Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag will already be looking ahead to this weekend’s game against Southampton and will hope his players return from international duty unscathed.
The first international break of the season is coming to an end Premier League action will be the full focus once again.
Manchester United went into the break on the back of two defeats, first losing in the last minute against Brighton and Hove Albion.
As if that wasn’t painful enough, United then went and lost 3-0 to Liverpool in humiliating fashion.
Ten Hag is looking to bounce back against Southampton this weekend but the 12:30pm kick off on Saturday doesn’t exactly help players returning from international duty.
Matthijs de Ligt off at half-time in Netherlands clash
Defender Matthijs de Ligt is one United player away with his country right now, featuring for the Netherlands.
De Ligt was barely seen at Euro 2024 but was given a chance to shine against Bosnia and Herzegovina over the weekend.
The United defender was criticised for his performance having arguably been at fault for two goals.
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman threw his support behind De Ligt but called on him to improve moving forward.
De Ligt was duly given another chance against Germany on Tuesday evening, but it was another tough outing.
With the Netherlands leading 1-0, De Ligt gave the ball away inside his own half and saw Deniz Undav find the net.
De Ligt then attempted to block another Undav effort inside his own box but his challenge only handed the ball straight to Joshua Kimmich to score.
Trailing at the break, Netherlands boss Koeman decided to substitute De Ligt in favour of Brighton and Hove Albion’s Jan-Paul van Hecke.
This wasn’t De Ligt’s finest night and Koeman may have wanted to take him out of the firing line after strong criticism in recent days.
The substitution may have been planned as well though; De Ligt only made his first start of the season against Liverpool.
To then play two lots of 90 minutes in the space of a few days may have been a big ask for De Ligt, especially with another Premier League clash coming on Saturday.
Dutch commentator on De Ligt
In truth, this substitution probably worked out for everyone.
De Ligt wasn’t exactly at his best and can now have something of a breather before this weekend’s game with United.
The Dutch press will no doubt go hard on De Ligt once again and, in fact, it has already started.
NOS commentator Jeroen Elshoff is quoted by FC Update as saying that De Ligt’s mistake for the first Germany goal was a ‘deadly mistake’.
Elshoff added that it was a ‘painful moment’ for De Ligt and even suggested that the centre back was ‘battling with his own brain’ against Germany.
“De Ligt. Right back to Matthijs de Ligt, who already had so many problems against Bosnia. Where so much was said. He shouldn’t make this mistake of course. It’s a deadly mistake. What a painful moment again for Matthijs de Ligt. It’s not the first time that this has happened to him,” said Elshoff.
“Koeman is going to talk about a substitution. Does this have to do with De Ligt’s moment? It could be, because he is battling his own brain here,” he added.
Nathan Ake was struggling with a knock around a similar time though and ended up being substituted in favour of Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber.
That seems a more likely explanation but Koeman still took De Ligt off at the break.
Let’s hope De Ligt bounces back quickly given that United need him in action against Southampton.
De Ligt being a little rusty is understandable having played such little football in 2024 and United will hopefully provide him with a platform to really kick on and get back to his best once more.
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