“Expected better…” Matthijs de Ligt delivers frank verdict on Manchester United this season

Matthijs de Ligt has issued his verdict on Manchester United this season, with the club sat 14th in the Premier League table and focusing on the Europa League.

Matthijs de Ligt signed for Manchester United from Bayern Munich for an initial £35 million fee and was set to join the club to become one of the first names on Erik ten Hag’s team sheet.

However, the Dutchman started life slowly at Old Trafford, having a few wobbles early on, but eventually began to win United fans over with his passionate play ang some good displays.

But, with Ten Hag departing and Rúben Amorim arriving, De Ligt has had to adapt to playing in a back-three formation, and has so far struggled to nail down a consistent position at the club.

He has played across all three positions in the centre-back line and has shown promise as the central player, although this has mostly been occupied by Harry Maguire in the last six weeks.

De Ligt opens up on settling into United

Speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of the club’s Europa League tie against Real Sociedad, De Ligt was asked by reporters how he has settled into life at Old Trafford and how it compares to his previous clubs in Ajax, Juventus, and Bayern.

“I think I’m settling in really well,” the 25-year-old said. “I’ve obviously been here now, what is it, maybe six, seven months or so. I think we have a really nice team, a really nice group.

“Obviously the season until now is not what we expected. So yeah, with that comes a lot of pressure, a lot of criticism, what is normal in football I think. And yeah, for me it’s not different because I’ve been in clubs where you have to win the title every year.

“So that’s not something different than before, but obviously being in the place where we are in the Premier League is quite different. But yeah, you have to keep going, you have to work hard and as a team improve and then hopefully the results will come.”

De Ligt offers frank United verdict

Further, De Ligt was asked if the poor season at United has been a shock to his system or not, to which he replied that although it has been a poor season and that his team have not been good enough, they are trying to improve.

“I wouldn’t call it a shock,” he continued. “What I said, obviously, you would have expected a little bit better the way it is at the moment. But, yeah, it’s the Premier League where you’re playing.

“And the Premier League is, you can’t be at 99% of the day because then you lose games against the teams that are in the Premier League. So, obviously, until this season, we, in a lot of games, we haven’t been good enough. So we know that.

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“We try to improve as a team, try to improve as an individual, which also is really important, I think. And then, in the end, it has also sometimes a little bit to do with luck also, I think. But we all know that we have to improve and to become better.

“But I’m now talking about the Premier League. But I think tomorrow [vs Real Sociedad] is another chance to show our worth in a European competition. Until now, we haven’t lost a game. So hopefully we can keep it that way and get a good result.”

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