Manchester United fans could not hold back their feelings on Matthijs de Ligt after the former Ajax star’s performance against Southampton at the St Mary’s on Saturday.
Matthijs de Ligt made a name for himself at Ajax after he came through the Dutch club’s youth academy and ascended to the captaincy under Erik ten Hag.
The Manchester United summer signing was a key player for Erik ten Hag at Ajax before he completed a blockbuster move to Serie A side Juventus in 2019.
De Ligt was reunited with Ten Hag at Old Trafford in the summer after United completed a stunning double swoop for the Dutch defender and Noussair Mazraoui.
United agreed a deal worth nearly £60m to sign the 25-year-old centre-back and full-back Noussair Mazraoui, who also played under Ten Hag at Ajax.
De Ligt’s starring role vs Southampton
Matthijs de Ligt made his debut for Manchester United last month after he came off the bench for a brief cameo appearance in the 1-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford.
The ex-Ajax skipper was subbed on against Brighton for some first-team minutes, despite United suffering a 2-1 Premier League defeat at the Amex in August.
Erik ten Hag handed De Ligt his first Premier League start ahead of the September international break, with the Dutchman playing 69 minutes against Liverpool.
However, De Ligt had a nightmare experience during the international break after Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman subbed him off at half-time against Germany.
Speaking to Dutch broadcaster NOS after the 2-2 Nations League draw, Ronald Koeman said (via BBC Sport): “Of course, I would rather have kept [Matthijs de Ligt] on the pitch.
“It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished. I gave him a new chance today, but eventually, I protected him by taking him off.”
Despite his disappointment against Germany earlier this week, De Ligt returned to the United starting XI for the first Premier League clash since the September break.
De Ligt started alongside Lisandro Martinez for the trip to the St Mary’s and the Netherlands defender produced a dominating performance in defence.
The former Bayern Munich and Ajax star responded to his setback with the Netherlands by showing his pure quality in attack and defence for United.
Andre Onana superbly denied Cameron Archer from the spot-kick in the first half before De Ligt fired United into the lead with a towering header.
De Ligt opened his goalscoring account before Marcus Rashford doubled the Red Devils’ lead against Southampton at the St Mary’s six minutes later.
Man Utd fans react to De Ligt vs Southampton
United fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, waxed lyrical about the performance of De Ligt against Southampton.
Red Devils supporters were bold enough to suggest that De Ligt was giving them “vibes” of United legend Nemanja Vidic with his attacking and defending output.
Other United fans, on the other hand, raved about his “monster” performance and mentality after his horror-show performance for the Netherlands.
“De Ligt giving me Vidic vibes. Great defending, clutch goals,” one fan said.
Someone else added: “Is our Vidic’s spirit back in De Ligt’s body?”
“Nemanja Vidic scoreeedddd [sic]; oh, wait, it’s De Ligt,” another tweeted.
A fourth X user wrote: “We signed another Nemanja Vidic in Matthijs de Ligt.”
While a fifth posted: “Footballing gods have had enough of seeing Man United’s CB woes. They have blessed us with De Ligt, the absolute Nemanja Vidic regen.”
“Monster performance from De Ligt in that half. Massive for him and his own confidence. Rashford finding the net, too, two big moments,” somebody else said.
Another commented: “Killed by the media on international duty and responds with a goal and a 10/10 defensive display [from] Matthijs de Ligt, MENTALITY MONSTER [sic]!”
And an eighth tweeted: “All that stupid Matthijs de Ligt slander, only for him to show up and put up a monster performance in the first half.”
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