When the 26-year-old moved from Bayern Munich to Manchester United, he probably wouldn’t have thought he’d be part of the squad that suffered through the club’s worst-ever Premier League finish and lost in a major European final to Tottenham.
It’s been a rough year-and-a-half for De Ligt and Ruben Amorim’s side, but it’s starting to look like there might be a small beam of light at the end of a very long tunnel, and the Dutchman has played a key role in the club’s recent uptick in form.
De Ligt now appears to be one of the first names on the team sheet for Amorim, and his consistency is helping calm the chaos.
Things are looking a little more settled
At the start of the season, with all of United’s transfer funds used to improve the top end of the pitch, Amorim looked at his defensive options and had De Ligt or Harry Maguire to choose from for the position at the heart of his back three.
De Ligt won out, and he has been their best defender since. The two centre-backs have similar profiles, doing thankless, sometimes embarrassing jobs, taking on the dirty work that allows those ahead of them to grab all the headlines.
Neither is particularly quick, though they can turn on the afterburners when necessary. They’re designed to sit further back and clean up messes; the other two centre-backs on the left and right are the ones trusted to be better with their feet.
Amorim did opt to play him on the right of the back three in their 2-2 Premier League draw with Spurs on Saturday (November 8), though his job was to stifle opposition attacks rather than start their own, even if he did pop up with a goal in the 96th minute.
Last season, De Ligt was a victim of all that was happening at United as Amorim rarely fielded a settled back three. Lisandro Martinez’s ACL injury threw everything into uncertainty, while Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw also had fitness issues of their own.
Now things seem a little more settled. Both De Ligt and Shaw have started all of United’s 11 Premier League games, while Yoro, Maguire, and Noussair Mazraoui all fighting it out for that final spot in the back three.
What are Matthjis de Ligt’s numbers looking like?
Honestly, they’re looking excellent. De Ligt has the highest number of clearances per 90 minutes at 5.4, the second-highest number of blocks per 90 at 0.5, just 0.1 below Casemiro, who is also having a stellar start to the season.
Across his 11 Premier League games, he’s already successfully made 18 tackles, won 62 duels, 40 aerial duels, and made 13 interceptions. Long story short, opposition attackers are having a tough time getting past him.
Perhaps the most important aspect of his game is that he very rarely gives away fouls. Despite his high number of tackles, he’s only committed five fouls and has yet to pick up a single card.
What is Ruben Amorim saying about Matthijs de Ligt?
Amorim is a big fan of De Ligt, as he should be, but continues to push him to show more quality on the ball.
“He is doing really well, really aggressive, is defending well,” Amorim said.
“He has more quality with the ball than he is showing. He is still at the point of not wanting to make mistakes with the ball. That is a smart thing for a player. But when we reach a very good point (as a team), our three centre-backs will control the tempo and the quality of the game.”
Verdict
Man United aren’t as dysfunctional as many may think. Good results against top sides like Chelsea and Liverpool, although fortune was on their side in both of those games, have become a foundation.
De Ligt staying on the pitch also gives them something to build on. He’s starting to live up to the hype he earned during his time as a teenager at Ajax.