Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt has had an impressive campaign for the Red Devils, but he thinks he can still get a lot better.
After a fairly disappointing first campaign playing for the Red Devils, Matthijs de Ligt has responded perfectly with an excellent campaign to date.
De Ligt’s importance to Manchester United can be seen as he’s played all 990 available minutes in the Premier League this season.
Rio Ferdinand has hailed De Ligt as United’s best defender, but the Dutchman is far from finished and he’s admitted this over the international break.
Matthijs de Ligt predicts that his best is yet to come for Manchester United
From a new signing last season, De Ligt is now involved in everything at United and feels like part of the furniture of the club.
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His improvements have been tenfold and now De Ligt is back in the Netherlands squad and while on international duty, he has spoken with Voetbal Primeur about his newfound form.
“The first year in the Premier League is always difficult”, De Ligt explained. “The pace, the physical aspect, adjusting to a new country and a new culture. You can see now that the second year is often easier for me. It all feels more familiar. I feel appreciated by everyone.
“I’m now heading towards a form I haven’t often found before. Hopefully, I can show that with the Dutch national team as well.”
“Things are going in the right direction,” De Ligt goes on to declare.
“We’re obviously still far from where we need to be. I’m not either; we can still improve. But we’re on an upward trend and haven’t lost in the last five matches. Hopefully, we can continue that trend after the international break.”
De Ligt is already playing so well and it is a scary thought for other teams that he might yet get even better. One area of weakness for the number four is that Amorim will want De Ligt to develop his passing, which sticks out as one bad part.
Matthijs de Ligt’s Netherlands return has come at the perfect time
De Ligt has a fairly sweet and sour relationship with his national team and Ronald Koeman. However he sounds thrilled to be back in the fold.
“Things are going well, I’m happy,” the 26-year-old defender told Voetbal Primeur. “That was a shame [to not get a call-up], but I’m used to football. Now I’m back, so that’s a good sign.”
Returning to the set-up, De Ligt will find a very different situation with Virgil van Dijk no longer the all-dominating centre-back he once was and so there could be a real chance for United’s defender to grab a World Cup starting spot.
Van Dijk has been terrible for Liverpool, and the Dutch team could soon be looking for a new leader at the back, with De Ligt tailor-made for this role with his newfound confidence.
De Ligt could form a brilliant partnership with Micky van den Ven, which would rank among the best at the tournament. For United, all of this will be excellent news as he continues to push toward the world-class category.
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