Owen Hargreaves, like most Manchester United fans, was left struggling to dissect what took place at the Estadio de Dragao last night.
The former Red has urged Erik ten Hag, who is thought to be edging closer to his seemingly inevitable sacking as it is, to drop Matthijs de Ligt for Sunday’s trip to face Aston Villa.
Against FC Porto, the defender started alongside Lisandro Martinez in a partnership that most fans – and the manager – considered the strongest centre-back pairing available this season. Yet, it’s been anything but successful since the two have taken to the field alongside one another.
De Ligt lasted 79 minutes against the Portuguese outfit before being withdrawn for Jonny Evans. Harry Maguire simultaneously replaced Martinez before eventually going on to score a crucial equaliser at the death in injury time.
Porto’s relentless attackers ran United ragged across the 90-minute affair, with their three goals all coming when De Ligt and Martinez were deployed in front of Andre Onana. The second, in particular, saw De Ligt effortlessly brushed off and beaten to a header by Samu Omorodion. The summer recruit being left despondent on the floor is a sight that’s becoming all too familiar for supporters this early in the season.
De Ligt cannot start vs in-form Villa, says Hargreaves
Weighing in on the 25-year-old’s showing post-match, Hargreaves told the TNT Sports panel (as cited by the Metro): “Harry (Maguire) will play on the weekend against Villa – he’ll have to. De Ligt has struggled really badly today.
“Obviously, Samu is a super explosive and powerful player, but against Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran, that’s not going to get any easier, so he’s got some big calls to make. They struggled. The gaps are too big there.
“De Ligt loses Samu, who was absolutely brilliant in terms of running the channels, efficient in front of goal. That kid is a player, and he caused De Ligt absolute nightmares today.”
