Matthijs de Ligt (MdL) played regularly at Juventus despite being very young and them having some great defenders still at the club. They sold him because they got a great offer and had some financial issues on the back of the pandemic and some less than stellar financial decisions.
Make no mistake, Bayern Munich didn’t spend big on him because they thought he was a dud, they saw the potential and decided to make a big offer. At Bayern he did very well, first choice for pretty much his entire time at Bayern and very well thought of by the club and the fan base.
Then last summer a few things fell into place. Firstly Bayern had three CBs who should be first choice but would only play with a back four. With MdL, Upamecano and Kim Min-Jae. Of which MdL had the highest wages, and with Kompany looking to play a higher line both Min-Jae and Upamecano being faster and more suited to that system than MdL, it made more sense to sell him, especially when Manchester United came in and offered a way for them to make a small profit on him.
They didn’t sell him because they didn’t think he was good enough or because he flopped. They sold him as it made good sense in terms of how they were building their squad. Moving on a player on high wages and who maybe isn’t ideally suited to the new manager’s tactics, would allow them to reinvest in other areas of the squad without significantly weakening the starting 11 due to the quality in depth they had at CB.
At no club has MdL flopped or failed. You could maybe argue that he didn’t quite live up to the expectations, which have always been sky high due to his wonder kid status as a regular starter and captain of Ajax at 17 years old. Before the kid could legally have a pint or vote, he was being talked about as the second coming of Beckenbauer. Even if he was genuinely the best CB in the world right now, he still wouldn’t have lived up to the hype and expectations.
However, how he has played at Juventus and Bayern Munich doesn’t really bother me, nor should it. I’m only concerned with how he plays for us. Let’s not forget many great players have had less than spectacular spells at other top clubs before finding the right club for them and going on to become top players and even club legends.
For example, Thierry Henry is one of the all time English Premier League (EPL) greats, yet you don’t hear any Juventus fans saying what a loss he was when he left them to join Arsenal. Were Chelsea fans bothered when KdB or Salah left their club?
All I care about is how does MdL play in a United shirt. I was one of the fans who was skeptical when we signed him. I wondered whether he’d suit the EPL, I had concerns over his pace and mobility. Yet I have to admit I am pleased with how he’s performed so far.
He has shown true leadership, taking charge before we concede a goal and organising those around him. Not standing there with his hands on his hips shouting at others for not covering the space that player themselves should have been in after we’ve conceded a goal (like some other CB that we signed who was called a leader before we signed him). He’s shown he has very good reading of the game, which can make up for his lack of blistering pace. Yet for a CB he isn’t excessively slow, he’s pretty average in terms of pace for his position.
He has also shown both a willingness and an ability to be adaptable, playing in all three of the CB positions. Personally, I think he’s much more suited to the central position where he doesn’t get pulled out wide and potentially isolated 1v1 against fast attackers. He’s also aerially dominant, reducing the tendency for the opposition to try and just stand up a cross centrally.
He’s done very well in an unsettled team and with an ever changing back line due to injuries. Having played with all of Mazraoui, Yoro, Martinez, Evans, Maguire, Lindelof and Heaven at various times across the season as CB partners. He’s consistently been the most consistent performer amongst them as well. He has been fantastic when coaching either Yoro or Heaven through games, his leadership and his experience of being a regular starter at 17 probably really helps him be that role model and mentor.
With Martinez’s injury issues, he is the obvious candidate to replace Bruno as captain when the Portuguese magnifico decides to move on. From what we’ve seen from both Yoro and Heaven this season the idea of them two playing either side of MdL looks like a tantalising prospect in defence. Especially with Dorgu at LWB and Amad at RWB. Young, athletic, technically gifted and energetic. A really nice blend.
The only real worry is Onana playing behind them, he is capable of both ends of the goalkeeping spectrum, unfortunately we are seeing the full spectrum far too often. I quite like the James Trafford rumours, he could be an excellent option to bring in. Great shot stopper, and his distribution is excellent. He’s really started to make good on his early potential and shown great mental strength and attitude to come back from a tough season where he got slated despite being a 20-year-old keeper in a struggling Burnley side.
Written by Shappy March 20 2025 11:54:51
