Matthijs de Ligt reveals Manchester derby win gave Man Utd something they lacked before

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Manchester United are slowly improving under Ruben Amorim.

It’s a difficult time for any head coach to implement new tactics mid-way through a season, with games coming thick and fast, especially during the festive period.

Ruben Amorim must deal with that and suck up any bumps that may come his way. Introducing his preferred system now rather than later should help Manchester United in the long-term future.

The fixture congestion means that United get little time to prepare for games on the training ground. Again, this only makes life difficult for Amorim, but he must get on with it or risk being left behind in the race for a top four finish in the Premier League.

Amorim will aim to achieve more than that, though. United must get back to competing for league titles like the good old days, but fans know that will take time.

Matthijs de Ligt explains what Manchester United lacked

Not only is the team growing with Amorim in charge, Matthijs de Ligt has explained that the group gained belief from United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City.

The Netherlands international was surprised to read how poorly United have performed on the road against top teams in recent years.

Speaking to club media, De Ligt provided insight into how he felt after beating City.

“I read a stat that it’s a long time ago that United won against a top-six team [away] in the last few years,” De Ligt said.

“So I think to get this belief into the team, into the guys that: ‘Hey, we are United – of course we can win against teams where you normally should win, but we can also win against teams that are, on paper, maybe at the moment a little bit stronger or further in their development.’

“So to get this win and this feeling inside the group that: ‘Hey, we start to believe that the way we are doing things is working’ is a really good feeling.

“I think the most important thing is that we are growing as a team. You feel that [and] I think you see it on the pitch as well.

“There were some results in the last couple of games that could have been better but the feeling in the group is that we’re growing as a team and we’re starting to understand a bit more the way the trainer wants us to play.

“I think we also start to understand each other better in the system.

“That’s the most important thing: that you always try to keep growing. If you win games without growing, you will not become the best version of yourself. I think the focus in the first weeks was on growing, then you see the results will slowly come. Hopefully we can build on that and start getting better results.”

What Manchester United need before the new year

With three games to play before we jump into 2025, United need to do something they haven’t managed to do consistently all year.

Win football matches.

United take on Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle in three winnable games. Nine points from that set of fixtures would be enough to see the Reds climb up the Premier League table.

Two of those games are at Old Trafford to give United a home advantage…

This shouldn’t be a lot to ask for but it is when you consider how inconsistent United have been over the past year. There’s plenty of room for improvement in 2025.