Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted that Matthijs de Ligt’s woes on the international stage are unlikely to have any bearing on his situation at club level.
Ten Hag spoke to the press ahead of United’s Saturday clash against Southampton and had his say on De Ligt’s troubles.
De Ligt – a player United signed in the summer from Bayern Munich – endured a catastrophic September international break.
The defender made a costly mistake against Bosnia and Herzegovina that led to Edin Dzeko’s goal in the 73rd minute. His error forced Dutch boss Ronald Koeman to defend him publicly.
In the Netherlands’ subsequent game vs. Germany, Koeman backed De Ligt and decided to afford him yet another start alongside Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. The decision backfired as the new United arrival made two other howlers that gifted Die Mannschaft their goals and in the process, earned them a draw at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Van Dijk in particular lambasted De Ligt while Koeman told the media that he took him off at half-time to protect him.
During the embargoed section of his presser, Ten Hag was asked about De Ligt and replied, “I know Matthijs and he’s a great personality, his character, he will overcome this and will bounce back in this situation for the Dutch squad.”
“Definitely not his club situation. I’m not afraid for this situation, I know his qualities, I know his personality and I know he’ll fight back.”
“The other thing is he had a very difficult pre-season because he didn’t play games. His only game from the start was last game against Liverpool, without this he goes and starts for the Dutch squad and he’s not in the rhythm yet or up to full speed. But when he is you will see his qualities and a different player.”
Another United player currently going through a tough spell is Casemiro.
Ten Hag said about the Brazilian midfielder, “Of course, it’s a different approach. He [Casemiro] is experienced and it’s not the first time, I guess, that he has dealt with a bad game. Now he has to overcome this one as well, but that is normal in life.”
“You have highs and you have lows, in your life and also in the life of a football player. Only for a football player, of course, that is obvious, there are many observing this and have an opinion about this. You have also to deal with this. He knows how to deal with it.”
“No one career goes only up, no one team level or team pattern is only going up. You have to deal with it, but it’s about what is the end result.”
Manuel Ugarte is in contention to finally make his United debut against the Saints following his deadline-day move from Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
On Ugarte, Ten Hag explained, “I played him already, as manager of Ajax, when we played Sporting Lisbon. He’s quite a long time on my radar. He’s coming in, it’s a late transfer coming in, but he’s playing in a very important position. You have to connect defending with attacking and attacking with defending.”
“Communication is very important there, to tie the team, to lead the team, to make the connection between attacking and defence, defence and attacking. We have to help him, we have to guide him, how he has to play that role, but from what we have seen, he knows already a lot, of course. He has the profile where we think he can fit in that role and now we have to teach him some details, how it works in our team.”
The Dutch coach added, “It was not only that match but also in the seasons after, when he played there, when he played for Uruguay, when he played for Paris [Saint-Germain]. I have him in my mind, I have him in my eye. The scouting department has him in their mind and we followed him. We judged that he would be a really good fit for our team.”
Ten Hag emphasised the importance of squad depth as he stated that United need at least two quality players in every position.
He reiterated that the players must understand their respective roles in them and at the end of the day, must take responsibility when on the pitch.
United’s Saturday clash against Southampton kicks off at 12:30 BST.
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