think it is also a very young group. Many young people and young players are now coming through, which helps each other a bit. The competition is becoming sharper and it helps each other to improve us.
“It is clear that it is important to have players such as Christian and a little older players who can get through with the experience they have.”
Eriksen spoke with Sky Sports about Hojlund last month after the 1-1 draw against Arsenal. You could feel the power of the friendship between the two and how the 33-year-old midfielder looks out for his united teammate on and next to the field.
“If you are 20 years old and you come to a club like United, the pressure is immediately,” says Eriksen.
“You have to learn to live with it and deal with it very early.
“I am sure Rasmus has found his way in one way or another, and, as he said, you always have to learn and develop.
“But I think, especially here with all the focus from outside, the spotlights are on you. In a bad time at the club, then it clearly becomes a lot harder mentally.
“It is very difficult for many of the young boys where it is the first time that this kind of pressure goes through. But I can only imagine, if you go through it, how happy and how easy you will feel afterwards. It's just about pushing and finding your way.”
Hojlund picks up and says: “Christian has been great. He did it in a calm way. He did not have been with me like a father and said what I have to do and kind of things, he just helped me to settle.
“He helped me to live with where to live and these kinds of things. But he has also been great to just approach me at the right times and also give me the input he could see that I sometimes needed.
“I think I have to find my own way. So he has been great in understanding when I have to help and when I can just leave myself to find my own way, if you can say it that way. And that helped me a lot.”
Hojlund continues: “I knew that it was part of the package when I signed. It is what it is. It is part of the story of a Manchester United player.
“You will be criticized if you do not perform at the level and if you are not there where the club wants to be, which is completely fair.
“But as Christian says, you can't get into a hole emotionally. You have to keep yourself sorted and find your own way to perform and that is what we are for here.”
What is the most important advice that Eriksen would give his young person himself or a player like Hojlund now?
“I think in general, not just for Rasmus, but for everyone it is finding your own way, because every club is different, every manager who comes through it, it will be a different perspective, a different picture from the inside,” he says.
“So it's really about finding your own way as a player, finding out why you perform, why you didn't perform, and then just try to build on from there.
“That was my goal of early, and that would probably be my advice that looks back.”
Watch the interview with Christen Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund on football Saturday from the afternoon on Saturday. Newcastle vs Man Utd is live on Sky Sports on Super Sunday; kick -off 4.30 pm.
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