Manchester United had two players on show as the Netherlands beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-2 in Amsterdam.
Less than a month into the Premier League season, we are already into the first international break of the campaign.
This break feels the most frustrating of all; Premier League action has only just returned but has already disappeared for two-week break.
It’s not even as if Manchester United went into the break off the back of a positive result either; the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool was a truly torrid afternoon.
United players must now look to bounce back on international duty before returning to Premier League action against Southampton next weekend.
Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot started together for Portugal against Croatia on Thursday night and even combined for the opening goal in a 2-1 victory.
Dutch media on Matthijs de Ligt
Just as there were two United players in action for Portugal, there were a pair of United players starting for the Netherlands too.
Matthijs de Ligt was barely seen at Euro 2024 as Stefan de Vrij was given the nod alongside Virgil van Dijk in the Dutch back line over the summer.
De Ligt was brought in against Bosnia though whilst Joshua Zirkzee was handed a chance to shine too, starting up top as he came in for free agent Memphis.
Zirkzee impressed the Dutch media with his performance as he recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-2 Netherlands victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Dutch media weren’t quite as impressed with defender De Ligt though as he failed to seize his opportunity in the starting XI.
Voetbal Primeur gave De Ligt a five out of 10 rating, criticising him for playing the Bosnian attack onside for their equaliser before Edin Dzeko ghosted in behind De Ligt to score and make it 3-2.
“De Ligt failed to seize his chance in the absence of Stefan de Vrij. He lifted offside in the run-up to the Bosnian equaliser and was guilty of the 3-2. He had lost Dzeko and saw the crafty striker take advantage,” they wrote.
Voetbal Flitsen went with a five out of 10 rating too with Sport Nieuws and Voetbal Zone going even lower at 4.5 out of 10.
“Matthijs de Ligt got a chance next to Virgil van Dijk in defense, in the absence of Stefan de Vrij. However, he did not play a very lucky game. De Ligt could have done more at 1-1, and at 3-2 by Edin Dzeko he looked really bad. The Bosnian striker could easily run away from the back of the defender and score,” wrote Voetbalzone.
De Ligt rustiness to be expected
United shouldn’t be too worried here as De Ligt attempts to get up to speed.
The centre back was a bit-part player at Bayern Munich last season and was overlooked by Ronald Koeman at Euro 2024.
De Ligt has now started just one Premier League game for United so he is hardly at his absolute sharpest right now.
There were some promising signs from De Ligt against Liverpool, outside of the rather rash yellow card he picked up in the second half.
De Ligt needs time to get going again and minutes under his belt will certainly help.
Perhaps Saturday’s display hampers his Netherlands chances in the short term, but United will hope that it’s all just minutes in the legs as De Ligt seeks his best form again.
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