It’s been a tumultuous few months on all fronts for Matthijs de Ligt.
Having fallen somewhat out of favour at Bayern Munich, the centre-half entered the summer window knowing that he was likely to be sold after two years with the Bundesliga giants.
Then, despite being included in Ronald Koeman’s Euro 2024 squad, the Dutchman did not feature once at the tournament and instead spent just shy of two months watching on from the bench as his nation reached the semi-finals.
Such lack of action didn’t faze Manchester United, though, as they pursued the ex-Erik ten Hag protegee to bolster their backline following Raphael Varane’s departure. He has since featured in all three of the side’s three Premier League matches, overseeing one win and two defeats.
Surprisingly, Koeman has called upon De Ligt to return to the Netherlands starting 11 for their Nations League campaign. He partnered Virgil van Dijk for both matches played thus far but is unlikely to retain his place given how he’s fared in the outings.
Against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 25-year-old was caught out of position for both of the away side’s goals and while he was lucky enough that his teammates were able to get the job done by scoring five to their opponents two, De Ligt offered a brutal assessment of his performance after the full-time whistle.
“I should have done better at their second goal, and I know that. I don’t really know what happened,” United’s No.4 conceded.
“I should have cleared the ball, but I kept having doubts during the play. It’s just f****d. Is this game a missed opportunity for me? I don’t know. I just try to do my best.”
De Ligt commits costly blunder before being hooked at HT
Last night’s 2-2 draw saw De Ligt at fault for Germany’s equalising goal in the first half; a lapse in concentration led to him playing a sloppy pass, which was easily intercepted by the prolific Jamal Musiala, who was then able to work his magic before Deniz Undav found the back of the net.
The Germans took the lead just moments before the interval courtesy of Joshua Kimmich, with Koeman proceeding to withdraw De Ligt from the action at the halfway stage. Netherlands were eventually able to claim a point through Denzel Dumfries in the 50th minute.
Reacting to the former Bayern man’s affairs, former Oranje international Pierre van Hooijdonk said, via Voetbal International: “This is terrible for De Ligt. It’s logical that it’s [his international career] over. We all think he’s a great player, but how often has this happened in the Dutch national team?
“It has to stop at some point, especially when you have competitors who are of a high level.”
