The international break is over but for one Manchester United player, the effects are set to reverberate for a while.
Unfortunately, those effects are not positive, as Matthijs de Ligt has had a nightmare time of things for the Netherlands in the two games.
He followed up his mistake vs Bosnia and Herzegovina with another vs Germany, with this one proving to be the one that broke the camel’s back.
Ronald Koeman subbed him off at half-time and some pundits declared his national team career ‘over’ for the time being, so desperate is the situation.
Koeman said he was protecting De Ligt by taking him off in a moment where it seemed like his every mistake was punished, but the Dutch press weren’t so understanding.
Matthijs de Ligt’s nightmare
For all the criticism De Ligt received after the game vs Bosnia, he kept his place in the marquee game vs Germany but all eyes were on him now.
Unfortunately, the game peaked for him in the second minute when his team scored and led, but only went downhill from there.
First, his pass deep in his own half was intercepted by Jamal Musiala under no pressure, with Germany scoring from that chance.
For the second goal, he got some unfair criticism as his tackle trickled to another player who scored but overall, Koeman thought taking him out of the firing line was the best choice.
Man United fans jumped to De Ligt’s defence with two clear points and ultimately, all that matters to United fans is how he does in the Red Devil jersey.
That’s not the case with the Dutch press, famous for not mincing their words anyway and when the player in question plays for Man United, a highly scrutinised club, the intensity is doubled.
Dutch media on De Ligt
It all started with Rafael van der Vaart calling De Ligt’s mistake ‘fatal’, with suggestions that his international career might be over for the time being.
The pile-on started after the match as VoetbalPrimeur gave out match ratings and rated De Ligt at 5/10, the lowest on the pitch, saying: “It was him again. De Ligt simply handed the ball in and led to the 1-1. A painful moment for the man-marker, who remained in the dressing room at half-time. These mistakes continue to haunt him.”
De Volskrant was even more unforgiving, drawing the conclusion from his ‘incomprehensible mistakes’ that the player is ‘no longer such a great defender’.
De Telegraaf didn’t name him directly but clearly hinted at his mistakes, saying: “Most of Germany’s danger came from personal mistakes by the Dutch, where clumsy loss of possession provided the biggest chances.”
Newspaper Algemeen Dagblad called him “clumsy” too, adding that De Ligt hasn’t shown the form that made him a great defender once.
Finally, Sky Germany (Via vi.nl) also joined in, particularly notable after De Ligt threw shade at the Bundesliga earlier this week. They said that De Ligt has now ‘dropped considerably’ in the pecking order for the national team.
The Dutchman will return to Man United where he is expected to retain his starting place for the trip to Southampton. The pressure won’t decrease.
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