Matthijs de Ligt pulls no punches after his Netherlands horror show
Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt endured a difficult night at the office during the Netherland's thumping 5-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League
Matthijs de Ligt tore into his own performance in an X-rated rant after the Netherlands defender gave away two poor goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Manchester United centre-back, 25, looked alarmingly off the pace in Saturday night's 5-2 win in Eindhoven, though he was bailed out by his free-scoring team-mates.
De Ligt was caught dozing when he played Ermedin Demirovic onside shortly after Joshua Zirkzee had fired Ronald Koeman 's side into the lead. And his second gaffe came later on in the match when he allowed a cross to drift by him right into the path of Edin Dzeko to pile pressure on the Dutch.
Speaking after the match, De Ligt gave a searingly honest assessment of his display, admitting his mistakes were "f****d". He said: "I think you know how I feel, we won but then comes the individual part.
"I should have done better at their second goal, and I know that. I don't really know what happened.. I should have cleared the ball but I kept having doubts during the play. It's just f****d.
"If this game is a missed opportunity for me? I don't know, I just try to do my best."
While fans were quick to hammer De Ligt on social media in the aftermath of his horror show, Koeman refused to condemn the defender, who joined Manchester United from Ajax in the summer transfer window.
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Koeman said: "Xavi Simons should have done better. He was marking their left midfielder and suddenly walked away from him. Of course, the centre-backs are positioning themselves wrong too."
When he was then asked specifically about De Ligt's performance, he replied: "He himself realises that he was in the wrong position. This should not happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it is unfair to make a big deal out of it."
De Ligt failed to make a single appearance for the Netherlands at Euro 2024, spending the entirety of the Dutch's run to the semi-finals on the bench. It remains to be seen if he will start against Germany on Tuesday night when Koeman's side play their second UEFA Nations League group match before the domestic campaign resumes.
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